Aye, cheers for the tips :)
I'll have a go when it's not raining and less windy and I can crawl back under mine on my drive... (Two poster? Under cover? Luxury..! ;) )
Oooh.. Can I add that I'd be interested in any hints and tips too?
I've not yet tried to weld on the underside of anything, I think I'm scared of trying... So far I've arranged things so I can weld them from above/inside/anywhere else...
But there are now a couple of bits of welding...
Hmm... well, the machine's "hardly used" so I wouldn't expect loose connections but... you never know. I'll have a look.
I've pinched the earth clamp off the arc set I forgot I had. It's one of those chunky cast ones with a spring at least twice as strong as the pressed steel thing which...
I could pull the cover off mine and have a look, but mine's a later one (Feb. '05 by the dates on some bits inside.)
The thing I'd be concerned about is why that resistor has burned out. Resistors are selected (by competent designers) to comfortably handle the power they're expected to...
Hiya :)
Half the fun of learning to weld is in recognising what you need to do when something goes wrong.
I really haven't been at this long, either; still not finished the first 0.7kg of wire.
So, a few times yesterday, I pull the trigger, the wire moves, touches the work-piece and...
"Yes, but..."
It's fairly easy to work out as the units it's sold in are kWh - kilowatt-hours; a unit which "does what it says on the tin" :)
If you were welding at a power of 1000W, 1kW for an hour, non-stop; that's a unit gone.
But if you're anything like me you might spend 90% of the...
Typo there, that ought to read:
Some illustrative rough numbers... (and assuming smoothed DC output, which it usually isn't...)
Coming out, you could have 185A at 20V = 3700W
Say there's also another 140W being given out as heat from various losses (transformer, rectifier - hence the...
I can tell you what's going on with the fuse. If you're really interested you can find current/time curves for fuses but, basically, they take longer to blow the smaller the overload. A 13A fuse will pass 13A indefinitely. It might last several minutes at a constant 16A. As the overload...
Thanks :)
I'd figured that the transmission tunnel provided some structural rigidity and the sills (in good condition, replaced at some time before I got the car) provided more. I also left the upturned lip of the floor attached to the inner sill to avoid compromising the strength of the...
Hi,
I've yet to start on the thin stuff on my Viva (floor section mostly.) But my limited experience on the now-scrapped BMW was it was all too easy to blow holes even on the lowest setting (25A on my SIP.) I've now watched the 'pulse' technique video and, maybe with more experience and the...
Hi,
Oh go on... I'll be brave and post photos featuring some of my welding... :scared:
As I'm paranoid and this bit's structural I welded two flat sections inside the channel section sides to add a bit of strength first. This photograph shows the first of these sections vaguely attached...
Hi,
Aye, brake cable outer was considered as there's a Halfords within walking distance. A spare Viva bonnet release cable was in some danger, too; until I thought of using curtain wire and found we'd already got a long enough piece.
My torch differed from the one on the Replacing the...
Hi,
Yeah, some parts are hard to find; if my choice of resto were based on parts availability I'd have certain models of Ford or Triumph or maybe a Mini or a VW Beetle or bus. But I just happen to like Vauxhalls...
Early 'high-top' HC front wings are impossible to find in steel though GRP...
Hi,
Thanks for the welcome, folks :)
Paul, I'm not a million miles from the Abbey.
Dave, Joe; I think the wire-feed problems are partly related to when my welder was made. I bought it new mid-2005; there are a few parts with dates on suggesting it was made around February 2005. I've...
Hi,
Since it was this forum which confirmed my suspicions and suggested a few mods might be in order, I thought I'd share what I've done so far.
Wire feed:
I swivelled the spring out from under the adjuster and pressed it while watching what happened. As I noticed that the lower drive...
Hi,
I mentioned in my intro that I had a collection of seventies-Vauxhall-shaped rust.
Exhibit A:
A 1979 HC Viva 1300L; I rescued it from a scrap yard in 1996 and it was my daily driver for five years. I'm currently ignoring it for now and concentrating on the other one. I'd...
Hi,
I stumbled on this site after, guess what? Having wire-feed problems with my SIP...
After a good browse around I figured I'm less likely to have a bunch of hairy blokes laugh at the girlie's pathetic attempts to stick bits of metal together than other places, so thought I'd register...