I got a New Tig welder

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:11 am
Ok well I been doing a little playing around with the new toy now.
First thing I did was throw away the ground clamp it came with and installed a new Heavy duty solid Brass ground clamp, I do this on all my welders.

Image


I have also broke down and finally purchased a gas lens kit, I got a kit with Large and small Gas Lens with a large assortment of Cups. 1/16 3/16 and 1/8 Tungsten sizes.
I cant believe how expensive 2% Thoriated is getting and Purchased more before its gone forever, Wish I could get more 1/8" but at $30 for a box of ten I cant do too many right now ouch! I will say the Gas lens has allowed me to extend my Tungsten out further, I like that!
I have also been Playing with the Pulse feature more and am still having problems getting my head wrapped around making it work for me, I Broke down and started playing with some thicker material requiring more amps suddenly things get much easier! lol
Leave it to me to try and Jump into a new welder practicing with a Bunch of 18 gauge lol No I don't like to do anything easy lol !

I haven't played with the 2T or 4T from the handle yet But I am sure working inside the cars its gonna be invaluable!

Oh and I absolutely HATE the Water cooled Torch the welder came with, Hate it!
I want my Randor Flex head back! Being right handed and my wrist being fully fused not having a welding head that your able to position to were your comfortable sucks big time.
So I have been shopping for a New Torch.
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 12:28 pm
I personally don`t have a wireless pedal, but I got to use one many times when I was helping out at the local vo-tech school, as far as I know miller and Lincoln make them and yes they are expensive !!......yep I tell everybody , throw away the ground that comes with the welder , buy the style that you bought......Dennis I have a C/K brand torch, a 9/20..water-cooled with a flexible head, .... my next purchase will be from a company called tigcontrol .com makes a torch with a button on it for when you can`t use a pedal, not sure if they make one for the everlast welder yet......it got great reviews and cost around 200.00 .....miller and Lincoln also make their own style.... Dennis now that you have an inverter style machine , try using 2% lanthinated tungsten, it can be used for aluminum and steel and stainless



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 5:23 pm
The water cooled Torch that came with the Everlast has the switch on the side for 2T and 4T welding, I also purchased an Air cooled swivel head separately from Everlast and it has the switch too. I am sure I could use the air cooled torch just fine and like it more But I got so used to the Randor Flex head on my Miller really nice torch for a air cooled torch.

By the way the button on my Everlast stuff is just a Tye wrapped on they are supposedly working on a deal to start getting the European style with the switch in the handle. I bet you could make any open closed switch work if you had the right cable and connector for your machine I have also seen the switch with cable and connector sold separately.

All my Torches are wp 17,18, 26
was looking at the wp 9,20,25 stuff
Problem is I have already amassed so many extras now for the 17,18,26 style I would have to start over buying all the stuff for the wp 9,20,25....
I guess a guy really should have both in many ways the 9,20,25 is capable of being set up so small and that has real advantages to getting into tight places. Not to mention lighter I like that idea!

Right now I am wondering if I can just change out the head of my water cooled torch for the Randor head instead of buying one as a complete kit with hose kit with it ?
Sure save me more than a few bucks. also it would be a quick way to get into the wp 9,20,25 stuff as well????
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:07 pm
norunz wrote: Dennis now that you have an inverter style machine , try using 2% lanthinated tungsten, it can be used for aluminum and steel and stainless


I tried Lanthianted In my Miller for steel and it absolutely hated it,
I also tried pure tungsten on Aluminum with the Miller and it would do it but It liked the Thoriated for alum much better. From what I understand its not unusual to have two exact same machines and one of them not like to weld with certain types of Tungsten?
I didn't really have very good luck with either of them But the thoriated worked great for both that's why I stuck with it in the new machine. i will give it a try though and see if the new machine likes it. ?
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 12:57 am
Doright wrote: cant beat that deal dang! that's cheap! 200 Amps AC/DC with Pulse less than $700 wow!
The accessory's are a little different and the front panel is a little different but the box is identical to my New Ever-last at double the money, I would be a bit surprised if they were made in same place with same parts.


One of the differences between the import brands, Everlast and Longevity included, is the import brands don't do their own engineering and design. They can pick options from components that the manufacturer sells as well as the colors and for some machines case design elements. There are only a handful of places over there making welders. it's probably from the same plant.



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:31 am
Doright wrote:The water cooled Torch that came with the Everlast has the switch on the side for 2T and 4T welding,

[snip]

I guess a guy really should have both in many ways the 9,20,25 is capable of being set up so small and that has real advantages to getting into tight places. Not to mention lighter I like that idea!


Many of the guys doing pro chassis and cage fab don't use a 4T switch. They either use a hand controller as mentioned in the post above or some of the hardcore old timers manipulate the pedal with knees, between the legs, what have you. I can't do that. For 4T to work best you need to know prior to use what the settings need to be. If you're doing repetitive work if can be good. For example if you were welding around tubing in a cage on more or less the same kind of joint/thickness. If you're neck deep in a car not really knowing what you'll be doing one bead to the next it won't work as well. In that case a hand remote may work better.

I've got both WP9 and WP17, a straight and flex of each with a variety of gas lenses. I hear you on the not wanting to change. Your machine is big enough to do thick enough AL that you will need a torch cooler for anything approaching 200 amps. After a bit at 150 amps mine get hot even with mild steel but that's about the rating of the torch anyway. I've got Weldcraft/Miller torches but the CK stuff is pretty good as well. I wouldn't water cool the smaller torch unless you are going to run it a bunch, I haven't been able to run a hot enough bead with it to need one. At that point I'm usually on the bigger flex torch and with a flood lens and a big tungsten stick out I can get around to places only the 9 would go before.



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PostPosted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:27 am
vegasloki wrote:Many of the guys doing pro chassis and cage fab don't use a 4T switch. They either use a hand controller as mentioned in the post above or some of the hardcore old timers manipulate the pedal with knees, between the legs, what have you. I can't do that. For 4T to work best you need to know prior to use what the settings need to be. If you're doing repetitive work if can be good. For example if you were welding around tubing in a cage on more or less the same kind of joint/thickness. If you're neck deep in a car not really knowing what you'll be doing one bead to the next it won't work as well. In that case a hand remote may work better.



Not sure what you mean by Hand remote? I know what 2T & 4T is and using the Torch remote switch.
I cant imagine a good chassis builder not using or least wanting to use 2T or 4T inside the car, Trying to position ones self inside the car and getting comfortable is hard enough throw in a bunch of roll cage tube and it gets harder if not impossible then to try and use a foot pedal ? OMG! I would be learning that 2T and 4T fast!
And its not hard to know what to set the machine up for a certain material your working with there is always scrap laying around to practice with on the side before a money weld.

Jody and Justin can Explain it better than I can,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3vBH59VF0s
Justin has an even better explanation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzPrZb0oXT4
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:49 am
https://tigcontrol.com/
this is the one I`m looking at to purchase....and I can stay on 2t



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PostPosted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:07 pm
If you had to make presets and test on scrap when building a car you'd never get anything done. Plus climbing in and out of the tube frame can be a chore. The guys I know in the cage and chassis generally don't use 4T even though they have top of the line equipment.

A hand controller is like what is posted in the link above. It's a potentiometer that replaces the pedal and allows you control the heat with your hand instead of a pedal.



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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 1:01 pm
That's pretty cool, and for $240 buck I might try one some day, i saw a few different ones yesterday when shopping for a wp20 torch one had a wheel another had slider one with a belt type slider many different types out their all did same thing, did away with foot control and put a way to control amperage at your finger tip or thumb.

The way I was Taught to weld You always always do a Practice on the material your welding first, I am not welding the same material day after day, The idea that it takes to long to do a practice bead first is ludicrous in my opinion. If your welding the same stuff day after day you know what the machine needs for a set up and you also know what to expect from the same material when you weld the same thing day after day in a production environment type setting and no it really would be beneficial. But at same time I know plenty of Pro welders in the aviation industry that always do a Practice run first to set up and check welder settings before a Money weld especially if and when scrap of the same material & thickness is available, Better to mess up on scrap than to destroy or make a mess of a part that costs Tens of thousands of dollars to replace its just a good practice.
You can do what ever you want Its just the way I was taught as a best practice and some thing I have always done and always will do.
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.
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