Kevin holds up two rollers. One says 0.8, and the other says 0.9. If you look on the flip side of them, one says 1.0 and the other says 1.2. That’s the welding wire size. You need to use the right size roller to match the size of the wire you are using in your machine.
Sometimes, though, you run into a set that says 1.2 U or 1.0 U. Those are your aluminum rollers.
With the Everlast i-Power 253DPi, which is primarily for welding aluminum, you need those U rollers.
Kevin shows a roller for steel next to a roller for aluminum. As you can see, the grooves in the rollers for steel are deeper and square, while the ones for aluminum are more shallow and U-shaped. The U-shape won’t deform the softer aluminum as much and allows it to feed more easily.
When you use this MIG welder for aluminum, you also use change to a Teflon liner in the cable, which lets the aluminum slide even more easily. So it can feed the aluminum right off the spool through the factory MIG gun – you don’t need a spool gun or a push pull gun.
Next Kevin installs the aluminum U rollers inside the Everlast welder. He puts the 1.0 U markings to the outside and fit both rollers over their keyways. Then he finger tightens the rollers into place and feeds the welding wire through over the top of the rollers. He clamps them down and closes up the wirefeed area.
Now you’re ready to feed wire. Because this Everlast welder has a jog function, you don’t have to pull the gun trigger or activate the welding gas solenoid. You just push the button until the wire comes through.
Once you have wire at the end of your gun, you just need to put your tip and nozzle back on, trim the wire, and go back to work!
So that’s what that little bag of rollers is for. Kevin keeps his right inside the welder door with the wire spool – that way he knows exactly where they are, and they don’t get lost.
Of course, if you switch back to steel, don’t forget to change those rollers to the other set.
Kevin is ready to get back to work, but you might want to stick around for another moment to see him draw a total blank ….