AC Balance

[BrokenBiker]

my cheapo tig was advertised as having AC balance, however there is no button for it.

there is however a button that says 'Clear Pulse Width' right under the AC frequency button, and i can only make alterations to it if i have pulse mode on

is this likely going to alter the balance on the square wave or is it something completely different?

 

[minimutly]

AC balance would be a knob, adjusting a percentage. Some welders you need to get into a sub menu.

 

[BrokenBiker]

AC balance would be a knob, adjusting a percentage. Some welders you need to get into a sub menu.

my welder has a knob to make adjustments, but then buttons to highlight what setting you are changing

 

[Jack Ryan]

I don't think it does AC TIG. It can use an AC or DC power source.

Jack

 

[BrokenBiker]

I don't think it does AC TIG. It can use an AC or DC power source.

Jack

you are going to have to explain that one...its an AC DC tig welder...

 

[Jack Ryan]

you are going to have to explain that one...its an AC DC tig welder...

The advert I saw for it lists steel & stainless as materials that can be welded - no aluminium. The wording around "AC" is vague and possibly misleading and does say it can use an AC or DC power source.

If it does do AC TIG, it might have a fixed balance.

I found it on eBay as well, that one says aluminium. Neither have a manual.

Jack

 

[BrokenBiker]

this one can definitely weld ally, it was advertised as a pulsed AC DC aluminium welder as the title, then listed materials as carbon/stainless steel, aluminium, brass, copper and titanium, plus MMA function, 2T/4T, pulse, adjustable Frequency and balance.

the 3 adverts i saw, 2 for this welder from different sellers and 1 for the yellow susemse welder that is identical from the seller i bought this one from all had the exact same pics and adverts. the only thing that pushed me to this one is that all in, it cost £202 and was dispatched from the uk, turned up within 3 days. i think its gone up to £215 now, the seller seems to bump the price every time he sells one. that plus the susemse branded welder came with a funky looking bulky torch handle and a built in switch, whereas this one came with a 'standard' wp17 style torch and separate switch. i didnt fancy spending a weeks wage on a 'decent' welder that im likely only ever going to use to make small brakcets, tack up cars or fix a few cracks for mates...the bulk of the use will likely be the MMA function which to be honest, is just as smooth and easy to strike as my old parwled was. i still have the mig as well for the quick little jobs so the tig side of this is going to be more of a side hobby for now...that said if i end up doing a lot of tig i may invest in a second hand known brand, but for now this welder can perform better than i can.

i will find a bit of ally later and just alter the pulse width setting, see what happens. i did strike a few arcs on a thin bit yesterday but i kept blowing through...it was maybe .8mm thick and i havent got the skill for that yet, but i got the cleaning pattern around the 'weld' and the typical HF buzz

 

[JOEPRO]

this one can definitely weld ally, it was advertised as a pulsed AC DC aluminium welder as the title, then listed materials as carbon/stainless steel, aluminium, brass, copper and titanium, plus MMA function, 2T/4T, pulse, adjustable Frequency and balance.

the 3 adverts i saw, 2 for this welder from different sellers and 1 for the yellow susemse welder that is identical from the seller i bought this one from all had the exact same pics and adverts. the only thing that pushed me to this one is that all in, it cost £202 and was dispatched from the uk, turned up within 3 days. i think its gone up to £215 now, the seller seems to bump the price every time he sells one. that plus the susemse branded welder came with a funky looking bulky torch handle and a built in switch, whereas this one came with a 'standard' wp17 style torch and separate switch. i didnt fancy spending a weeks wage on a 'decent' welder that im likely only ever going to use to make small brakcets, tack up cars or fix a few cracks for mates...the bulk of the use will likely be the MMA function which to be honest, is just as smooth and easy to strike as my old parwled was. i still have the mig as well for the quick little jobs so the tig side of this is going to be more of a side hobby for now...that said if i end up doing a lot of tig i may invest in a second hand known brand, but for now this welder can perform better than i can.

i will find a bit of ally later and just alter the pulse width setting, see what happens. i did strike a few arcs on a thin bit yesterday but i kept blowing through...it was maybe .8mm thick and i havent got the skill for that yet, but i got the cleaning pattern around the 'weld' and the typical HF buzz

A link please will help you here

(I have a SiP AC DC so not interested myself but I'm sure others on here will be!)

 

[BrokenBiker]

A link please will help you here

(I have a SiP AC DC so not interested myself but I'm sure others on here will be!)

PULSE Welding Machine TIG/Stick Square Wave Inverter AC/DC Aluminum 225A TSE225 | eBay

The clear operation panel and intuitive data display are convenient for users to operate and greatly improve the user experience. IGBT technology makes the body light and easy to carry. Inverter technology enables the durability of machine work.

www.ebay.co.uk

the seller i bought from is apparently out of stock now (i belive the location is shown as china but i feel that they have uk stock as mine was sent via DHL 48 hour delivery) however this is the same welder with an almost identical description although doesnt specify titanium for some reason, but still ally, copper steel etc.

its by no means the best welder ever, but it works well enough for someone that doens tknow what they are doing to make some welds.

as usual, no affiliation, buy at your own risk blah blah. this link also claims the faster delivery of 5-7 days instead of the 22 days the others were offering

 

[daleyd]

Looks to me like the “clear pulse width” should alter the width of the “clean” pulse shown in the diagram (no idea why they didn’t keep terminology the same). That suggests it’s the ac balance, as more pulse width on the negative side = more cleaning?

 

[tommullin]

surely its the '%' setting? What happens if you spin the knob when you have the '%' indicator illuminated?

 

[daleyd]

surely its the '%' setting? What happens if you spin the knob when you have the '%' indicator illuminated?

Good shout, I hadn’t spotted that up there.

 

[chrismac]

surely its the '%' setting? What happens if you spin the knob when you have the '%' indicator illuminated?

Glad someone else posted this before I scrolled to the bottom.

 

[BrokenBiker]

surely its the '%' setting? What happens if you spin the knob when you have the '%' indicator illuminated?

Haven't been able to get that to light yet

 

[Barking Mat]

Have you tried the button on the right, next to AC pulse width and Clear Pulse Width ?

 

[Brad93]

I will never understand the popularity of these cheap chinese machines, for people to then question why they don't operate like a £1200 r tech, or a £3000 european machine.

 

[Jack Ryan]

PULSE Welding Machine TIG/Stick Square Wave Inverter AC/DC Aluminum 225A TSE225 | eBay

The clear operation panel and intuitive data display are convenient for users to operate and greatly improve the user experience. IGBT technology makes the body light and easy to carry. Inverter technology enables the durability of machine work.

www.ebay.co.uk

the seller i bought from is apparently out of stock now (i belive the location is shown as china but i feel that they have uk stock as mine was sent via DHL 48 hour delivery) however this is the same welder with an almost identical description although doesnt specify titanium for some reason, but still ally, copper steel etc.

its by no means the best welder ever, but it works well enough for someone that doens tknow what they are doing to make some welds.

as usual, no affiliation, buy at your own risk blah blah. this link also claims the faster delivery of 5-7 days instead of the 22 days the others were offering

That advert is different again, and it states "Ratio：10% to 90%", which I assume is the balance.

That price makes it tempting, the prices I was seeing were over double that and about the same as something locally supplied here with three or more years of warranty.

Jack

 

[Morris]

An AC/DC Tig for £215, what could possibly go wrong.

 

[BrokenBiker]

An AC/DC Tig for £215, what could possibly go wrong.

For £215 I consider it a consumable...if it works long enough that I can learn to use it, then I'll invest in something else if it goes bang...to be fair to it, in DC on steel it is smooth and gives a decent arc, and the mma function is very smooth, on par with the parweld inverter I used to have

 

[BrokenBiker]

Well, In an unexpected turn of events instead of having a go with the tig I ended up in the hospital with my mother...I did manage to get a strip of ally before hand though so tomorrow I will test the feature to see if it makes any noticeable difference to the weld.

Can't wait til my shed is done so I have somewhere warm and well lit again