New user with Cosmo 170 (SIP) and a headache

[BChild]

Thanks for posting that diagram Ian . . . makes a lot more sense to me than the one in the manual.

Tony

Thanks for that - It's nice to feel like you've given soomething back

 

[Damaged]

Blimey, that manual isn't bad...

Portamig need to get thier finger out!

 

[BChild]

OK I've bridged the gap with a piece of plastic tube

Not ideal but it seems to stop the birdsnesting

It didn't...........

So Plan B

I'm going to have a go at spacing the torch end by changing the washers and electrical connections to get the end of the liner closer

Was

Nut
Washer
Electrical connection
Washer
Wire feeder
Washer
Nut

Now

Nut
Electrical connection
Washer
Wire feeder
Washer
Washer
Nut

It's moved the nose of the liner much close to the drive wheels

Result no birds nesting at all and 1 hours welding completed - none of it pretty but reasonable penetration, some passable runs and half a new inner sill in a mini which means that project is now going in the right direction

Only thing I can't seem to get right is the speed of the wire feed - actually on reflection wire speed seems OK - just backed of from the "pushing the torch away from the work" speed but I think the issue is changes in wire speed during welding..... which I think means I'm going to go look at a thread I read somewhere on here about separate wire feed voltage control

Unless it's "Bad workman always blames etc etc"

 

[BChild]

So Plan B

Was

Nut
Washer
Electrical connection
Washer
Wire feeder
Washer
Nut

Now

Nut
Electrical connection
Washer
Wire feeder
Washer
Washer
Nut

It's moved the nose of the liner much close to the drive wheels

Not entirely happy with the above with regard to the electrical connection against the nut but I'm going to see if I can get some thinner washers to sandwich the elctrical connection without compromising the set up I have now

 

[BChild]

Well all my search has done is leave me confused

That maybe because electrictrickery and me aren't best buddies

I "get" that the wire feed speed is linked to the welding current and that spikes during arcing play havoc with the wire speeds - in fact it seems a daft way to build a welder if SIP knew that it would do it........ They do "test" these products don't they?

In fact I've been out and conducted a short experiment

On all six settings the wire speed "fine" adjustment positions are quite different so looking at it from a simplistic viewpoint linking wire feed speed to the welder power setting seems like a daft idea when you have to fine tune wire speed for every setting

Is there no way to use the existing wire feed "fine tune knob" to control the whole range of wire feed speeds and isolate it from the main power selection switches

I'm a simple person and I like simple solutions

I still cannot believe I bought a welder and I have to modify the damn thing to make it work properly

 

[Bluekoop]

Are you still running gasless wire? if so are you running .9mm tip? i find they run better with a .9mm tip rather than the .8mm.

 

[BChild]

Are you still running gasless wire? if so are you running .9mm tip? i find they run better with a .9mm tip rather than the .8mm.

I'm running with gas and normal wire - tried argon/co2 mix and tried with co2 only - very similar results from both

I will try gassless again when I've got it running happily on normal wire and gas

 

[Bluekoop]

They are a finicky welder thats for sure, surfaces must be clean(no paint rust etc), and they like to have a nice clean contact tip, i replace soon as i start to get trouble. another thing i do is cut the tip off the wire each time i stop, it seems to stop the initail stop start spatter that it gets.

With wire speed, try to get someone to help you to set it while your welding, you'll here when it is running right.

 

[BChild]

^ Good tips thanks for that

Well it seems to be one step forward and 2 steps back

My welding (I think) is improving - I wasn't sure if it would be wise to post pics......... but here they are

Inner sill on a mini overlapped panel on existing floor (weld inside and shows penetration from the other weld on the outside



Outside upper edge - not so good



Ignore the frilly metal above that's the door shut and getting replaced next

So as I said I think a step forward but I still need to do the separate supply wire feed mod

I also need to investigate why the damn gas valve on the torch handle is prone to sticking on...... I guess cheap torch handle but I'm not ready for a change to a euro torch I'll live with a little gas loss

 

[BChild]

OK Still not happy with this welders performance - bad workman etc etc

I've ordered the transformer, some 16 Amp cable and the bridge in order to do the wire feed separate feed modification

Also spotted another thing that I hope someone can tell me is it's a modification or just an example of where SIP have reduced costs



Is the braket in front of the wire feed std or added as a modification?

 

[tonyt25]

Do you mean the bracket at the left of your photo, the one where the two bolt heads are just visible, behind the wires and blue pipe? If so, that bracket isn't there on mine.

There are a few differences between your welder and mine, judging by that photo, but they're both Cosmo 170. I'll try to post a similar photo of mine later so that you can compare.

Have you changed the brace that you added across the wire feed wheels, that you posted a picture of previously? I only ask because I've still got this mod to do so if you've discovered that it works better one way than another, I'd be interested to learn from your experience.

Tony

 

[BChild]

Do you mean the bracket at the left of your photo, the one where the two bolt heads are just visible, behind the wires and blue pipe? If so, that bracket isn't there on mine.

Hi Tony

Not on mine either - was researching the separate wire feed transformer and noticed another welder had a bracket in front of the wire feed - this intersted me as when my wire feed is on very slow speeds there is a lot of flex in that plastic section (probably because of the drag effect in the liner) - faster speeds it's not so bad but as I want to control the wire speed better and what I am welding is thin stuff so needs low amps I was thinking about adding that bracket to mine to stiffen it up. When the bracket flexes I reckon it adds to the drag

There are a few differences between your welder and mine, judging by that photo, but they're both Cosmo 170. I'll try to post a similar photo of mine later so that you can compare.

I've been borrowing pics from elsewhere on the forum - unless I say "this is mine" assume it isn't!

Have you changed the brace that you added across the wire feed wheels, that you posted a picture of previously? I only ask because I've still got this mod to do so if you've discovered that it works better one way than another, I'd be interested to learn from your experience.

Tony

Again not my picture - my brace is as earlier post

I don't think how you brace it makes much difference - just brace it

 

[tonyt25]

I've been borrowing pics from elsewhere on the forum - unless I say "this is mine" assume it isn't!

Ah, right, I'm with you now! Thanks for the useful info. about the flexing etc.

I wonder what the other mods are in that picture? Looks like something has been bolted onto the front of the welder and a piece of metal tube has been fixed horizontally inside the machine.

Tony

 

[tonyt25]

I wonder what the other mods are in that picture? Looks like something has been bolted onto the front of the welder . . .

I found the thread where that photo came from, so I guess those bolts on the front are from the Euro torch upgrade that silverfox did on his machine.

Tony

 

[BChild]

I found the thread where that photo came from, so I guess those bolts on the front are from the Euro torch upgrade that silverfox did on his machine.

Tony

Sorry for the confusion - I could see from the original post that a Euro torch upgrade had been carried out but that L shaped bracket might be a good idea anyway from my perspective.

I more determined than ever to get this SIP unit to perform properly - After all it's not much to expect to buy a new welder and have it perform out of the box from day one is it??? But if it's beyond SIP's capability to produce one then I'll just fix it's faults and then when it's all sorted I'll send them a bill for the costs.......

PS not joking either - I know I'll get nowhere but it will give me a huge amount of satisfaction and you never know they might start listening to the end user instead of producing shody rubbish that's not fit for purpose

 

[tonyt25]

. . . it's not much to expect to buy a new welder and have it perform out of the box from day one is it??? But if it's beyond SIP's capability to produce one then I'll just fix it's faults and then when it's all sorted I'll send them a bill for the costs.......

PS not joking either - I know I'll get nowhere but it will give me a huge amount of satisfaction and you never know they might start listening to the end user instead of producing shody rubbish that's not fit for purpose

I like that idea! Give 'em hell whilst you're at it!

Tony

 

[Vanny]

this is the greatest topic i have ever seen on this site! Man i need to make some more mods to my Cosmo 170, shame that the welder is in Liverpool and i now live in Coventry Keep it coming, i'm very greatful for the manual. I guess i could post some pics of my welder for comparison?

 

[BChild]

this is the greatest topic i have ever seen on this site!

Err not sure if that's the case - It seems from reading other posts I am just treading the same old ground but hey ho

Man i need to make some more mods to my Cosmo 170, shame that the welder is in Liverpool and i now live in Coventry Keep it coming,

More to follow shortly

I guess i could post some pics of my welder for comparison?

Please do

 

[BChild]

OK Stuff for next modification all purchased

Bridge thingy Maplins



Cost £4.70



Transformer - JMS online



Cost £21.10



And some 16 Amp wire



Cost £6.00 (ebay)

 

[BChild]

Anybody fancy drawing out a wiring schematic?