welding set wanted - Page 2

doggypaddle · 12 June 2010, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Hold up .. old stick man here, and I can get down to 1.5's no problem on my old pickhill , whats this gear then ?

Has someone reinvented the wheel ?

no re invention of the wheel, just 1/10 the weight of a transfomer, the size of a breeze block and half the weight for a 200 amp one.
and the high frequency makes it easier to sustain an arc at low current than a 50hz transformer. theyre a bit like welding with one of those old petrol JLO powered welding alternators, even at 40 amps its nearly impossible to get the rod to stick!

Bigmuz7 · 12 June 2010, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

no re invention of the wheel, just 1/10 the weight of a transfomer, the size of a breeze block and half the weight for a 200 amp one.
and the high frequency makes it easier to sustain an arc at low current than a 50hz transformer. theyre a bit like welding with one of those old petrol JLO powered welding alternators, even at 40 amps its nearly impossible to get the rod to stick!

Fek me .. no need to go bolting to my gas supplier after all, for yet another different gas bottle with a mig then ?

In reality 200 amps would get some 6mm plate welded on a butt joint.. are you saying something the size of a grunter can do that ?

doggypaddle · 13 June 2010, 19:32

have a look on fleabay, there some 200 amp ones with a nice mincers style shoulder strap for £250.

if you can stick weld with an ordinary 50hz transformer youll love an inverter for the sheer convienence, the low end controlability is a bonus.

Downhilldai · 13 June 2010, 19:51

What gas would be used with these sets? Argoshield?

Rogue Wave · 13 June 2010, 20:48

I'll be using Pub Gas most likely

Downhilldai · 13 June 2010, 22:52

My mates used to use 'brewers CO2' on their MIG sets years ago, 'cos it was cheaper than Argoshield. Could you use it when welding stainless with a TIG?

Nos4r2 · 14 June 2010, 00:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

My mates used to use 'brewers CO2' on their MIG sets years ago, 'cos it was cheaper than Argoshield. Could you use it when welding stainless with a TIG?

No. You need Argoshield at least.

Downhilldai · 14 June 2010, 00:34

Can Argoshield be bought in small cylinders? The ones I remember are about the same size as an oxy bottle.

Bigmuz7 · 14 June 2010, 06:47

Hold up .. I'm lost now .. I thought this was a stick set

No gas ?

Jizm · 14 June 2010, 06:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Hold up .. I'm lost now .. I thought this was a stick set

No gas ?

Me too, but that was 3 pages back....

bedajim · 14 June 2010, 07:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Can Argoshield be bought in small cylinders? The ones I remember are about the same size as an oxy bottle.

Yes and they work out cheaper or so BOC said the other week

BOC did me a deal on an inverter set and the bits to make it into a tig for stainless.

Downhilldai · 14 June 2010, 08:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedajim

Yes and they work out cheaper or so BOC said the other week

BOC did me a deal on an inverter set and the bits to make it into a tig for stainless.

What sort of deal? I suppose we're talking something more industrial than the sort of thing I have in mind?

bedajim · 14 June 2010, 08:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

What sort of deal? I suppose we're talking something more industrial than the sort of thing I have in mind?

And more money than you'll want to spend

doggypaddle · 14 June 2010, 08:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

What gas would be used with these sets? Argoshield?

Can you get straight Argon argoshield then? IIRC it was called something different? I might be wrong but i thought Argoshield was just the mixed gas for welding steel, and plain Argon for ali and stainless had another trade name?

Downhilldai · 14 June 2010, 09:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedajim

And more money than you'll want to spend

Yes, lots more.

jwalker · 14 June 2010, 10:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Hold up .. I'm lost now .. I thought this was a stick set

No gas ?

Bigmuzy, it can do both stick welding and TIG welding. Some sets have a function to prevent the need to scratch start the arc. Scratch starting contaminates the tungsten and lowers its melting point. It doesn't stop you welding but the flame shape isn't well controlled so welds are often less pretty. Flame? well yes, the arc through the argon produces the equivalent of a flame.
If you can gas weld, you'll be able to TIG weld.

If you are used to big stick welders the small size does seem unrealistic for welding but transformers are more efficient at higher frequencies so a smaller transformer can be used to do the same work if run at a higher frequency. Instead of the the mains 50Hz, the inverter produces a high frequency which is used to feed the transformer. They still have a duty cycle though so if you do lots of welding you need to check that out.

doggypaddle · 14 June 2010, 11:44

[quote=They still have a duty cycle though so if you do lots of welding you need to check that out. [/quote]

The 200 amp ones on fleabay claim 100% @150amps i thought that was fairly good.
better than the el-cheapo transformer stick sets.
i had an old SIP non fan cooled 140 amp one, on a hot day that would burn one 3.25mm then sulk for an hour!!

jwalker · 14 June 2010, 12:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

The 200 amp ones on fleabay claim 100% @150amps i thought that was fairly good.

Very good. If you're using it for TIG boat stuff, you'll rarely be more than 50amps.

Quote:

..better than the el-cheapo transformer stick sets.
i had an old SIP non fan cooled 140 amp one, on a hot day that would burn one 3.25mm then sulk for an hour!!

Yep, I've still got one o them, came from Asda about 30 years ago.

doggypaddle · 14 June 2010, 13:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Very good. If you're using it for TIG boat stuff, you'll rarely be more than 50amps.
Yep, I've still got one o them, came from Asda about 30 years ago.

Ive still got one too, not my oricinal sip though, its a newer clarke 50% duty at 120A....its got a 6" 150 watt cyclone axial fan lashed on the back though! its damn near 100% duty cycle nowwhen flat out at 190A

need to remember to turn it off though when using the mig as well , the arc welder will blow the gas away across the garage noisy too,

The other proplem with the 190 amp one too it really too big for a 13 amp socket. still cant blow a fuse if you aint got one!

Nos4r2 · 14 June 2010, 14:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

Can you get straight Argon argoshield then? IIRC it was called something different? I might be wrong but i thought Argoshield was just the mixed gas for welding steel, and plain Argon for ali and stainless had another trade name?

You can use argoshield for stainless with no worries-when I was training on tig we used nothing else at the college.