Stick out with a Gas lens

[Mr shiney]

I am playing with my new WP9 on the TA202 and have a question regarding stick out on the tungsten. I have a gas lens on it which is new to me. How far should I aim to be sticking out?

 

[Appyasme]

About a 1/4 of an inch

 

[Richard.]

Its dependence on joint. For a fillet weld my tungsten is sticking out 3-4mm with a no 7 cup so that I'm able to keep a tight arc in the corner. Butt and outside corner about 2mm for me. Because I want to keep my cup over the pool best I can but not obstruct my vision. Switching from collet bodies to lenses should not mean you need to treat this any different so if your happy with your set up/ and techniques with the CB just continue the same with the lens. If your cup size has gone up dramatically then you will need more tungsten stickout particularly for a fillet joint. The aim of the game is to have the cup coverage as best as possible and still see your pool.

 

[Mr shiney]

thanks guys. I tried it out building some new fins on a cylinder head thus afternoon and seemed to work nicely. I have to say the WP9 is a joy to use compared to the 26!

 

[Appyasme]

Pleased you are happy

 

[Richard.]

How well does the 9 cope with the AC current. Some are ok to 120amps others cook below 100.

 

[Mr shiney]

Richard, it seems to cope really well. I have pushed 140amps through it earlier without problem and on the cylinder heads I tend to work around 110amps. The torch is not getting hot. I don't do large runs on my jobs. Building up the fins as an example would probably be 20 or 30 seconds welding then some ass scratching then a bit more!!!

I rane a 6" corner weld on 3mm steel earlier to test it and it was fine.

 

[Richard.]

Richard, it seems to cope really well. I have pushed 140amps through it earlier without problem and on the cylinder heads I tend to work around 110amps. The torch is not getting hot. I don't do large runs on my jobs. Building up the fins as an example would probably be 20 or 30 seconds welding then some ass scratching then a bit more!!!

I rane a 6" corner weld on 3mm steel earlier to test it and it was fine.

That's good you've bought a quality one. AC is really harsh especially on Micky mouse torches and they cook quick 110-140 amps and coping well is very good.

 

[Mr shiney]

I got it from Jim Davey on here who was really helpful in helping me choose the best torch for the job. I was also not afraid of paying to get quality.

 

[Richard.]

My thoughts exactly I'll always aim to buy the best I can afford and usually more than I can afford . But it's cheaper than buying c#%p

 

[langy]

I sometimes have the tungsten out 30mm but I use CK gas saver

 

[Richard.]

Wow I've never even come close to that sort of tungsten length exiting the cup edge. 5mm is the max I've gone too. I would never of guessed that to work tbh.

 

[Jim Davey]

1.5 times gas lens diameter is usually the max reccomended stickout but you can go more than that under certain circumstances.

 

[Leetig]

Sometimes you just have to stick it out there

 

[langy]

Wow I've never even come close to that sort of tungsten length exiting the cup edge. 5mm is the max I've gone too. I would never of guessed that to work tbh.

Sometimes on headers I have to get down the bottom of a tight V, how else are you gonna get to it ??? The CK gas lenses allow a lot more stick out, it say so in their blurb

 

[Jim Davey]

Extended ceramics are another way but yeah, the stickout you can get away with using some gas lenses is unbelievable.

 

[norlander]

Sometimes you just have to stick it out there

Yep-do that with me tongue as well as me tungsten,
I did use a 1.6 fairly well stuck out on some ally the other day, used me new CK gas saver, but the tungsten went blue because being a chump novice I did not have long enough post flow I reckon

 

[Richard.]

Sometimes on headers I have to get down the bottom of a tight V, how else are you gonna get to it ??? The CK gas lenses allow a lot more stick out, it say so in their blurb

I don't doubt it for a second mate. It's just foreign to me to try something like that but like you say how else are you gonna do it.

 

[Richard.]

Yep-do that with me tongue as well as me tungsten,
I did use a 1.6 fairly well stuck out on some ally the other day, used me new CK gas saver, but the tungsten went blue because being a chump novice I did not have long enough post flow I reckon

Easy one to make I do it pretty much every time I go from thin ally to thick. I change all my settings but forget to up the post flow and end up with tungsten oxides (purple/blue tip).

 

[Maker]

Easy one to make I do it pretty much every time I go from thin ally to thick. I change all my settings but forget to up the post flow and end up with tungsten oxides (purple/blue tip).

Does that affect the next weld?