- Thread starter dazza
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dazza
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I'm not giving up just yet i've bought an ebay special gas lens. Lets see if that will improve things a little.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9Pcs-3-32...203345?hash=item1c89655351:g:55gAAOSw53NY~xmF
I did weld some brackets yesterday i nearly switched to mig as the fit up was crap using my welding clamp only one side of the box was touching and the other three sides had a gap which i usually struggle with but i managed to stick it together.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9Pcs-3-32...203345?hash=item1c89655351:g:55gAAOSw53NY~xmF
I did weld some brackets yesterday i nearly switched to mig as the fit up was crap using my welding clamp only one side of the box was touching and the other three sides had a gap which i usually struggle with but i managed to stick it together.
dazza
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I find the first tack the hardest but if i can get it on there i have something to work from.Tig for me is great for filling gaps as you can just move from one side to the other and fill with the rod as you go
dazza
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The instructions state wp-9 and there is no insulator.
Richard.
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Why don't you give yourself a sporting chance and buy a ck stubby lens. Have a word with @Jim Davey and get him to send you a boat load of quality ck consumables out. It's pretty clear these China lenses from eBay are mixed quality. yes I ordered one and it worked till I killed it. But I wouldn't be dependent on them. Last time I ordered from Jim he was over 25% cheaper than rapid welding on like for like order. Don't Mess about with cheap nasty torch consumables. It's proper false economy.
dazza
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The seller thinks they sent me the correct item so will get a refund and order a better set once i get some cash, if i don't have to sell my welders and tools in the mean time.
Richard.
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In a word ....... YES!
dazza
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Will i get a couple of runs out of it though? Just a test really if it does improve my welding i will add a better one to my christmas list.
Richard.
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You might!
I bought one solely to answer people's questions on them and I found it's limit quite quickly.
Up to 100 amps on dc it performed fine. The O rings were becoming a bit soft but they held out ok
On ac however it was a different kettle of fish. A few 6 inch runs at 100 amps saw those o rings turn to mush so I changed them with some high temp silicon rubber ones and after a few more runs the lens started making funny hissing noises eventually giving me poor gas coverage. Now bear in mind this was performed on an ihead torch which is Water cooled to the neck only. It's rated to 250 amps on dc all day long and probably 200 on ac but lenses and collets get a harder time on it. You might find you get longer life out of them if your torch is head cooled.
One thing I can promise you though it won't improve your welding. How can it do this?? If you think your gas coverage is not right then look for another way to make it right because cheap lenses won't help. Remember tig welding is carried out through out the world on all various materials with a simple collet bodie set up. We use gas lenses to improve our shield quality and reduce our flow rates. Unless your welding spendy exotics they are nice but far from essential. On aluminium and steel they certainly ain't needed. Stainless they ain't needed in most situations but they do make a noticeable difference in the visual appearance.
Richard.
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Daz. Where are we this now?
I have been through the posts in the beginning to end to refresh my memory. You started off well and some clean results. Then you developed striking issues. You tried to over come them by playing with the tungsten pre heat thing which resulted in the electrode suffering.
Then you were getting light shocks off the torch and machine.
Now your struggling with contamination.
One time offer if you would like.
Ship the unit to me
I'll spend my free evenings playing and investigating with it to see if I can get it doing what it should. I'll post my findings on here and write some notes/settings down to go back with it. Once done (successful or not) arrange a courier to come and pick it up and get it back to you.
Now if you are interested please note I'm not responsible for how it's treated in transit either way. I'll use the exact packaging you send it to me in so make it safe and secure.
Don't send me your cooler I'm sure I'll knock something up for that. I don't need your reg either as it won't fit my bottle just machine torch and gas line. Up to you, one time offer let's see if we can't resolve it. If there is an actual machine problem then I can't fix it but I'll know straight away if it's human error/settings/machine error. Your choice.
I have been through the posts in the beginning to end to refresh my memory. You started off well and some clean results. Then you developed striking issues. You tried to over come them by playing with the tungsten pre heat thing which resulted in the electrode suffering.
Then you were getting light shocks off the torch and machine.
Now your struggling with contamination.
One time offer if you would like.
Ship the unit to me
I'll spend my free evenings playing and investigating with it to see if I can get it doing what it should. I'll post my findings on here and write some notes/settings down to go back with it. Once done (successful or not) arrange a courier to come and pick it up and get it back to you.
Now if you are interested please note I'm not responsible for how it's treated in transit either way. I'll use the exact packaging you send it to me in so make it safe and secure.
Don't send me your cooler I'm sure I'll knock something up for that. I don't need your reg either as it won't fit my bottle just machine torch and gas line. Up to you, one time offer let's see if we can't resolve it. If there is an actual machine problem then I can't fix it but I'll know straight away if it's human error/settings/machine error. Your choice.
dazza
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Thanks for the offer Richard, I think i'm just rubbish so it would be a waste of money to post the machine back and forth (money i currently don't have).
Where are we now?
Then you developed striking issues.
Always had striking issues apart from the scabby piece of ally tread plate.
Striking issues still there on a shiny new piece of ally Unless i strike up next to the last bead or resharpen tungsten.
You tried to over come them by playing with the tungsten pre heat thing which resulted in the electrode suffering.
This is always set to 0 now.
Now your struggling with contamination.
Started on a fresh piece of ally and had much less contamination but it does not start as well as the other piece which has been sitting on the bench for months.
I tried the lens and could not get the arc going spluttering and tungsten going black gave up and put the number 6 cup and standard collet body on it.
Richard.
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I actually don't think so. I think looking back through your photos your far from rubbish and if that was the case I certainly wouldn't of made the offer to waste money. It's your call it's your money but I do think there are possible settings issues. Then if there is something your doing wrong in theory if I can get the thing welding beautifully at least that would fill you with confidence that your machine is doing what it should be.
The problem now is you've hit a wall, the result is your tig welding hasn't got any better since you first struck up on Alu. This was almost a year ago. It's not your fault mate as no one can say you haven't tried but you don't have the resources other than YouTube or this forum to go forward. Obviously the local guy would be amazing but if that local guy doesn't exist then im happy to be the un local guy. It might cost you £60 it might be a waste of money and I can't get it going either but looking at your pics I think I can because I see quality welding in need of a fettle. I won't charge you a penny for doing it but it just might be the best £60 you spend this year. I'll post all the info and write you some notes settings advice. Obviously please don't feel pressurised into it. If you can't afford it then I respect that (feeding the family and paying the bills always comes first) also rest assure you can trust me. I'm not gonna run away with your machine. There are members on here that will back me up I'm a man of my word and would never ever rip anyone off.
Have a think and come back to me. Take your time.
dazza
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Rich i trust you 100% your one of the many guys on here that make this forum great!
Its just a lump of a machine and will not be cheap to send from here, sending from uk to spain is much cheaper.
As its free electric day and Richard said i'm far from rubbish i went and started over.
Decided to have a fiddle with the buttons upped the amps to 150 usually its at 140, seemed to help with the start providing i thump the pedal and have hardly and gap between the tungsten and ally.
Usually the frequency is closer to 100 and the balance on -10.
The patch of bad starts here were when the machine was at 140amps.
I tried to work on filling the craters at the end and stop the soot from the first dab. Just cant seem to add the rod at the right time. Top middle has less soot but i added rod when a crater started to appear.
Edit: and i do like the ultima deerskin gloves although things do get a bit toasty and must learn not to pick up the hot metal.
addjunkie
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Do you clean the ali first, stainless wire brush, scotch bright, acetone etc...
How thick is the metal....
Richard is right your far from rubbish....
Maybe you need to throw a welders weekend in the sun, personally I dont think your far away, tweak here, tweak there..
How thick is the metal....
Richard is right your far from rubbish....
Maybe you need to throw a welders weekend in the sun, personally I dont think your far away, tweak here, tweak there..
dazza
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I remove the plastic then wipe with alcohol.
Its 3mm maybe 4 will check tomorrow i think i ordered a mix of 3 and 4mm.
That would be nice
