Just got a new TIG

[Llundberg]

Bought an EasyTIG TIG200AC (second from top on http://www.nationalwelding.com.au/easytig_tig_welder_machine.htm) a couple of weeks ago. From a local welding supplier in Sydney who also repairs all sorts of welders so I am hoping for support if need be.
Its still in the box because I have not had time to do anything wit it yet. But I am buying a bottle of Argon tomorrow (you can actually buy them outright) and plan to start it up in anger for the first time this weekend and try it.
I have done lots of oxy/acetylene and arc but not for quite a few years. I also have a small Awelco MIG120 (horrible wirefeed) plus my small oxy set so I'm not a total newbie but I do expect some ugly welds to begin with but I am hoping to get half decent at Ali welding 3-5 mm stuff. Just hobbywork of course.
Any good tips from TIG gurus here prior to powering up?

Cheers,
Llundberg

 

[^neo^]

If you can do oxy acet welding, then you're 3/4 of the way there! Looks like a decent bit of kit you've got hold of there, although a few too many knobs for me!
Welcome to the forum btw

 

[FranV8]

That looks to be a very similar model to teh machines we'd get from a company called R-Tech over here. I've got the 160 A version. I've also done some 3-5mm ally, but obviously as a relative novice myself still ahve plenty to learn!

Look through the previous posts in the TIG section, I've put some notes/queries/pics of some of the ally work I've done (search my posts) if that helps.

Before powering up:

Read the instructions carefully and check you've everything connected right before powering up. For example the earth calmp goes to the positive socket on the front of the welder.

Gas screws in the back. If you haven't got one already a flowmeter at around $20-30 will pay for itself in economy of gas on your first cylinder of argon.

Check for gas leaks too.

Get some steel (to start off with), say 3mm to practice on.

Get some of the right filler rods too.(TIG filler rod, to suit the material you are welding, and diameter to suit the thickness)

Have you got a bench grinder for grinding ?

Put the right tungstens in (red I think for steel)

Set all the settings ont he welder (particularly switches) BEFORE powering up, the switches themselves, apparently, ahve the possibility that you'll damage the machine if you change modes whilst it's powered up.

Make sure you've got a comfortable, well lit work area set up. You'll need this as you ahve to be steady with the torch, and getting the pedal ina place where you can use it easily is important too.

I'd not use the pedal at first, set the current, slope up and down on the front panel. Post gas, set all of them to around 2seconds initially and go from there.

Check out the Millerwelds.com website for their instruction material - it's good stuff.

Wear gauntlet gloves (you can get soft leather TIG specific ones if you want) and cover your body (overalls fine), unless you like intense suntan/sunburn (latter if you're a Pommie like me...)

Test that the gas flows when you press the torch button or pedal if you're on that) - I'd start at around 5 lpm and see if you can go up/down from there depending on how the welds go.

Clean up your practice piece - put your bucket (mask) on and get going!

(Just try running some beads first, you can move onto butt welds etc. once you've got the hang of torch postioning, filler addition, forming a weld pool etc.)

(Once you get to joining bits together, cleanliness of the metal to be joined and good fit up are critical to give you the easiest time of making a fantastic welded joint)

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Llundberg]

Thank you. Much appreciated. All sounds like excellent sound advice. Looking forward to the weekend.

 

[Llundberg]

If you can do oxy acet welding, then you're 3/4 of the way there! Looks like a decent bit of kit you've got hold of there, although a few too many knobs for me!
Welcome to the forum btw

Thanks.
I know exactly what you mean. It will take me a while to get used to all those knobs and dials.

 

[tommy dunlop]

hi,dont get your leads round the wrong way(bad start) stick to your mild steel,master that before you go on to the alloy,foot pedal is all so a good way to learn,there is a lot of tips on you tube that will help you,stay away from upslope down slope,pulsing and balance,stick with mild steel on basic settings,it can only get better,hope this helps,tom

 

[Gosh14]

Hmm, welder for 2k for tig learner? Probably Australia really is some kind of upsidedown world...

 

[madkayaker]

the site is in aus$. converts to £1.3K

 

[Gosh14]

the site is in aus$. converts to £1.3K

Still costs. I got the one for my nixing jobs for 300 pounds despite the fact that I weld x-ray pipes for long time.
It has a simple HF 2T only tig with no pulse or up/down slope, or post gas regulations. Just amps regulation and arc/tig switch. But it has a plasma option which makes the plant valuable.

 

[FranV8]

Well, simply put, more money probably gives at least some of the following:

- More features
- Better reliability
- More power
- More durability

I put about £900 into my own investment - lot of cash but I didn't wnat a £300 result, it just wouldn't do half the jobs I want to do.

The OP has 200 amps, and can do aluminium. Pre/post gas is a useful function, as is slope in and out, latter especially for reducing craters. Pulse for thin stuff (I've not used it myself yet, but moving onto learning the thinner stuff). And his machine can be controlled on the pedal.

You're obviously not a beginner, and can probably do a better job than us beginners, even using simple kit. For a beginner though, there is nothing better than difficult to use equipment that just makes the job harder. Especially TIG when it's pretty much like patting your head and rubbing your stomach, whilst attempting to parallel park. Early frustrations lead to too many welding sets getting permanently put back in the box.

Sorry - my usual 2pworth that's become £1.64.

 

[Gosh14]

Something similar to buying Audi S6 4.2l instead of Nissan Almera for training for your driving test...

Ok, offtop mode OFF.

 

[Llundberg]

Well, simply put, more money probably gives at least some of the following:

- More features
- Better reliability
- More power
- More durability

I put about £900 into my own investment - lot of cash but I didn't wnat a £300 result, it just wouldn't do half the jobs I want to do.

The OP has 200 amps, and can do aluminium. Pre/post gas is a useful function, as is slope in and out, latter especially for reducing craters. Pulse for thin stuff (I've not used it myself yet, but moving onto learning the thinner stuff). And his machine can be controlled on the pedal.

You're obviously not a beginner, and can probably do a better job than us beginners, even using simple kit. For a beginner though, there is nothing better than difficult to use equipment that just makes the job harder. Especially TIG when it's pretty much like patting your head and rubbing your stomach, whilst attempting to parallel park. Early frustrations lead to too many welding sets getting permanently put back in the box.

Sorry - my usual 2pworth that's become £1.64.

Sorry to say that I STILL have not had a chance to try this out. I've got all the bits but have been forced by the boss (wife) to do other stuff plus work committments but the coming weekend is all mine so nothing is going to stop me then.
I'm not exactly a beginner in terms of general welding but I have never touched a TIG before. That said, I am hoping to be able to get started at least.
I saw on the web site that it's priced at AU$1,980 but I don't think that anyone actually pays that. I paid AU$1,550 and they threw in:
2 x regulators
Some extra tungstens, collets/collet bodies, nozzles
1/2 kg mild steel filler rods
1/2 kg ali filler rods

Plus a liner for my offending MIG.

These bits plus what comes in the box in terms of pedal, stick torch, etc. What surprised me was that I didn't haggle at all for the extras.

They also offered a trolley for an extra $50 but I declined. Want to make my own.

 

[Llundberg]

Not all that fantastic...

Need good advice from you guys...
I finally got the time to try this new TIG. I figured I start with something easy, tried to lay some beads on 3mm steel sheet. The arc seems to harsh, if it was oxy I would have said too much oxygen if that analogy is allowed plus it blows a hole at the end of the bead, seems like the penetration is too deep somehow. Some basics:
1.6 mm tungsten red tip ground to a point (I also had a 2.4 but the collet was damaged so I couldn't use it)
7 liters/minute gas flow pure argon
70 amps
Torch angle about 70 degrees

What am I doing wrong???
And here are the pitiful results:

 

[FranV8]

Well firstly, the results aren't pitiful - they're a good start.

The welds are shiny, but there is some oxidation on the outside of some - that could be caused by subsequent passes, but you could try a little more gas and see if that stabilises the arc. Incidentally, the argon has a big impact on the creation of a TIG arc, it's dielectric strength is far less than air, as I found out accidentally trying to weld without it - machine wouldn't even bother trying to initiate the arc (despite HF) in just air.

Also, your travel speed I suspect is low, but perhaps as a result of having trouble keeping a stable arc?

Have you cleaned the metal before runing a practice? Quick going over with a rag with degreaser and wire brush?

Also, I would guess perhaps your gap between the work piece and the electrode may be suspect (it is normally terrible when you start - mine is better than it was, but I do have to keep reminding myseld that the closer I can keep the electrode to the work the much more controlled, neat and narrow my welds are).

How far is your electrode out from the cup?

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Drains]

Got to disagree with Fran - those welds are indeed pitiful. But do not despair!. First off, there is a true lack of gas coverage, so,
1) change your torch angle to as close as perpendicular as you can (so tilted off 5 or 10%)
2) check that your gas really is pure argon (sometimes the suppliers get it wrong)
3) tungsten protruding no more than 5mm from the cup
4) tungsten held as close as you can to the work (no more than 5mm, down to almost nothing)
4) your gas quantity should be ok.

Question, is your tungsten retaining its sharp tip? I doubt it, looking at the welds.

 

[Llundberg]

Thanks for the feedback, I owe you guys. Before I try again:

The tungsten is probably about 5mm out.
There is a lot of buildup on the nozzle (see pic).
I cleaned the piece with a rag and solvent before starting off.
I tried different torch angles, it didn't really seem to make much diff.
Tried to keep the tungsten as close as I can.


As you can see in the pic, the tungsten looks like WW3.
Apologise for the quality of the pics, my phone isn't good at macro.

Is there any way of checking that the gas is pure argon? I asked for that and that's what they told me it was. But how would I know?

Surely, I must be doing something very fundamentally wrong?

 

[Paul.]

As Drains says, also you need a bigger ceramic, that looks like a number 4, ideal for getting into corners but not a big enough area of gas coverage for beads on flat sheet,try a number 7 or 8,
looking at the contamination and the finish on the sheet I wonder if you have a coating of some kind on the material, the small bits of spatter are typical of trying to tig aluminised sheet.
Arc length looks far too wide, to burn through 3mm at 70 amps takes some doing, increased arc gaps will increase the arc temperature and you lose the focus of the arc,
Have you read through the tig tutorial pages, if you follow the basic setup in there you should be back on course in no time.

 

[Llundberg]

Thanks Paul, I did have a read through those but that was before I even had this machine so I will have another careful read.
As it happens, the sheet was 2mm. not 3.

I do hope that you guys don't mind me coming back asking more questions later though? I can't do this without your help.

 

[Paul.]

For 2mm drop the amps down a bit, say 50 ish to start, you can increase amps and vary speed as you improve.

A little tip for checking the gas flow and current settings, setup your amps and flow, then using a piece of clean scrap of the same material you are welding, hold the torch vertically with an electrode to material gap just a touch wider than the diameter of the electrode, so for a 1.6 mm tip a gap of 2mm.
strike an arc and hold it with out moving the torch for a second or two until you see a molten pool, then stop the arc and hold the torch still until the post flow times out, if all is well you should have a nice clean button shaped mark with no contamination,

As for asking questions please do, that's why we're here.

 

[Llundberg]

Thanks Paul. That's exactly the type of advice I was hoping for. Will do some reading up now.