following line of weld between 2 sheets of metal

[grandads_shed]

hi i have just bought a new clarke 135te turbo mig.

it works great, i have no experiance of welding, and find this welder is easy to use.
i can now get a fairly good weld after only a few hours use.

but i have 1 problem,
i can not see the line where 2 sheets of metal are butted together.
some times i can just about see it.
i have tried a high setting (high 2) on the power amps switches as well as min 1. and those in between.

i have tried 2mm steel and 1mm steel sheets

i have a auto darkening mask, this is set to number 9 on the shade control, i have a swtch on the mask for tig on one side and mig excetra on the other side. this is set to mig.


i have to say thank you to the people on here as i have been reading these postings for a few days and have found the replies very helpful

 

[Iain Westland]

can be hard at times, make sure your work piece is fairly well illuminated and that you can see the ARC easily, also look from the lip side

Iain

 

[rtbcomp]

Increse the ambient lighting and/or put a chalk line alongside where you want to weld.

 

[grandads_shed]

thanks m8s, i will try one of those spotlights, and the chalk line.

not sure that i know what u mean by (lip side)

when welding at (1 min) i cannot see the weld pool, is this normal? (1 min is 30amp)

 

[Iain Westland]

should be able to see the pool on a 9 setting sure the helmets playing right? if your over lapping metal the lip is from the lower sidelooking at the upper

Iain

 

[grandads_shed]

should be able to see the pool on a 9 setting sure the helmets playing right? Iain

dont know m8 but it is new i only bought it last week.
if i use the low power setting on the welder will it be ok to turn the switch on the mask to tig?
if i do will it make any difference?

 

[Iain Westland]

NO, from what I gather the Tig light is less potent, its a more refined process. I use a BOC switcher helmet, 10/11 are the only settings I have and even at the Clarkes (160EN) setting I can follow the line when welding, but if the ambient lighting is low then it gets a lot harder. One of the car inspection lamps that run off the battery (12V, 24W bulb) makes a huge difference when under the car.

Iain

 

[Paul.]

if i use the low power setting on the welder will it be ok to turn the switch on the mask to tig?
if i do will it make any difference?

I think you'll find the Tig setting is just a delay function, some helmets don't work well with DC Tig and will switch on and off, the delay switch keeps the screen dark for slightly longer after the helmet has switched off, by which time it will have switched back on again, so you have less chance of the lense flickering, to help you see a little better try an http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/Auto_Helmets/auto_helmets.htmleasy-light 6th item down here,

 

[Mad Mick]

Hi G Shed,what I do is tickle a shallow line along the join with a thin cutting disc,and the nice shiny line is dead easy to follow!This also works well on multi run fillets,particularly on open corner joints on heavy plate when you grind a line along the toe of each preceding weld.Hope this helps,regards,Mick

 

[FRANKIE BOY]

cheater lense

you can get a thing called a "cheater lense".... it magnifies the weld area to see it more easily.. can also get cheap glasses at "Boots"....... 3 times magnification....... or put bright light shining on the job as other poster advised.......... you can also get a 5 to 13 helmet... for lower amps....

al the best Frankie.......

 

[grandads_shed]

thanks every one .
tried the chalk but could not see it through the lens.
angle grinded a line but again could not see the line through the lens.
tried a light "from only about one foot away" shinning on the metal made a bit of a differance but not much.


even with the mask set to number 9.