48' Refer Trailer Update

[Arc Burn]

Well this was quite a week,i learned a ton about aluminum,i also learned quickly that my 3035 spoolgun is much to small for that amount of welding!I actually melted 2 head assemblys(the long tube you screw the tip into)Thats how hot things got.I was at the point were i would make a couple small welds and then hang the gun in front of the fan for awhile,very long process.My knees are killin,my nerves are shot(you would never believe how many tips this friggin job took)My saving grace was someone showing me how to run the refer unit so i set it at 32 degrees and let her go!

Anyways,good money but you earn every penny.Guess i'll be looking to upgrade shortly which probably means bye-bye to the brand new 210 and 3035 and hello to the 251 and 100% duty cycle spool gun(which i nearly bought anyways but decided i probably would not do that much aluminum!)Imagine that,i outgrew the **** thing on my first job,thats a kick in the azz!

Thanks to all who responded to the last thread,i think all the advice was used at some point in the job,much appreciated,Arc

[Jerry]

What an experience there Arc. I haven't used mig aluminum in years but I'm paying attention to you and your project. Wow 3035 could't handle it hey, I guess with the million dollars from this job you will be buying lots of new toys now.

I have the miller 251 and I was looking at the spool guns and I sure will not get that one, thanks for feedback.

How did the aluminum weld for you? Was the material clean or did you spend a lot of time scrubbing and or wire wheeling?

[Arc Burn]

Well Jerry,i came up a little short of 1 million $$!I donot believe you can use a 3035 on the 251,but rather the 30A i think they call it,it's got 100% duty cycle and is just a better gun,alot of production shops use them.The 251 package was about a grand more then the 210 package and now i'm wishing i had gone bigger,oh well,live and learn.

Cleaning,Lots of cleaning!The first thing i learned was the anodizing on the plate don't weld worth a ****!I used a SS wire wheel and then went over that with a hand brush,when the area was clean and the gun was cool welding was easy but when things were dirty or the gun was hot,only bad things came about.All in all it was a learning expirence,i think we will hold off on the second one untill i come up with a bigger gun setup.

[Roger]

If you keep welding aluminum trailer floors the small rolls on spool gun will be royal pain. Millermatic 251 now has push-pull option with 15' or 30' cable and air cooled torch rated at 200 Amp 100% duty cycle.

Your the only one that could tell if it would be worth while.

Just using your MM200 regular gun might work better than the light duty spool gun if your using .045 wire. Use .045 teflon linner and extended nozzle

[bjdenommee]

Arc

Sounds like any first time job, back and forth.

Glad things worked out for you.

Bernie

[Hobart Expert Rock]

ARCBURN..........WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE ANY PICTURES, OR HMMMMM MAYBE YOU DIDN'T HAVE TIME.........

THE SYSTEM ROGER IS TALKING ABOUT FOR THE 251 IS THE XR-EDGE GUN OR XR-A PISTOL GUNS........... THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO USE A 12" ROLL OF ALUMINUM WIRE........... HOWEVER THE 30A SPOOL GUN USEING 1 LB ROLLS OF WIRE WILL WORK ALSO....... HOW LONG DID THE JOB TAKE................ DID YOU START ANY FIRES................?

AH KNEE PADS ARE WHAT WE USED WHEN WE WERE WORKING CEMENT........THEY ARE DEFINATELY WORTH WHILE.........

SEE YA..........................ROCK................
[email protected]

[Arc Burn]

Rock,no pics,gotta figure this **** digital camera out first!

The job was done on site,so i'm not real fond about dragging a 251 wire feeder with me back and forth so i think i'll go with the 30A spool gun,the down time between 1lb spools is not an issue as you have to stop to breath far more than you stop to change wire,and in this case most of the down time was spent playing with tips

Fire,good question!only fire set was on a pair of pants of a guy who was standing on the plate holding it down in a few spots while i tacked it,poor guy got 2nd and 3rd degree burns on the back of his leg,ouch.

Knee pads were a god send,could not have done it without them.

Total billed out time was around 33 hrs although with all the trouble with the spool gun overheating and running around for parts the job took about a week.

[Jerry]

Arc Burn, you know every job we get into we learn what we need to do different for particular job and or how to do it faster thus making more money second time around .

Go get her the next time Bud!

[Arc Burn]

I think we will try the next one at my shop,this way when things go hay wire,i can stand back and gather my senses or just work on something else for awhile.It's tough to do that on site,people are paying big bucks when i show up and i want to justify my cost to them by working efficiently.

[Franz]

Around here, we say the first one's the worst one when it comes to jobs. By the time the second copy is finished the bugs are generally worked out.
An idea for holding the plates down for tacking; Take a bent cargo restraint bar, and make it into a jack for holding the plate down from the roof of the trailer. Roofs are very strong, on reefers, cause they support a lot of the trailer's weight capacity, and are engineered to carry hanging meat.

[Arc Burn]

Funny you mention that Franz cause after i burnt the poor fella,they could not offer anyone else up so i took one of the cargo bars and did just that!

[Scott V]

Arcburn,don't you have a engine drive?Seems like one of these which goes for about $1300 at a good place,and a python for about the same would be much better than dragging a 251 or a 210 around.

http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Catalog/equipmentdatasheet.asp?p=7066

[Arc Burn]

Scott i have a Ranger 250 and the contact box to run the spool gun off that,I've been looking at the push/pull stuff,i'd like to try one out myself.

[Franz]

Funny how after you incinerate one employee most employers get really tighta$$ed about offering up a second victim.
Just melt the heals on one guys shoes, and nobody else wants to play with you either.
Must be something to do with OSHA, whatever that is.
Don't even ask to borrow their forklift either. There is a complete lack of generoscity taking this country over.

[Arc Burn]

Franz your draggin up bad memories of this project!I also melted one of the Co-Owners boots!Your right,he didn't want to play anymore either

I did have unrestricted use of the forklift though,i've known these people for some time now so there were no hard feelings about any of the "incidents"