Never did get this sorted.......the 135TE that I bought as a `stop gap' however , is still going strong despite only ever getting used at max setting.......
Yep - thats it ! I tried this technique and it works for me :D
So tonight I figured the best practice would be to make something I want for my car - there is an alloy cowl-mounted washer bottle available , but whenever they come up for sale I have no money.......so tonight I made one !
Its not...
Happy days indeed ! I did run out of gas , but I found a BOC agent open this morning , and had another go .
The foot pedal problem was simple......it was me being a numpty and not pressing hard enough.......also not setting the current high enough - thanks for the tip Wendelspanswick
Having just this week got one of these fine machines set up , this thread has proved invaluable - untill a few days ago I had done a whole five minutes of ally welding.......
I scrounged some 1.5mm off-cuts from my local sheet metal place , and while it would be fair to say I should get better...
I have a foot pedal , but there seems to a problem with it - tried it tonight , and on full pressure it wont start a weld puddle - its if its just not delivering full current .
The sound does change as the peddle is moved up and down , but at no point will it start a weld ?
Tonight I found time to plug in the shiny new AC/DC 160 Rtech welder that has been sat on the bench for the last couple of weeks , and to say I'm a bit happy would be an understatement !
I did a couple of small runs to find a setup that would work , then joined two lengths of 2mm sheet I had...
Its an old fashioned needle on a scale type of multimeter - dunno if that makes any difference ?
If its a capacitor causing the voltage , could that same capacitor be causing my problems ? I had a try at welding with it tonight , and although it will weld , the welds are porous and `bubbly' with...
Holy thread resurrection batman ! I finally got round to testing the voltage at the torch - and there is something funny going on.......the voltage at the tip is between 20 and 36 , but there is about 8 volts at the torch - before the trigger is pressed .
That cant be right , surely - isnt it...
Its actually lighter than the stock 1.6 engine , also the tubular subframe is about 6Kgs lighter as well , plus I've binned the power steering and aircon......so probably 30Kgs removed from the front end !
Hiya Matt :waving: Yep , its a bit of a monster - at a shade over 200bhp I'd say its about right (and unlike a turbo there is plenty of power from tickover right up to 8000rpm.......with a very flat torque curve )
I'm hoping I dont get too busy - I already need more than 24 hours in a day cuz...
I hope I can make it work - but I wont get a chance to try it out till the car these are going on is finished , and I get to start the next one........
I did get the other jig (for the drivers side) finished -
That was great - I watched the whole series (some of them 3 or 4 times...) and then collected some steel channel and a big bag of exhaust clamps......
Then I got a busy in the shed
I found too late that I didnt have any 50mm exhaust clamps , so cant finish this one till tomorrow...
Its a Mazda KLDE out of an Mx6 , fitted to the Mx5 `box with an adapter plate - this is mine , the exhausts above are for the next one........and if I can work out how to reproduce the manifolds there will be many more !
I've been a bit busy in the shed , doing another Mx5 V6 conversion - I've finished the exhaust manifolds , but really need some way of repaeting them without having a part-built car to test fit them on .
So the question is - does anyone have any ideas or photos of ways of doing this ?
Heres...
I've been getting up at 6 , and welding in my shed till it gets just too hot (about 11 when the sun is full-on the side of the shed) .
Then going back out around 8pm and working till 10.....trying hard not to upset the neighbors (while trying to catch up on the back-log of subframe orders....)...
Fizzy , porous , loads of splatter - just what you get when you forget to turn the gas on ! But it also seems to be intermittent - it wont do a continuous bead , just blobs .
With the gas turned up a bit , I can feel the flow of gas out of the shroud...... There are no leaks anywhere - but not knowing exactly how a mig welder works means I cant begine to figure out what may be wrong .
It behaves as if there is no gas , but there definitely is gas - I weld OK with...
I've been welding since about 1987..............so yeah , I think I can weld ! I'm just starting a batch of Mx5 tubular subframes , and the 130T I bought when this one packed up just isnt up to the job (all 3mm plate , and 2mm wall tube) as I find it just hasnt got the fine adjustment of the 160...