Thinking about getting yourself a Lincoln MIG welder? Or maybe you’ve already purchased one and are stoked to lay some beads. Knowing the right way to set up your machine can save you a massive amount of headache, so let’s go over the setup process to get you ready for your next project.
Since Lincoln offers a wide variety of MIG welding machines that range from hobby welders to heavy-duty industrial, we're going to specifically focus on the much-loved Lincoln Power MIG 215 MPi. However, the vast majority of this information will be applicable to any Lincoln machine.
Step 1:
As with most large boxes that arrive at your door, the first step is to open the box and check that all the pieces are included. Inside your Lincoln box, you should find an owner’s manual, welding machine, ground clamp, gas line, plug for 120-volt and 230-volt power, gas hose, torch, extra contact tips, sample spool of welding wire, rollers, and regulator. With the Lincoln Power MIG 215, you should also have an electrode holder for stick welding. However, as this article is focused on MIG welding, you won’t need to worry about that piece. Before you start the setup, make sure to read through the instructional/safety manual.
Step 2:
It’s time to hook up and plug in a few components. Connect the control cable, MIG gun and the work clamp.
Next, flip down the tension adjuster and raise the top drive roll pressure arm. You will need to remove the outer drive to access the lower drive roll. Ensure you’re using the correct size for your wire, then reinstall the drive.
Now let's connect your shielding gas. If you’re wondering what type of shielding gas you should use, check out our complete guide here. Attach the large end of the regulator to the top of your gas bottle. Depending on your instruction manual details, you might need to tighten it with a wrench. Next, connect the gas hose to the regulator and then secure the other end of the hose to the machine. The Lincoln Power MIG 215 MPi actually features two gas ports: one for TIG welding and one for MIG. This is an awesome, new quality-of-life feature for the 215 MPi, but if you’re using a machine with only MIG capabilities, you generally will only have one gas port.
Step 3:
The next step will be to thread the wire into the machine. After placing the spool on the shaft, make sure it is secure. Cut off the first 6 inches of wire from your spool to avoid kinks and ensure it is straight. Feed the wire through the wire drive inlet, along the groove, over the drive roll and through the outlet on the other side. Secure the outer guide piece back around the wire and raise the tension knob.
Now you should be ready to plug in the machine to the appropriately sized outlet and flip your welder on. To learn more about the different voltage plugs, check out our article here.
Step 4:
Once your machine is powered up, grab your gun and squeeze the trigger to start feeding the wire through the length of the gun liner until it comes out the end of the gun by an inch or more. Turn off the machine and install the appropriate contact tip and nozzle for your project. Cut the wire about ⅜ of an inch from the end of the contact tip.
Step 5:
Now you’re ready to prep the machine with the recommended weld settings for your specific needs. You can find a reference sheet on the interior of the door on the side of the machine.
With the 215 model featuring some interface updates, let’s go over what you’ll find. On your main screen, you’ll see options from left to right: Mix Steel C25, Mix Steel C100, Manual CV Flux Core, Spool Gun Aluminum, Stick, and TIG Welding. If you navigate to the settings option from your home screen, you’ll be able to adjust metrics, language, ArcFX technology, brightness settings, software information and perform a factory reset. In the “Ready Set Weld” section, you’ll find process-specific options such as thickness, running, spot timer, pre-flow, post-flow, trigger step, inductance, gas purge time and save memory. Access your memory options from the home screen by selecting “Load Memory” located at the bottom right. For details on which icon corresponds to each selection, please refer to the user manual.
Now that you’ve got everything set up, you're ready for your machine’s first weld. Again, this setup process specifically covers the Lincoln 215 MPi MIG welder, but you should be able to use most of this information for other Lincoln machines. If you want to learn more about welding and setup processes, check out some of our other blog posts here!
