- Thread starter Nick
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Hi Nick
If you want to weld ally and stainless you will need an AC/DC set, if you just want to weld steel/stainless, just a DC machine will do.
160Amps is a reasonable size for home use.
The other thing to look for is the starting method...
In small DC machines you start the arc by touching the work with the tungsten, then lifting it away slightly. I dont think you can get an AC scratch start.
On the larger AC/DC machines you get a high frequency pulse that starts the arc without touching the work.
If you want to weld ally and stainless you will need an AC/DC set, if you just want to weld steel/stainless, just a DC machine will do.
160Amps is a reasonable size for home use.
The other thing to look for is the starting method...
In small DC machines you start the arc by touching the work with the tungsten, then lifting it away slightly. I dont think you can get an AC scratch start.
On the larger AC/DC machines you get a high frequency pulse that starts the arc without touching the work.
malcolm
& Clementine the Cat
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My understanding of AC TIG welders is they use a sharp high voltage background signal that keeps the arc going but doesn't put a whole load of energy into the weld. This means you can weld really thin stuff on low current which has to be the real advantage of TIG.
I keep thinking about buying an AC TIG, but they cost £1000 plus, and I can't really justify one. Probably won't stop me though.... I just like the look of those really neat TIG welds.
I keep thinking about buying an AC TIG, but they cost £1000 plus, and I can't really justify one. Probably won't stop me though.... I just like the look of those really neat TIG welds.
But the price is another story :cry:Hi folks i just surfed into this site .Well done to the owner .
I have a 160 amp dc tig box which i have owned for 18 months now and i would recommend it as being very reliable .It has a high freq start and also scratch start and will weld stick in mma mode .It also has a pulse mode and all the other tig stuff .
Its a GYS 160HF its made in France and i bought mine for £420 new from a company called Elland but this machine is available from various places now even e-bay but the bloke who sells them is asking over the odds .
I have a 160 amp dc tig box which i have owned for 18 months now and i would recommend it as being very reliable .It has a high freq start and also scratch start and will weld stick in mma mode .It also has a pulse mode and all the other tig stuff .
Its a GYS 160HF its made in France and i bought mine for £420 new from a company called Elland but this machine is available from various places now even e-bay but the bloke who sells them is asking over the odds .
Build your own?
I found the following web site describing how to build your own TIG welder using an arc welder as the supply source. It does assume a fair degree of electronic diy competence though. Anyway, it does give an insight into what a TIG set does "behind the scenes".
http://www3.telus.net/public/a5a26316/TIG_Welder.html
I found the following web site describing how to build your own TIG welder using an arc welder as the supply source. It does assume a fair degree of electronic diy competence though. Anyway, it does give an insight into what a TIG set does "behind the scenes".
http://www3.telus.net/public/a5a26316/TIG_Welder.html
Ugotit
Flash in the pan
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Mig To Tig ???
Hi George
I took a look at the building a tig site, and I'm a computer tech. it is quite a trip to convert from Arc to tig, and I've built circuit boards. I'm looking to convert a Mig to Tig it might be simpler. Have you seen anything like this out there.
Hi George
I took a look at the building a tig site, and I'm a computer tech. it is quite a trip to convert from Arc to tig, and I've built circuit boards. I'm looking to convert a Mig to Tig it might be simpler. Have you seen anything like this out there.
Mig to TIG
Hi, sorry about the delay I have been on holiday.
No, I have not located any other sites describing conversions. MIG to TIG sounds complicated considering the additional work required to disable the wire feed, change the torch etc?. I am (was) an electronics design engineeer so the conversion from Arc to TIG would not be too difficult - if I had the time it would make a good project to produce the pcb's etc ,although I would be inclined to take the microprocessor route, and sell them as a conversion kit to anyone interested.
Let me know if you come across anyone offering 30 hour days !!
George
Hi, sorry about the delay I have been on holiday.
No, I have not located any other sites describing conversions. MIG to TIG sounds complicated considering the additional work required to disable the wire feed, change the torch etc?. I am (was) an electronics design engineeer so the conversion from Arc to TIG would not be too difficult - if I had the time it would make a good project to produce the pcb's etc ,although I would be inclined to take the microprocessor route, and sell them as a conversion kit to anyone interested.
Let me know if you come across anyone offering 30 hour days !!
George
Ugotit said:Hi George
I took a look at the building a tig site, and I'm a computer tech. it is quite a trip to convert from Arc to tig, and I've built circuit boards. I'm looking to convert a Mig to Tig it might be simpler. Have you seen anything like this out there.
Cannot Convert MIG to TIG.....
Its not viable to try and convert MIG to TIG, simply put the transformers are different, the MIG is differently coupled to the TIG, the best and cheapest way to go is to use an old Arc (stick) welder as the supply as detailed on my page at: http://www3.telus.net/public/a5a26316/
As mentioned by someone a few posts back it does need a fair knowledge of electronics to safely do this especially when working around the Arc Start circuitry....hey 50 0r 60 Hz high voltage is nasty stuff :-)
Dave
Its not viable to try and convert MIG to TIG, simply put the transformers are different, the MIG is differently coupled to the TIG, the best and cheapest way to go is to use an old Arc (stick) welder as the supply as detailed on my page at: http://www3.telus.net/public/a5a26316/
As mentioned by someone a few posts back it does need a fair knowledge of electronics to safely do this especially when working around the Arc Start circuitry....hey 50 0r 60 Hz high voltage is nasty stuff :-)
Dave
poor farmer
Member
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MIG's are "stiff" transformers with an output of 14-42(ish)V, TIG's are "droopers" with an output of 70-80V dropping dramatically when welding commences 14-20V approx'. Originally most manufacturers used HF, 8000-10000V AC (at low current) to initiate the arc, but this is nasty stuff, it really screws up computers/telephone systems etc. Laterly people are using DC injection type systems, 10000-14000V but at a predetermined frequency - much cleaner!
There are add-on units avail' to convert your MMA power source to TIG.
There are add-on units avail' to convert your MMA power source to TIG.
MIG Stiffy :-)
There have been fellows who have modified older MIG units for TIG but I have never heard back if they were even remotely successful in the end....I suspect results would not be too good.
Arc Welder (Stick units) are similarly designed to TIG and work well for using as a TIG supply.
Dave
There have been fellows who have modified older MIG units for TIG but I have never heard back if they were even remotely successful in the end....I suspect results would not be too good.
Arc Welder (Stick units) are similarly designed to TIG and work well for using as a TIG supply.
Dave
welduk.com
welduk.com
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Hi
You want up to a 130 amp to run off a 13 amp plug anything higher and you will need a 16 amp +
These 130 amp machines will weld all day with 2.5mm rods and even use 3.2mm rods but if you are going for a tig welder / inverter you want a high frequency type. Dont forget if you use a tig welder you will need pure Argon gas as well.
If you want to weld Aluminium you will need an AC/DC tig which we sell or you can use Durafix which is only £8.99 and it is in our mig wire section.
Wow that home built TIG looks like a bit of a monster!
Can I suggest you try fitting a 'TIG start 190' to something like an Oxford stick set. Weldequip will be able to get you one.
These units simply bolt on to the output of the arc set and off you go. They have HF start and continuous HF for AC welding. What it won't do is give control over 'balance' or square wave stuff. I have tied to post the info on here but it says the file is too large. They are built by the same people that make portamig. About £300 ish
If you want DC you will have to fit a rectifier and stabilising choke to the O/P of the transformer first. This really is very simple in comparison to the homebuilt TIG. Parts for this can be bought, or found from scrap machines.
This will give you a good TIG set that conpares with the older sets.
Can I suggest you try fitting a 'TIG start 190' to something like an Oxford stick set. Weldequip will be able to get you one.
These units simply bolt on to the output of the arc set and off you go. They have HF start and continuous HF for AC welding. What it won't do is give control over 'balance' or square wave stuff. I have tied to post the info on here but it says the file is too large. They are built by the same people that make portamig. About £300 ish
If you want DC you will have to fit a rectifier and stabilising choke to the O/P of the transformer first. This really is very simple in comparison to the homebuilt TIG. Parts for this can be bought, or found from scrap machines.
This will give you a good TIG set that conpares with the older sets.
Missing the Point.....TIG (Home Construction)
Sorry guy's some of you are missing the point, the whole idea of my webpage is to promote Home Construction....doesn't matter what it is just so long as we build it ourselves.
In this modern age the "art" of building things oneself is being lost at an alarming rate with people simply buying whatever, from the local distributor who's selling China made knock offs.
The skills of our older workers are being cast aside in the misguided approach of, if its busted chuck it out and buy another......sorry but that's not what its all about for me at least.
I design and manufacture the projects for the sole purpose of having fun and relaxing from a hard day at the salt mine so to speak, I find soldering a bunch of bits to a home made PCB to be a great source of enjoyment and to top it all off I learn something with each project and have a working device at the end of it all .....yes maybe its just as expensive in the end but the fun of the build isn't there if you just reach for your wallet every time a new gizmo comes along.....And the learning process is unmeasurably invaluable.
Please, no more posts about, "Why don'tyou just buy one, or my company have one for sale ....OK.
And a big thank you to the literally hundreds of people who have emailed with suggestions of modifications, questions or just saying thank you...and are building stuff themselves. (They at least have the right idea !)
Dave (VA7DB)
Sorry guy's some of you are missing the point, the whole idea of my webpage is to promote Home Construction....doesn't matter what it is just so long as we build it ourselves.
In this modern age the "art" of building things oneself is being lost at an alarming rate with people simply buying whatever, from the local distributor who's selling China made knock offs.
The skills of our older workers are being cast aside in the misguided approach of, if its busted chuck it out and buy another......sorry but that's not what its all about for me at least.
I design and manufacture the projects for the sole purpose of having fun and relaxing from a hard day at the salt mine so to speak, I find soldering a bunch of bits to a home made PCB to be a great source of enjoyment and to top it all off I learn something with each project and have a working device at the end of it all .....yes maybe its just as expensive in the end but the fun of the build isn't there if you just reach for your wallet every time a new gizmo comes along.....And the learning process is unmeasurably invaluable.
Please, no more posts about, "Why don'tyou just buy one, or my company have one for sale ....OK.
And a big thank you to the literally hundreds of people who have emailed with suggestions of modifications, questions or just saying thank you...and are building stuff themselves. (They at least have the right idea !)
Dave (VA7DB)
I'm all for that. But making the complicated electronics in the TIG set (and trouble shooting them when they don't work) is beyond most people.
Puting together a rectifier bridge and a choke isn't. Adding a box that takes care of all the tricky electronics plus deals with gas control and torch attachment, with the back up of a British company is fair enough I think. Plus you can assemble all this in a nice package on to your orginal stick welder to give AC/DC MMA and AC/DC TIG. It would be do-able in a short time period and stand a good chance of getting finished and working. That would be a nice project for someone. Me I think!
Nice XS650. Did you convert the electrics to solid state? The oil filter is best repaired by soldering in a piece of steel over the torn mesh. If you want a proper chopper frame, I'm measuring up for a goose necked rigid frame for a XS motor.
Puting together a rectifier bridge and a choke isn't. Adding a box that takes care of all the tricky electronics plus deals with gas control and torch attachment, with the back up of a British company is fair enough I think. Plus you can assemble all this in a nice package on to your orginal stick welder to give AC/DC MMA and AC/DC TIG. It would be do-able in a short time period and stand a good chance of getting finished and working. That would be a nice project for someone. Me I think!
Nice XS650. Did you convert the electrics to solid state? The oil filter is best repaired by soldering in a piece of steel over the torn mesh. If you want a proper chopper frame, I'm measuring up for a goose necked rigid frame for a XS motor.
yep the TIG is as mentioned not a beginners project. As for the XS650 I'm in the process of designing the Hall Effect sensor assembly to replace the Points. I have allready been playing with an Inverter to provide multiple spark capability from a home brewed CDI unit....more news on the web page as I find time.
Any pics of your bike? Dave
Any pics of your bike? Dave
Electronic ignition will transform the engine. I cheated and fitted a Boyer. But I didn't use their fitting instruction as stuffing it all under the tank seemed a bit of a bodge. Putting the control box over a hot vibratory engine didn't seem like a good idea. Instead I coverted the charging to a solid state regulator/rectifier, then mounted the boyer in the place where the old regulator went, on the rubber mounted battery box. I extended the boyer wiring to suit the bike's electrics (as the bike has a brand new Yamaha loom I didn't want to chop that up). A section of ally was used to mount the coil.
I pinned the new rotor to its shaft as the boyer used nuts both end of this shaft to hold it in place. It a common problem on the XS when fitting electronic ignition the timing can slip as the engine heats up due to this poor design. Pinning the rotor will stop this I hope.
I think thats a pretty thorough hyjacking of this thread. PM me your e-myther and I'll send you some pictures!
I pinned the new rotor to its shaft as the boyer used nuts both end of this shaft to hold it in place. It a common problem on the XS when fitting electronic ignition the timing can slip as the engine heats up due to this poor design. Pinning the rotor will stop this I hope.
I think thats a pretty thorough hyjacking of this thread. PM me your e-myther and I'll send you some pictures!
EPIC Welding
Member
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Changing a mig to tig isn't all that hard however you must remember that it will only be dc tig and not ac/dc...so no aluminum.
