Does this particular machine 'do' ? You haven't commented on Bigdrew's 3mm sample welds.Plenty do with no issues.
Does this particular machine 'do' ? You haven't commented on Bigdrew's 3mm sample welds.Plenty do with no issues.
Not all welders are created equal , many things can have an effect on what powers available to use ,, power supply is one thats easily overlooked ,,, plug a meter into the mains and watch it while welding , the mains voltage sometimes can be shocking. ,,, [ no pun intended ]Does this particular machine 'do' ? You haven't commented on Bigdrew's 3mm sample welds.
Bit of a delay with this but with the bulbs I've got readings of:Using the general rule that you need 30 to 40 Amps per mm of thickness, or 1 Amp per thousandth of an inch, a 150 Amp MIG should be capable of welding 4mm in a single pass with no prep or gap.
The bead piling on top indicates the voltage is too low to sink the bead. With 38.7v open-circuit on voltage position 6, that should be high enough.
If you have 3 spare 60W H4 car headlight bulbs, wire them in series making 36v, then connect them across the torch tip to the work clamp, measure the 6 voltage steps. Then move the bulb string to inside the machine, at the connections for the torch feed and the return lead exit point, measure again. This is only a 5 Amp load, but it may be enough to identify a possible high resistance where voltage is being lost under load.
Yes, I'd say it does. The inconsistent ones in pic 2 look a bit iffy but all the ones in pic 3 look fine.Does this particular machine 'do' ? You haven't commented on Bigdrew's 3mm sample welds.
I was thinking about this very post yesterday ,,, putting a 2.5mm plate on a chassis for an mot this morning , Running a Sealey 180 at 5 out of 6 on the power setting and just doing ok . In fact I had about five mins to think about it while I was waiting for the thermal trip to reset . So I had a cup of tea and a nice biscuit and thought , i wasnt far off.Yes, I'd say it does. The inconsistent ones in pic 2 look a bit iffy but all the ones in pic 3 look fine.
Clean plate on a clean chassis and there'd be no issues at all, I'd say.
Thanks for this advice which allowed me to confirm that I had correctly interpreted the instructions for setting the power switches on my SIP. My six readings ranged from 18.9 to 32.7.Thanks for the voltage readings. They look OK, with consistent increases between the steps. I guess hobby-level machines need a higher voltage because they have a less-rugged build - i.e. thinner wire on the secondary winding, using aluminium rather than copper, thinner cable in the torch and work return lead, all of which makes for higher resistance in the output circuit.
Try increasing the wire speed to the maximum usable setting - just before it is stubbing the wire on the work and pushing the torch back. Higher wire speed provides more amps, and also may eliminate the ball on the end of the MIG wire.
The low voltage that you see without pressing the trigger is because the torch lead is "borrowed" for one side of the power-on relay circuit, with the thin single-wire trigger switch connection, so that is normal.
If possible, use the welder without an extension lead, or use a short heavy-duty one, with 2.5mm2 cable.