New roll, amazing!

[Arclikeharrypotter]

I took your last setting and I welded possibly half an inch before I couldn't stand it any more!

10.4m/m and 20.4v gave me these, nothing to write home about but nice easy welding, could do with refining but it's close enough for tonight

 

[Davek0974]

10.4m/m is about 410 IPM no?

I can't get near that - 340 IPM maxed out.

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

Yes that's correct, max out your wire feed and then dial back your voltage until you find a nice setting, I was probably on the hot side of 3mm,

 

[Davek0974]

I'll have a go tomorrow night, ta.

 

[normspanners]

its got an adjustable one, seems not to make too much difference though, usually i just leave it half way.

Is that the answer then the arc force is not adjusting, because adjusting that setting should help with the spatter?

inductance controls can enhance the transfer to minimize spatter and promote a flatter weld profile.

 

[normspanners]

My old lincoln had a real adjustable choke and I could weld body work with 1mm wire then go to 16mm plate, still using 1mm on spray, mind you it would go to 600A continuous

 

[Davek0974]

Is that the answer then the arc force is not adjusting, because adjusting that setting should help with the spatter?

Maybe, i will try twiddling it again max-min and see what changes. Its electronic arc-force on these though not a real choke so i have no idea how its supposed to work.

 

[normspanners]

inductance controls can enhance the transfer to minimize spatter and promote a flatter weld profile.

IMO It should make a difference is it maybe worth a call to r tech to ask the question, it should be easy- ish to bodge one to test, a piece of old cast drain pipe and wrap the earth lead round it a few turns might just help smooth the supply of the dc, they are adjustable by winding the core in or out through the coil so therefore more winds or less adjusts it.

a quote from shenion

The inductor on the output is needed for short-arc (dip) mode. Without it, when the wire touches the weld pool, it the current surges way up and chunks of wire melt off and the weld pool splashes out. Then the arc forms but the current drops significantly. So there is no "wetting" of the weld pool. With the choke, current builds up until the end of the wire melts and it pinches off a droplet. Then an arc starts and the energy stored in the choke maintains the current to "wet" out the weld pool.

 

[Davek0974]

would a lump of steel bar work - got lots of that but chance of finding CI drain pipe probably nil these days

 

[normspanners]

when they renovated the house opposite I pulled quite a few pieces of down spout out, of the scrap for that reason.
and we are repairing some cast gutters at the moment for a grade 2 building, so it is still out there. thats why I mentioned it might be some in local scrappy an old transformer core will work, not sure about solid steel,
hang on what about a reel of steel wire like galv fencing wire or a bunch of thin steel strips and just wrap the earth or a car jumper lead around one portion of it, like a feritte ring, to form a coil

just had an idea, an old brake disc with the centre opened out ! to get the lead through

 

[Davek0974]

Ah now i see what you mean, needs to be a ring not a bar, will have a search....

 

[normspanners]

Ah now i see what you mean, needs to be a ring not a bar, will have a search....

doesnt need to be a ring just easier i thought

this is a std choke in a welder the simple coil round the soft iron core

 

[Davek0974]

Thanks in that case i might have some nasty iron bar at home - that should do it for a test.

No idea how an electronic choke would work though, possibly messes with the waveform or adds AC to the mix, only so much you can do with a DC supply.?

 

[Davek0974]

Ok, so i'll play with the choke tonight etc

But, just for removed 'n giggles, what IS a good welder?

Lets keep it real now,

say under £2k,

want to have capability for steel, alu, stainless if possible

240v supply @ max 20A

Good for general fab work

Anyone want to throw some names in the hat ????

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

I've a thermal arc 211i is a good machine, but really for that sort of budget you'll end up with a really nice not set!

Think that puts you in the realm of a ewm picomig but only 180A
Esab rebel, know a few people that have them and they really rate them very highly!
Anything from fronius, ewm or lorch will be very nice indeed!

 

[normspanners]

No idea how an electronic choke would work though, possibly messes with the waveform or adds AC to the mix, only so much you can do with a DC supply.?

It does just the opposite, it reduces the ac 'wave' in the dc signal and smooths it and slows pulses of voltage that causes 'blow out' of the weld pool and make the voltage supply more consistent, read---- shenions quote above
Btw I am sorry to keep on about it are you sure the polarity is correct and have looked inside the machine to confirm this.


The lincoln welding guide says...

Inductance plays a role in the frequency of droplet transfer per unit of time: as the inductance increases, the frequency of short-circuit metal transfer decreases. Each droplet contains more energy and toe wetting improves. As the inductance decreases, the shortcircuit events increase, and the size of the molten droplet decreases. The objective for the variable inductance control feature, on any given power source, is to transfer the smallest molten droplet possible with the least amount of spatter, and with sufficient energy to ensure good fusion.

 

[Seadog]

A choke is actually a current control device. It uses a property called 'Inductive Reactance', which you can loosely call 'A.C. resistance', to limit the instantaneous change of current, so in effect creates a constant current to the rod.
The measured value changes with frequency, current and inductance and is called the 'Impedance'. The electronic choke is just simulating a physical component and gives you variation at the twist of a knob, rather than having to physically wind a core in or out of the choke. It can more easily provide a wider range of effective Inductance than a physical choke.

 

[normspanners]

The electronic choke is just simulating a physical component and gives you variation at the twist of a knob,

but he says this feature doesnt seem to have an effect, so that to me asks the question is it working ??
so by introducing a physical choke if that works it answers a question.

 

[normspanners]

The old buzz boxes used to adjust the power by screwing the soft iron core in or out so altering the current it is not all about resistance though,

which you can loosely call 'A.C. resistance'

as much as introducing induced voltage further along the coil

 

[Davek0974]

I'll double check the polarity.

The diagram does show a choke - they call it a reactor on the sheet but its fixed so any jiggery-pokery must be done in the PSU stages, before the final rectifier pair.