New to Tig Welding, New Rig, Help Needed (pic heavy)

[MattMoore]

Evening all,
I've been looking out for a Tig welder for sometime, and after spotting an ideal candidate on eBay, I ended up with a 350amp Murex AC/DC Tig Its water cooled, with a foot control and came with accessories, I think I got a good deal
I've just about got to grips with mig, originally I wanted to just learn Tig, but got given a Mig. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago, and now want to get the bits and pieces together required to get welding
First up is a couple of pics of the welder.

First question is this: The lead not connected in the photo it from the torch, there is a button on the torch which I assume would turn it on or off. Does the foot pedal make this wire redundant?

Next up is a photo of the water connections, I am assuming the black pipe is the feed, and the webbed pipe the return. What container do I need to hold the water, and how big?

Next up is a pic of the foot control, is it a good one?

The welder is missing an earth lead, what size of cable do I need for the earth, and are there any specific connectors to connect it to the welder?

2 pics of the torch now, the end cap is tatty, and the switch on the torch is unused, I would like to replace it with another torch, can the parts and accessories be used from this torch and used on another?

Finally a pic of the accessories that came with it. The regulator is for Oxygen, but is what the chap I bought it from used with Argon, is this okay? or should I be replacing it? The collets that come with it are 3/32 1/8 and 5/32, I will mainly be doing 14g or thinner for now. If I buy 3/32 thoriated tungstens, will these do for most welding?

To anyone that has got this far, thanks for reading, and any info will be greatly received.
Im planning to get the bits I need in the middle of the week so by Saturday I can get welding

Thanks

Matt

 

[wyn]

The foot pedal should work instead of the torch switch.

With the water it was probably designed to be connected to a cooler.
You might need to rig it up to some sort of tank probably around 15 or 20 litres. The connections might have to be bodged a bit. I think the manuals showed this type of welder as having an internal pump.
I suppose it could always be connected straight to a tap as long as the pressure doesn't blow some seal.

The parts on that wp18 torch should interchangeable with other makes of the same size. All the torch parts are readily available and only cost a couple of quid. If you get a new torch with switch it will need the right electrical plug to connect to the machine, if your not using the foot pedal.

It would be better to get an argon regulator than use the oxy one.

The thoriated tungsten will only be good for steel. Aluminium will need a zirconiated, or ceriated will do both.

With the earth lead it does look like a "dinse" fitting bodged to take something else.

Maybe a trip to your local welding supplier with the dinse fitting and they could sort out the lead for you along with the torch parts you want.

 

[astro_al]

Hi, answers in order:
1. the switches on the left hand side of the machine dictate which inputs the machine is looking for. 'CONTACTOR' tells it where the signal for go / stop is coming from, 'WELD CURRECT' does the same for the current setting. Local means torch / machine, remote means pedal. So, local & local would mean the amps are set by the big dial on the machine and the go / stop signal comes from the torch button, remote & local means that the go / stop signal comes from the pedal (remote) but the amps setting is set on the machine, remote & remote means the go / stop signal and the welding current are set by the foot pedal & how hard you press it (of course the range is set on the machine, the pedal just moves within the set range). you wouldn't need the torch switch wired in if you kept the contactor setting to 'remote'.

2. You should be able to figure the pipes by checking their routing - hard to tell from the picks, unbolt a side (or maybe look underneath to check where they go). If it doesn't have a cooler you just need a suds-pump type tank (from a machine tool), or a look for a used one. You can easily make one - mine were about 1 foot square and 2 foot tall on machines that size, you can add a small radiator to help cooling (on return to tank line), but don't bother unless you do a lot of high amp welding (often ali etc). Careful with the voltage of the pump if it is fed from the main machine (should be) - I've seen 110 / 240 / 415 (?) volt pumps all on similar machines, so check the output.

3. Good one??? test it - if it works, its good.

4. For 350 Amps you need a thick earth cable - look around for a chart of the correct dimensions (search site), or call a welding supplier. You'll also need the correct size plug with a bayonet type action - dinse plug. Measure the diameter of the round bit which slots into the socket (excluding the locating blob), and buy accordingly from a welding supplier. If you are only welding up to, say, 200A (quite a lot on a tig machine), consider buying a smaller earth cable and saving some pennies - likely you won't need the high amp cable, and its spendy. Better to have a slightly longer, narrower one for 'normal' work. Especially as rolling these machines about is a pain.

5. There are two common categories of tig torch parts. I guess the 18 on yours means it is compatible with WP18 type parts. Just get a new back cap (you might get a couple of different lengths), a few tungstens / ceramics / collets / collet holders and get welding.

6. Ah - ok, you have spares. Job done. What is 'most welding'? Tungsten size required is dictated by welding parameters. You should use the thinnest tungsten you can, in theory. Do a search for correct tungsten size - there are data tables etc, look on the miller site, I think they have a calculator for it?

Good luck, Al.

 

[astro_al]

Ah - sorry Wyn - synchronous typing...

Al.

 

[wyn]

I think you have more useful detail in your reply Al.

 

[Autolupus]

The oxy. reg. will be ok, it's just a gas flow regulator and as it's inert you're not talking health and saftey issues.
A 2.4 tungsten will be good for most applications but realistically with the rest you could be looking at a fair bit of tickling to get a good set-up. Best bet would be to engage the help of a friend/friend of a friend with some know-how who'll help you for a few pints. A couple of hours with someone who can troubleshoot and set up or you could be looking at a couple of weeks correspondence on this forum to sort some basic problems.
Just my two-penneth!

 

[Kiwi K]

just curious as normal, 1950's pontiac,buick or make?

 

[MattMoore]

Thanks for all the replies chaps,
I do know someone who is going to pop in and give me a quick demo, but I just wanted to make sure I had all of the necessary equipment there ready and waiting.
Kiwi, its a 1956 Buick 4 door pillarless special. its actually for sale!

 

[rcoveney]

transtig 350 user manual

Hi There
I have purchased the same machine today,I also need to make a cooling tank for the torch as this was not with the machine,unfortunatly i do not have the user manual and i cant find it on the murex web site,would you be willing to sell me a copy of the manual you have I would be very grateful ,I hope this doesnt sound to cheeky but i cant find one anywhere.
thanks
best wishes
Rich coveney

 

[Ragnarok]

hey, thats quite a machine! looks good, they seem to go on forever, i thought of getting one, but decided it was too hard to move around and collect haha
looks like you've got all the kit there, could probably do with a new back cap for that torch though by the look of it

 

[pedrobedro]

My argon cylinder has had an oxygen regulator on it for the last 4 years without any problems. The pressure rating is all you need to look at.