Sip 130 - a couple of questions

[Boris113]

Hi all I'm a relative newby to welding so apologies for any stupid questions.

A mate of mine has recently bought a big Migatronic welder and said I could have his old SIP 130 which wasn't working. After changing the fuse in the plug it's working again He used to run it on Argoshield, but I want to run it on CO2 because I can get it cheap through work and won't be using it enough to justify annual rental - if I can find a local outright buy place then would it be worth using something like argoshield over CO2?

I had a go at connecting it on to a pub-size CO2 can, but the unions seem to be a different size- is the bottle a strange one or does the union on the welder need changing?

After having a look at the CO2 can, there is a blanking cap on the other side of the tap which appears to be the correct size to attach to the welder, would I be better to use this side of the tap and find a blanking cap for the other side.

I had a search around on here, and will probably get a siflite helmet from weldequip, but could anyone recommend a decent 2 gauge regulator? Ideally I will upgrade to a Portamig in a couple of years so if I can get one that will also be suitable for that it would be ideal.


Harry

 

[weldequip]

The gas pipe from the machine connects to a Regulator which connects to the gas cylinder; you have to step down the pressure inside the gas cylinder with said regulator. The bit opposite the threaded part of the "tap" is a pressure relief valve for safety

 

[Boris113]

Thanks for your advice, in the past I have always borrowed welders/gas from friends so it was just a case of connect the welder to the reg and go- didn't realise that the unions were different sizes.

Aside from the CO2 regulator running straight and the Argon version having a 90 degree bend, are they the same? ie can I buy one and start on CO2 then if I start using it enough to justify bottle hire simply connect it to an Argon bottle?

Many thanks

 

[shenion]

Argon mix and CO2 bottles have different fittings (and different pressures.) So you will need a different regulator for each.

There are adapters to convert the fittings but they cost near as much as a regulator.

 

[Boris113]

Thanks very much, I think I will look into gas hire/outright buy of a bottle and have a think about how much welding I will be doing then decide whether to go for CO2 or an Argon mix before buying the appropriate regulator.

Cheers all,

Harry