|
|
|
I bought a mig welder 2nd hand last year and it's sat in the shed doing nowt since. I thought I'd better get of my backside and get it setup and do some practice welding should I ever need to use it on my rover. This is the welder. It's currently setup with gasless wire but I don't want do gasless welding so I went to halfords and bought a bottle of gas, 0.6mm wire and a regulator. Now, when I look at the hose the gas should be connected to there's no fitting or anything on the end of it. Can someone help me and tell me how this jigsaw should fit together and any parts that I may have missing? Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
Gray
Part of things
Silence isnt golden!!!
Posts: 742
|
|
|
The regulator you have is for small hobby migs that have a very small tube, that pushes in where the blue bit is on the regulator. Your plant has a heavier tube for a bigger regulator You may be able to cobble it together somehow though by either fitting a smaller pipe inside the heavier one or fitting the heavier one over the end of the regulator and jubilee clipping it on
|
|
|
|
10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,253
Club RR Member Number: 204
|
Mig setup help10mpg
@10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member 204
|
|
what gray said, shouldnt be to hard to cobble something up, as after the regulator it's all low pressure, though how you set the pressure/flow on a reg that small is anyones guess...
also make sure that if you are trying to use 0.6mm wire that you have a 0.6mm tip on your torch and a 0.6mm wire feed roller in you machine..
The reason I say that is most larger machines like yours come set up for 0.8 or 1.0mm wire as 0.6 is only really used in hobby stuff or for very light fabrication..
You may need an adaptor to fit a small hobby sized reel of wire in that machine as it'll probably be set up for a full size reel
|
|
Last Edit: Aug 1, 2010 12:35:44 GMT by 10mpg
The Internet, like all tools, if used improperly, can make a complete bo**cks of even the simplest jobs...
|
|
|
|
|
with those small regulators and bottles you will need to have them turned fully open to get any decent gas flow.
Sadly welders are one of those things where it pays to go big straight away. If you are really keen to learn, then I would recommend you get a full size bottle of argoshield light or equivalent (from BOC, though contract free and cheaper suppliers exist) and a proper regulator. When I first bought my welder (an ancient clarke 150A unit) I tried using the small bottles and it was major hassle to produce anything decent. As soon as I sorted it all out properly the difference was amazing.
Just my 2p, best of luck though (as said, you could easily cobble that regulator onto the hose you have with some mild bodgery)
|
|
- '80 Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier Saloon, 3.0l 12v... in progress with some special plans ahead - '94 106 Rallye, Endurance Rally Car
|
|
|
|
|
with those small regulators and bottles you will need to have them turned fully open to get any decent gas flow. Sadly welders are one of those things where it pays to go big straight away. If you are really keen to learn, then I would recommend you get a full size bottle of argoshield light or equivalent (from BOC, though contract free and cheaper suppliers exist) and a proper regulator. When I first bought my welder (an ancient clarke 150A unit) I tried using the small bottles and it was major hassle to produce anything decent. As soon as I sorted it all out properly the difference was amazing. Just my 2p, best of luck though (as said, you could easily cobble that regulator onto the hose you have with some mild bodgery) Absolutely agree with all of this. My welder is on a par size wise (physical and amperage) and it is set for 0.6 or 0.8. There's a fair chance it will have the bits for 0.6. I choose 0.6 because I largely weld stuff less than 4 or 5 mm thick but 0.8 is a perfectly good comprimise. When you do decide to go big (because it will happen.. ) google 'BOC Volkszone deal' for a really cheap rate. The offer has ended but if you call them they are happy to still offer it.
|
|
...proper medallion man chest wig motoring.
|
|
|
|
|
I don't run mine fully open and its fine to weld with (as long as your out of the wind) if you have the regulator wound all the way out those little bottles don't last long, you need to do some trial runs to see how much you need it open to get a decent weld, i can usually weld just fine with about half a turn on mine.
You don't need full size stuff to do a decent job although it can make life easier, smaller gear is easier to store and lighter to move about.
|
|
Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
|
|
|
|
|
I would say get a big bottle also, It may be more expensive and you can "get away" with the hobby ones but it will limit your improvement drastically. I would bite the bullet and get a bottle. then you will have allot more potential and will learn much quicker.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the advice chaps. It's currently got 0.8mm gasless wire on a small spool in it so I'm hoping the 0.6mm spool will fit okay. i bought 0.6mm tips when I bought the wire so I should be okay there. I've had the welder for a year and not used it once so I don't want going to invest in a bigger bottle just yet, this is really just practice. I may do this in the future though if I get into a weldathon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
sure, I understand your point of view completely... I was the same two years ago. It's just that the rate of improvement will be much greater with a big bottle. They seem expensive at first, but by the time you've gone through 6 or so small bottles you've basically paid for a 230bar rented cylinder. I found that I got through the little bottles very fast when I started out, as I was doing a practice piece to structurally test before I tried taking on the real job. HOWEVER - I did manage to successfully fit a roll cage and make custom seat mounts and harness spreader plates for my 106 rally car using small bottles, with some hassle. These bits were later proven nice and strong when I wrote the car off rather severely. It was that point that I was really satisfied with the welds!! eek Best of luck with the learning, there are lots of people on here who weld, however I cannot recommend enough the forums and tutorials at: www.mig-welding.co.uk if you havent already found it! - I basically taught myself from there, it just requires an honest approach to your own work and a cautious reasoned approach when undertaking anything structural. MIGs can make beautiful looking welds with curse word penetration.
|
|
- '80 Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier Saloon, 3.0l 12v... in progress with some special plans ahead - '94 106 Rallye, Endurance Rally Car
|
|
|
|
|
sure, I understand your point of view completely... I was the same two years ago. It's just that the rate of improvement will be much greater with a big bottle. They seem expensive at first, but by the time you've gone through 6 or so small bottles you've basically paid for a 230bar rented cylinder. I found that I got through the little bottles very fast when I started out, as I was doing a practice piece to structurally test before I tried taking on the real job. HOWEVER - I did manage to successfully fit a roll cage and make custom seat mounts and harness spreader plates for my 106 rally car using small bottles, with some hassle. These bits were later proven nice and strong when I wrote the car off rather severely. It was that point that I was really satisfied with the welds!! eek Best of luck with the learning, there are lots of people on here who weld, however I cannot recommend enough the forums and tutorials at: www.mig-welding.co.uk if you havent already found it! - I basically taught myself from there, it just requires an honest approach to your own work and a cautious reasoned approach when undertaking anything structural. MIGs can make beautiful looking welds with curse word penetration. I'll need to have a good look at the mig site. I've got the haynes welding manual, which is good for the basics. I've cut metal out of an old bumper I had in the shed, which I'm going to try to weld back on for practice.
|
|
|
|