Hello all! I'm new to the forum and I have little experience welding - MMA only and it's been messy but functional. I've just picked up a CT520 TIG/MMA/Plasma machine rated at 200A TIG/MMA and 50A Plasma with HF start to gain some skills. It's 2nd hand with some puzzling issues I could use some clarification on.
It came with a foot pedal that wouldn't turn off consistantly.When the pedal was plugged in with it's 7 pin connector (not sure what they're called) a HF electrical noise could be heard from the machine and I got a shock when I touched the TIG torch connector to check it was on properly and not blowing.
When I got the machine home I took the pedal apart, adjusted the microswitch and fixed that issue. Then I adjusted the travel on the pedal and the start and end points of the main pot to get full range from it as it was set up all wrong. When I tested it I realised the amp adjustment is backward. Instead of it starting with low amps when touching the pedal and increasing as you put your foot down it does the complete opposite. It starts high amps and gets lower as the pedal is depressed. . it has one main pot actuated via pedal action and another one wired in line adjustable by hand to use as a range limiter to the main pot. I checked the soldered connections on the pots, connector itself and inside the box and all looks factory with shrink tube. Could the factory have made such a mistake? The seller didn't seem to notice and wasn't keen on using this pedal and had upgraded to an AC/DC machine with a new pedal. I'm thinking of switching the connections at the main pot or switching over the pins in the connector. Which seems the better way to go?
Another Q?: when I hit the trigger on the torch or push the pedal to start HF in TIG mode the amps reading on the digital display drop from the set 230A (which is it's max although it should be 200A according to spec.) to say 140A. Does the HF start function reduce amperage when creating an arc and then increase Amps once there is an arc or is there a bug? I can't fully test this as I've no argon at the mo or can I get an arc going without any gas just to test this out? I'm using a regular household plug socket so max 16A, pobably 13A. Could that have something to do with it? It's not a 3 phase machine.
Yet more Q's: The digital display only reads 100A when turned up fully in MMA mode even though it should be 200A. In plasma mode it only goes up to 43A when it should be 50A.
What could be causing this? Could the amp pot be the problem? When it's set and left idle you can see the amps reading fluctuate down and back up by around 5A or so.
I had similar issues with pots before on other gear and replaced pots which solved the problems.
I've struck arcs using 2.5mm rods at 20A with no problem and almost blown through 5mm steel at 80A.
Could it be a digital read out issue? Can I test the actual amperage it's able to give out safely in either MMA or TIG mode? Can it be fixed or does it not need fixing am I missing something? User manual is simplistic and offers no answers.
The electrical noise I discovered are the arcs at the points in the machine.
When I was testing the HF TIG function pedal / torch, LED x-mas lights 20m away in another room began flickering on / off. They were'nt even plugged in! It woke up my Girlfriend otherwise I wouldn't have known.
I breifly tested this machine's plasma and tig function before buying. Plasma seemed ok and cut through a 3 or 4mm piece of steel with no dross. TIG worked although I blew through the "work piece" & quickly destroyed a cup - amp setting way too high - <80A.
I've got a simple project I need to do involving welding 1.8mm steel tube and I've gotta get a steep learning curve going. Does this machine sound like it's OK to work with or should I get rid and find something bug free? Have I bought a lemon? Sorry for the long winded post. Any help, advice, tips appreciated.
It came with a foot pedal that wouldn't turn off consistantly.When the pedal was plugged in with it's 7 pin connector (not sure what they're called) a HF electrical noise could be heard from the machine and I got a shock when I touched the TIG torch connector to check it was on properly and not blowing.
When I got the machine home I took the pedal apart, adjusted the microswitch and fixed that issue. Then I adjusted the travel on the pedal and the start and end points of the main pot to get full range from it as it was set up all wrong. When I tested it I realised the amp adjustment is backward. Instead of it starting with low amps when touching the pedal and increasing as you put your foot down it does the complete opposite. It starts high amps and gets lower as the pedal is depressed. . it has one main pot actuated via pedal action and another one wired in line adjustable by hand to use as a range limiter to the main pot. I checked the soldered connections on the pots, connector itself and inside the box and all looks factory with shrink tube. Could the factory have made such a mistake? The seller didn't seem to notice and wasn't keen on using this pedal and had upgraded to an AC/DC machine with a new pedal. I'm thinking of switching the connections at the main pot or switching over the pins in the connector. Which seems the better way to go?
Another Q?: when I hit the trigger on the torch or push the pedal to start HF in TIG mode the amps reading on the digital display drop from the set 230A (which is it's max although it should be 200A according to spec.) to say 140A. Does the HF start function reduce amperage when creating an arc and then increase Amps once there is an arc or is there a bug? I can't fully test this as I've no argon at the mo or can I get an arc going without any gas just to test this out? I'm using a regular household plug socket so max 16A, pobably 13A. Could that have something to do with it? It's not a 3 phase machine.
Yet more Q's: The digital display only reads 100A when turned up fully in MMA mode even though it should be 200A. In plasma mode it only goes up to 43A when it should be 50A.
What could be causing this? Could the amp pot be the problem? When it's set and left idle you can see the amps reading fluctuate down and back up by around 5A or so.
I had similar issues with pots before on other gear and replaced pots which solved the problems.
I've struck arcs using 2.5mm rods at 20A with no problem and almost blown through 5mm steel at 80A.
Could it be a digital read out issue? Can I test the actual amperage it's able to give out safely in either MMA or TIG mode? Can it be fixed or does it not need fixing am I missing something? User manual is simplistic and offers no answers.
The electrical noise I discovered are the arcs at the points in the machine.
When I was testing the HF TIG function pedal / torch, LED x-mas lights 20m away in another room began flickering on / off. They were'nt even plugged in! It woke up my Girlfriend otherwise I wouldn't have known.
I breifly tested this machine's plasma and tig function before buying. Plasma seemed ok and cut through a 3 or 4mm piece of steel with no dross. TIG worked although I blew through the "work piece" & quickly destroyed a cup - amp setting way too high - <80A.
I've got a simple project I need to do involving welding 1.8mm steel tube and I've gotta get a steep learning curve going. Does this machine sound like it's OK to work with or should I get rid and find something bug free? Have I bought a lemon? Sorry for the long winded post. Any help, advice, tips appreciated.