New Tig Welder Help

[lem0nmonkey]

Hi, picked up my new welder yesterday, know the basic principles but the welder didnt come with an instruction book, so a little unsure on all the settings for the welder, IE what switch does what,

heres some pics of the front and rear panel,

if any knows where i could source an instruction book that would be great, welder is about 8-10 years old apparently but it seems draper rebrand these in the uk so a draper book might be useful,

also mainly going to be using it to fabricate exhuasts and manifolds, what tungsten rods and filler etc should i use? also the reg on it is for argon/co2 mix, and think i should be using pure argon for the stainless, and i'd like to purge the manifolds so what sort of setup would is use for that, prob gonna use disposable bottles to start?

cheers

karl

 

[hotrodder]

Top left is process selector- left to right is 2 step TIG, 4 step TIG and MMA. Below the main amperage dial from left to right is preflow, slope down and post flow. Torch goes in negative/work clamp in positive, pure argon for everything with TIG (regulator is marked argon/CO2 as the same reg can be used for both argon and argon CO2 mixs), might get around 10mins arc time from disposables if you don't make to many stop/starts (postflow)

Filler for mild steel, A15 or A18 is what you want to ask for- A18 flows better, A15 contains more deoxidisers and is a little 'pasty' by comparison. For the sort of work you plan on 316L will cover you for stainless filler (304 and 316 base metal although 308 is the right stuff for welding 304), 309 for stainless for mild

Any flavour tungsten except pure and zirconiated will work fine, make sure that grinding marks run axially for a stable arc. Purging was discussed recently, plenty of other threads on the subject too

 

[lem0nmonkey]

so i can keep the reg, think its for a big bottle got a half inch brass screw thread, so where would i obtain a larger size argon bottle and what would the approx costs be? based near bournemouth,

so how does the 2 step and 4 step tig switch work? and the pre flow slope down etc work, i'm guessing its a scratch start machine as theres no sign of HF but there is a trigger in the torch?

 

[pedrobedro]

2T you press the torch button and keep it pressed till you stop then release it, 4T you press and release to start then press and release to stop. Pre flow starts gas before arc ignition to cover weld and slope down is gradual at end to avoid craters while post flow covers weld as it cools. It could be a lift arc or scratch you'll have to experiment. The big green switch you must figure out for yourself Disposable bottles will be gone in a blink and even faster if you run a purge. You need a Y adaptor and 2 flow meters to set your weld and purge pressures and you'll need some bungs or gaffer tape to block the ends of your pipes to keep the purge gas in.

 

[hotrodder]

With the option of 2T/4T i suspect it'll offer lift start at least (scratch start generally means torch is permantly live), with the tungsten resting on the work press the torch button arc will start as you lift the tungsten off the work. Primary role for postflow is to protect the tungsten from oxidising, an often quoted rule of thumb is 1sec/10A but it can be a bit excessive at higher currents (for watercooled torches at least) and i'd certainly not drop it below 3secs. Basically if the tungsten changes colour (oxidises) you need more postflow. Set the preflow to 0.5sec and forget about it, slope down you'll have to experiment with- amperage, technique and material have an effect

Plenty of info in the 'shielding gas' forum including topics on alternative gas suppliers (the usual suspects being BOC and AirProducts) and a gas price spreadsheet.

Edit: if you haven't already have a good read of http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/improving-your-skills/tig/

 

[lem0nmonkey]

ok, so big bottle of argon then, i'll look in the gas page bit for info on that, and y peice and flow metes for the back purge, think i understand all the settings now, does the gas flow start when i press the the trigger? hence the controls for the post preflow.

thanks for the link, really useful, will be bookmarking that one,

 

[lem0nmonkey]

ok, with the welder the guy also gave me a load of tungsten and different shrouds,

the various shrouds

and the torch that came with it, its a WP17

what does what? i'm guessing the reds for stainless and mild steel, but what about the thicker ones? when would you use differnent size tungsten, for larger amp when using thicker metal?

is there anything i should know about the torch?

what do the different shrouds us for? theres 5's 7's and the thinner ones, i'm imagine that some are for tig and some for mma?

cheers

karl

 

[shenion]

All are for TIG, MMA does not use the torch.

Use the Miller TIG calculator. That will tell you the size of the shroud and tungsten you need.

 

[lem0nmonkey]

cool, thanks for that,

karl