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Does anyone on here use tig welding at home?
I bought a tig set the other day off ebay, cheep with the harness for £159!
Now, i bought a regulator from halfords, and a bottle of argon, and did 4 little runs before the gas ran out!
I cant make my mind up if its because i had the gas open too much or wether the bottle was already nearly empty.
Anyway, tried it today at my mates garage but using C02, it was sort of working but the tungston was burning back a lot and also the arc was wonderinga bout a lot.
But the main thing i want to know is what gas should i use for car bodywork and welding things like brackets onto crossmembers, and what size bottle?
Thanks!
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Tig welding requires Argon,called Argosheild from BOC. don't use anything else or you will get the results you describe.Tungstens should be similar diameter to thickness of metal being welded.Red tipped tungstens for mild steel,stainless,brass,copper etc. White tipped for aluminium.
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If I had two brains I,d still be a halfwit
1969 Morris Minor Traveller
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THanks mate, but argoshield is not pure argon, its a mix of c02 and argon with other elements in it too. So i can get away with argoshield?
I never thought i may have the wrong tungston in it!
I think its grey.
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Tig welding requires Argon,called Argosheild from BOC. don't use anything else or you will get the results you describe.Tungstens should be similar diameter to thickness of metal being welded.Red tipped tungstens for mild steel,stainless,brass,copper etc. White tipped for aluminium. I'd agree with that - except argon is argon and Argoshield (or Cougar, or whatever), comes in different mixes, from 5% CO2 to 20% CO2, IIRC. Been a few years since I last did it, though. |
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Nemesis: a rightful infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c**t.........me!
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yep, the BOC stuff you need is called Puresheild Argon, and the Argosheild/Light is for mig stuff.
And as for tungtens,
Grey = 'Ceriated' these are for ally
Red = 'thoriated' these are for ferrous, steel, stainless etc.
There are blue ones and gold ones, which are supposed to be all-rounders but not really worth the bother to be honest
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'A' series trigger wheels and sensor brackets, 205 GTi radiator brackets, general fabrication and machining - www.gsmotorsport.net |
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gn3dr
Part of things
Posts: 391
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Yup 100% Argon only. (Or maybe helium but that runs hotter and needs more flow.) Argoshield is not teh one to use. As a guide set up the flow rate for about 7 litres per minute. You should have a regulator specifically for Argon I think - you might not get a proper flow reading with one for CO2. Your grey Tungsten should be OK - that's Ceriated and I use it for steel and Aluminium - it's recommended for general use. Red tungstens are Thoriated I think - I decided not to use them because the grinding dust from them is radioactive.  I'm assuming your welder is an inverter unit? Grind your tunsgten to a point. Grind it along it's length (i.e towards teh point) to avoid arc wander. (i.e. don't grind around it's circumference) A trick is to put the tungsten in a cordless drill, hold it to the wheel at the correct angle and grind it on a grinding stone while rotating the tungsten. Length of taper should be about 2.5 times the tungsten diameter. In theory you should only grind tungsten on your grinding wheel as grinding anything else on it will contaminate the tungsten. This is less critical when welding steel though. |
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gn3dr
Part of things
Posts: 391
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I have a TIG inverter. 160 amp rehnmann unit. it seems to work fine but the tip errodes faster than the metal I'm welding and melts the gas cup on occasion too. this is with a cheapo reg and a machine mart disposable argon bottle. it does the same with the gas wound on full! any ideas guys? wrong size electrodes or not enough gas flow? I have throiated 1.4's I think. sorry if thats a threadjack but I stuck it in the back of my mind when the inverter got put to the back of the shelf and now you've reminded me  |
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Hi there, I have a small inverter TIG, good results can be had -    The bst advice I can give is keep it clean, everything! It's all in the preparation of the area to be welded, get the items as close together as possible with no gaps, clean the edges with a carbide dremel tool, and clean the tungsten. I tend to used pure argon, and just enough flow to prevent oxidation without affecting the arc. Carbide dremel tool -  It's an ace bit of kit, but for bodywork I am going to get a MIG, mainly for easy of use with gaps etc  |
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liamvw
Part of things
Posts: 17 
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did you get the set new off ebay or was it from an ebay shop? anyone have any links to bargains?  |
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CLICKThis is the same as the machine i have! I need to check what tungston i have, the machine now is in my mates garage so i cant have a look. I know about grinding the tungston but i have forgoten a lot of stuff! I did welding and fabrication at collage for 4 years, but hat is 5-6 years ago, and that is the only time i have done tig. I didnt know the flow rate was a lot lower for tig, for mig i use 15-18 cfm, so 7 is 1/2... Do any of you use a small disposable bottle then? I don't want to have to get a big bottle, itll cost £70-100 a year depending on where i go, and i wont use it that much. Also, my set i think is a scratch start, al though when i was trying before it was clicking and trying to form a start, is this just me getting very close to the metal, or could it be it trying to form an arc? Also, on the front of the set is amps, also there is another twisty knob, i have no idea what this is for, again the set is in my mates garage and i havnt read the instructions. also there is a 3 position switch with flat, square and long square waves on it, which is the one i want? Its so long i cant remember doing this at collage LOL!
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have you got a post flow control? mine has; it pours gas out for a measured amount of time after the arc has stopped. mine if HF start which is one of the reasons I got it. bit miffed I can't get it to work properly yet, but haven't had time.  mine is that one, the two dials are amps and post flow |
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so the other knob could be the gas tehn?
It does do that, and i never thought that could be what it was so why i never twigged!
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gn3dr
Part of things
Posts: 391
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I have a TIG inverter. 160 amp rehnmann unit. it seems to work fine but the tip errodes faster than the metal I'm welding and melts the gas cup on occasion too. this is with a cheapo reg and a machine mart disposable argon bottle. it does the same with the gas wound on full! any ideas guys? wrong size electrodes or not enough gas flow? I have throiated 1.4's I think. sorry if thats a threadjack but I stuck it in the back of my mind when the inverter got put to the back of the shelf and now you've reminded me Your problem if you are melting cups almost sounds like you have the earth and torch leads reversed. (Don't take this the wrong way). For DC Tig those who are new and are switching from Mig might not realise that the +ve connection is your workpiece earth and the -ve connection is for your torch. Have you got these connected the right way around? By the way for thin steel I use 2.6mm electrodes generally and for aluminium I use 3.2mm or 4.0mm. Often I have the 3.2mm in teh torch though and just use that for everything rather than changing. |
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liamvw
Part of things
Posts: 17
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cheers for the link squire might look in to getting one
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my welder was going this today, but i was using the wrong gas.
On the simple dc units like i have and i suspect bodie has you cant mix them up.
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gn3dr
Part of things
Posts: 391
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No I think from reading the ebay add on your welder the post gas flow is set on your unit. The second knob is for choosing a pulse current output. This is for welding thinner materials. The full line obviously gives full current at whatever value you set. The 2 square waves symbols then just pulse that current at two different frequencies - so that you are not putting as much heat into the workpiece. so the other knob could be the gas tehn? It does do that, and I never thought that could be what it was so why I never twigged! |
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gn3dr
Part of things
Posts: 391
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my welder was going this today, but I was using the wrong gas. On the simple dc units like I have and I suspect bodie has you cant mix them up. From Bodie's picture you can definitely swap +ve & -ve. (It's hard to see in teh picture of yoru one) Generally this is the case with most Tigs anyway because there are some situations where DCEP (DC electrode positive) might be used. The general set up for steel, stainless etc. though is DCEN (DC electrode negative) If anyone is thinking of getting a Tig I would definitely recommend getting one with a foot pedal for current control though. Makes it much easier. |
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feck i was thinking about this when i was in teh shower just and i just rechecked the pic on ebay and i can change teh polarity!
maybe i have this wrong also then!
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I have a TIG inverter. 160 amp rehnmann unit. it seems to work fine but the tip errodes faster than the metal I'm welding and melts the gas cup on occasion too. this is with a cheapo reg and a machine mart disposable argon bottle. it does the same with the gas wound on full! any ideas guys? wrong size electrodes or not enough gas flow? I have throiated 1.4's I think. sorry if thats a threadjack but I stuck it in the back of my mind when the inverter got put to the back of the shelf and now you've reminded me Your problem if you are melting cups almost sounds like you have the earth and torch leads reversed. (Don't take this the wrong way). For DC Tig those who are new and are switching from Mig might not realise that the +ve connection is your workpiece earth and the -ve connection is for your torch. Have you got these connected the right way around? By the way for thin steel I use 2.6mm electrodes generally and for aluminium I use 3.2mm or 4.0mm. Often I have the 3.2mm in teh torch though and just use that for everything rather than changing. oh, you star  I didn't realise and I'll check tomorrow! the instruction book is in german and I'm not proficietn at that also I have 1.6 tungstens so a change to 2.4 will be in order (it has the collets for 2.4mm). I may even give it a bash tomorrow many thanks! |
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I didn't realise and I'll check tomorrow! the instruction book is in german and I'm not proficietn at that