Bad day!

[smegal]

Bad day! Any advice?

Excuse the essay but I want to vent some frustration.

Today has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

I broke my N95

Then I went to a local engineers to pick up an intercooler for my car that I had welded . After that I managed to source a bottle of argoshield. :P

Went home, had a nap.

Tried my bottle out. Couldn't get my new gauge to seal to the bottle

Once I got that sealed (with me holding the bottle whilst my stepdad tightened the nut) I started to have a play. Straight away I welded the tip up. No problem I just got the pliers out and sorted it out.

Started again. Same again. This time the tip was too far gone. Took the shroud off and tried to unscrew the tip SNAP (although less dramatic).

Dashed off to machine mart to get a new swan neck liner only to find that the clarke hobby range is different to Sealey


How come when using CO2 on the same settings the tip was fine but as soon as Argoshield was used the tip kept getting welded up?

Also is it safe to keep a cylinder in a garage underneath a bedroom?

 

[pauld]

I managed to weld the tip up a couple of times when I was starting out.... get a file out and give it a quick file and you should be able to release the wire.

 

[Iain Westland]

they keep co2 in bar cellars so no prob, the heat settings could be dif between the two gasses. never used co2 so cant say, but try wire speed about 5 on the lowest setting on some scrap.

every time you change something (gas type/wire thickness/type of material etc) you should play about with some scrap to see how it reacts. I always start on lowest power mid wire speed and work from there

iain

 

[shenion]

CO2 runs the tip cooler that argon mixes (notice the duty cycles on torches are higher for CO2 than argon mixes.) CO2 disassociates (breaks down into CO and O) at the tip and absorbs heat. Some recombines at the weld pool and add heat there.

An argon plasma conducts better than CO2. The changes the duty cycle of short arc (the frequency of the "buzz"). You will find you need a higher wire speed and get more current.

 

[smegal]

What am doing wrong?

To save starting a new thread

What am I doing wrong here?This was yesterday with the same set up as today but using mini CO2 bottles.

 

[smegal]

Thanks for your replies. As soon as my new swan neck arrives I'll get back on it.

 

[smegal]

they keep co2 in bar cellars so no prob, the heat settings could be dif between the two gasses. never used co2 so cant say, but try wire speed about 5 on the lowest setting on some scrap.

every time you change something (gas type/wire thickness/type of material etc) you should play about with some scrap to see how it reacts. I always start on lowest power mid wire speed and work from there

iain

I think something is wrong with my MIG I am running it on full speed as it doesn't maintain an arc at lower speeds.

 

[Iain Westland]

wire size/power setting?

 

[smegal]

0.8mm, wire feed at 10 and full power I think

 

[Iain Westland]

right, get a bit of scrap metal. Turn the power right down, wire at mid speed. Not interested in penetration as such right now. How is it welding? pooling, bouncing, burning back? your gonna have to experiment and learn how your machine reacts to the new gas

you need it to pool. It looks like your welds are all on the surface rather than penetrating

Which sealey have you got?

iain

 

[smegal]

It's a MightyMig130xt

As soon as my new swan neck arrives I'll look into it.

I am going to sound like an idiot but I do not understand that terminology. It certainly wasn't pooling.

 

[Iain Westland]

you want the weld to flow, too much wire and it builds up, too little and it will burn through or burn back. Your weld is quite proud so it might be your power level is too high and your having to throw wire at it to stop it burning back.

Most of us here could get a decent weld from most machines, but not instantly. I always start at the bottom power and mid feed on thin metal (1mm).

You could always ask Gandalf for a hand... sorry, couldn't resist

iain

 

[smegal]

To be honest it is all a bit difficult. At school (6 years ago) I did some MIG and it was simple. It has suddenly become more difficult.

One issue with those welds may be that the welder was connected to a 50metre extension lead . So I was in effect making a LARGE electro magnet.

When I changed the gas I also eliminated this variable. My swan neck has been dispatched so I should be back welding again soon.

 

[Iain Westland]

break both your legs badly enough to put you in traction for a month, how hard would your first couple of steps after be? same here, when you get the machine sorted it will fall straight into place.

Took me a couple of days to figure my clarke 160EN out after the snap-on rig got lifted, sweet little machine now

shorter extension lead would help a lot though tbh

iain

 

[smegal]

I have changed that completely for a heavier and MUCH shorter one. I will get there eventually. Thanks for your help

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

One thing comes to mind but I am no expert ... infact in the mig / tig stakes I a baby
This cold weather might be affecting things ..
Say for instance you were able to weld Ok on gas No1 when it was warmer dropping the cylinder temperature 10 or so degrees oC will cause havoc if left at the same settings surely . You would have much colder gas at a greater density surely and it therefore would bleed heat out of the arc.

 

[Marty2005]

I wondered that point as well Pidgeon. However, when you think that the melting point of mild steel is around 1200 degrees C would a difference of 10 degrees air temperature really have that much effect? I haven't a clue myself. Hopefully someone will be along who can answer that one.

 

[smegal]

After replacing the swan neck. My welder as much happier. It doesn't seem to like the thick stuff but seems happy on the thin stuff so all is well.

Thanks to everyone who posted.

 

[rosco454]

Dont know if it helps much but i found that i had a lot more burning back when i switched from co2 to argoshield light (keeping the same settings).

Cheers Ross.

 

[smegal]

Dont know if it helps much but i found that i had a lot more burning back when i switched from co2 to argoshield light (keeping the same settings).

Cheers Ross.

That's reassuring, I thought i was imagining it.