- Thread starter Dell
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Whats your budget and what power supply is available? 13 amps or more? How thick are you needing to weld?
Dell
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Hi GreasedUpDeaf Guy
Thanks for the quick reply £1000 ish 13 amp or three phase although I don't think I need three phase as for thickness intercooler pipes are 2/3mm and I weld them with gas at the moment so I don't need to use it for them but I am having trouble getting cast sumps hot enough with gas to weld that is the main reason I am looking at TIG the sumps are 8mm at flange down to 2mm in centre but I would rather have one a bit bigger than needed.
Dell
Thanks for the quick reply £1000 ish 13 amp or three phase although I don't think I need three phase as for thickness intercooler pipes are 2/3mm and I weld them with gas at the moment so I don't need to use it for them but I am having trouble getting cast sumps hot enough with gas to weld that is the main reason I am looking at TIG the sumps are 8mm at flange down to 2mm in centre but I would rather have one a bit bigger than needed.
Dell
Brad93
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For 8mm aluminium you will need to preheat or will need a 300amp tig which £1000 wont get you sadly
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It also rules out the 13 amp supply. Is there not a 16 amp supply?
Jim Davey
R H Davey Welding Supplies Ltd
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You'll be fine with a 200 as sump castings although thick are usually vee'd out both sides and welded slowly to allow the oil and contaminants to be leeched out by the welding process. Also they tend to not be that big and will heat up overall fairly quickly once you get going and you'll find yourself not needing full power to maintain a puddle.
Brad is right, 300 amps will let you light up and weld instantly BUT you'll normally find the contaminated metal won't allow you to go rock n roll on it right away until you have got a few "cleaning" passes on it anyway, by which time the part is usually warm enough to do without all that power.
Not trying to be contradictory but I've done a lot of casting repairs and I've mainly done it with whichever 230v tig was easiest to carry to the bench. I also have a big oven which is a real godsend for getting oil out of a casting as it goes super runny and just bleeds out of the pores in the metal. It goes in clean from the vapour blasting and comes out brown after an hour at 300 degrees, wipe it down, rinse and repeat.
I don't do this all the time by the way, only on stuff I think will really have soaked up some oil (like a sump or motorcycle engine casing etc)
If you want to do castings though you'll appreciate something with a duty cycle that keeps up with you as there is nothing more annoying than getting the heat into something and motoring along nicely, only for the thermal LED of doom to light up and announce the fun is over, when all you want to do is wrap up the job and get home.
You might want to think about water cooling too as high amps and long weld times mean melted torches and burned hands if you don't get it right, and a WP26 (big air cooled torch normally supplied as standard with any 200 amp AC/DC set) can be a right pain if you have to hang onto it for a long time.
Lots of choices and it's never been a better time to be in this market so best of luck in your search.
Brad is right, 300 amps will let you light up and weld instantly BUT you'll normally find the contaminated metal won't allow you to go rock n roll on it right away until you have got a few "cleaning" passes on it anyway, by which time the part is usually warm enough to do without all that power.
Not trying to be contradictory but I've done a lot of casting repairs and I've mainly done it with whichever 230v tig was easiest to carry to the bench. I also have a big oven which is a real godsend for getting oil out of a casting as it goes super runny and just bleeds out of the pores in the metal. It goes in clean from the vapour blasting and comes out brown after an hour at 300 degrees, wipe it down, rinse and repeat.
I don't do this all the time by the way, only on stuff I think will really have soaked up some oil (like a sump or motorcycle engine casing etc)
If you want to do castings though you'll appreciate something with a duty cycle that keeps up with you as there is nothing more annoying than getting the heat into something and motoring along nicely, only for the thermal LED of doom to light up and announce the fun is over, when all you want to do is wrap up the job and get home.
You might want to think about water cooling too as high amps and long weld times mean melted torches and burned hands if you don't get it right, and a WP26 (big air cooled torch normally supplied as standard with any 200 amp AC/DC set) can be a right pain if you have to hang onto it for a long time.
Lots of choices and it's never been a better time to be in this market so best of luck in your search.
Brad93
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@Jim Davey is right you can weld castings with a 200 amp tig, I usually preheat either in the oven or with oxyacetylene. I'm biased because I would like a 300 amp machine though ;P
Jim what sort of oven do you use? I'm finding my mums electric oven is a bit undersized haha!
Jim what sort of oven do you use? I'm finding my mums electric oven is a bit undersized haha!
Jim Davey
R H Davey Welding Supplies Ltd
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It's a big old Hailey rod oven with the shelves removed, its big enough to get a v8 engine block into or a mer cruiser stern drive leg etc.
It goes up to 350 so plenty good enough for heating up hubs prior to dropping in bearings etc.
Never gets used for rods anymore, who does that? Lol
It goes up to 350 so plenty good enough for heating up hubs prior to dropping in bearings etc.
Never gets used for rods anymore, who does that? Lol
Brad93
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The advent of vac packs i suppose? Ill have to have a search on ebay
