Spool-Gun And Soft-Wire Matrix

This annex is for aluminum and soft-wire complaints that are often misdiagnosed as bad MIG power sources.

Use it with MIG and multiprocess guides in this library from:

Core rule

If standard steel MIG is normal and aluminum is not, keep the diagnosis on the spool-gun or soft-wire branch until proven otherwise.

Symptom	Most likely soft-wire branch	First isolation move	If that fixes it
Birdsnesting with aluminum	trying to push soft wire through standard gun, liner drag, excess tension	stop and isolate spool-gun path or shorten soft-wire path	keep diagnosis on spool gun, liner, tension, and wire handling
Aluminum arc unstable but steel MIG is normal	wrong spool-gun setup, poor gas coverage, wrong polarity or wire	return to known-good steel baseline, then retest spool-gun setup	keep diagnosis on aluminum branch only
Weak aluminum weld on dual-voltage unit	120 V expectation problem or poor soft-wire handling	move to full-voltage service and retest	keep diagnosis on input expectation and spool-gun branch
Feed fine with steel, poor with aluminum	soft-wire drive and spool drag problem	check spool brake, gun setup, and wire path	keep diagnosis on accessory mechanics

Prove the machine on steel MIG first.
Confirm the aluminum path is actually the supported path for that model.
If the machine is spool-gun ready, use the spool-gun branch instead of trying to push soft wire through a standard gun.
Verify gas, polarity, and work clamp on clean aluminum after the feed path is correct.

Hobart literature makes spool-gun readiness central because it solves the most common aluminum false faults on these machines.
If the complaint is aluminum feed through a standard gun, stop there and reset the process path.

If steel MIG is stable, keep spool-gun complaints out of the base-machine fault tree.
On 211i, supply quality and dual-voltage expectations can compound soft-wire complaints.
On 260, high-current aluminum complaints can also involve current-path heating and gas setup under load.

Separate standard MIG gun, spool gun, and TIG torch as different accessory branches.
If only the spool-gun branch fails, do not broaden the diagnosis to all processes.

Euro-torch seating, front-panel connector condition, and spool-gun assumptions should be checked before internal escalation.

"drive motor is weak" when the real issue is soft-wire handling through the wrong gun path
"arc is unstable" when the real issue is gas coverage or dirty aluminum
"machine has no power" when the real issue is 120 V limitation on a dual-voltage platform

steel MIG and spool-gun aluminum are both abnormal on the same clean power source
direct-output and feeder mechanics are confirmed but the machine still cannot maintain stable output
control behavior changes independent of gun or spool-gun branch

This annex is synthesized from the MIG and multiprocess guides in this repository.
Exact spool-gun compatibility and aluminum setup should still be verified against the model manual or official accessory literature.