Newbie needs help

[slimneverdies]

Any of you guys in South Florida willing to teach a guy some tig welding? I took a welding class not to long ago and all I learned was to do gas welding. I'll pay just dont want to take another 3 months in class to learm stick,then mig etc,,. Im down in Miami and willing to travel or you can come to me. Email me at dermils@yahoo.com

Heres what I did with my Econotig today. Was just trying to watch the puddle form

[slimneverdies]

Someone in South Florida has to be willing to help!

[prop-doctor]

just hang in there there's alot of people to come on
but ya need to tell us more
what settings you are using , gas, and rod
but s looks kinda cold need more heat

[slimneverdies]

Well I have the Econotig so the settings is just the switch is on DCEN, 3/32 tungsten, 3/32 ER70s, argon at 20 CFM and a #5 cup. I was thinking the same thing but was thinking it may be something else.

[weldbead]

metal looks dirty, did you grind? how thick?what amps? looking for the puddle is the right direction..get a puddle and feed it with rod, and move and repeat..watch the puddle..

[prop-doctor]

there s gota be more than just switch on
some way to select the heat range
pics would help
hand amp control or foot ?

[slimneverdies]

From my understanding the Econotig amps control only works in stick mode. So the amps are probably wide open and is variable controled by the foot paddle. I didnt grind the metal but I did hit it with a stainless steel wire brush and a good wipe down. Its 1/4'' steel.

[slimneverdies]

Here's a pic of how I have it setup. Thanks guys for the help. I need it.

[Broccoli1]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

From my understanding the Econotig amps control only works in stick mode. So the amps are probably wide open and is variable controled by the foot paddle. I didnt grind the metal but I did hit it with a stainless steel wire brush and a good wipe down. Its 1/4'' steel.

Amp control is amp control- don't matter what process

You need to look at the manual again-

"In GTAW (TIG) position (up), remote control
device turns on and adjusts weld output of unit
as limited by Amperage control"

"For remote amperage control used when TIG
(GTAW) welding, front panel Amperage control
setting is the maximum amperage percentage
available at the remote control device."

So what it is telling you is that if you have the Amp control set to 50% then when you stomp down on the pedal you will only get 50% outta da machine

Check out the Miller Tig guide for some starting parameters.
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/TIGhandbook/

[slimneverdies]

I know your like not this guy again huh Broccoli1. I guess im a typical newbie. Once again, Broccoli1 is all over with his wisdom Broccoli I read the manual over and over and it says that this control doesnt work in GTAW. Now im really confused I read the tig guide on miller website and it doesnt say if its setting are for the newer machines or the old econotig technology. I took some pic with my phone cause my girl has the camera, so sorry for the crappy pics. This is from the econotig manual.

[Broccoli1]

hmmm I was going by the Manual I found on line, which I know without the serial number or model # it just gives me a generic Econotig manual.

http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o303v_mil.pdf

But it seems strange that the machine would not have a way to adjust the amperage control or only be able to use the Foot Control.

If you only have an On/Off finger control then On would be 100%

At the very least set the amp control to 50%, stomp on the pedal and see what happens

[Broccoli1]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

I didnt grind the metal but I did hit it with a stainless steel wire brush and a good wipe down. Its 1/4'' steel.

Mild Steel just needs a good Flap discin' and all oils etc cleaned off- don't need to use the SS brush

You need to remove Mill Scale- get it shiny and try again.

[slimneverdies]

Thanks. I will try it with the settings you said and post pics of what I get. Do you have any pics of what my puddle should look like without any filler? Ill hit it with the grinder real quick also.

[Broccoli1]

Well it is similar to what you did with the Gas welding- don't have any pics here at work.

Cut up some coupons, clean em' and do a butt weld w/o filler.
Once you get the puddle formed push that puppy around as well as throttle up and down on the pedal to get the feel of what is happening.

Basically you'll need to press down on the pedal all the way to get the puddle started and then back off once it is established but if yer machine is 100% on Geetaw then you just need to find where in the pedal range the right amount of stomping is for the material thickness.

Then do it again with Filler.

[Broccoli1]

Well I talked to John Swartz at Miller and he said

"Early Econtigs did not come with the capability to adjust the max output from the front dial"

So you be correct Slim in that the machine is set to Max output when in the GTAW mode

[slimneverdies]

Well I played around with the tig today and I think im starting to get the hang of it. I think mostly my problem was that I was scared to step on the pedal in fear of to much heat. Yah Broccoli, when I step on the pedal its like stepping on the throttle of a car. Step all the way down and your talking max amps. I also took the advice of taking off the scale on top of the metal. Once I perfect my weld puddle then I'll move on to adding filler. I think im gonna have to make a water cooler for my machine. Not a lot of practice time when the torch is hot.

[sn0border88]

You need to either go hotter or slower, but probably both. Most of those runs didnt even melt the material, they just got hot enough to color. The 4th bead from the left is closest, you almost got a consistent puddle going there.

Dont worry about filler yet, get nice steady beads that are maybe 1/8" wide. The colored area isnt the puddle, you need to look close to see where the material actually melted.

To get a puddle with 1/4" steel you need more amps that you have. 100 amps isnt good for anything over 1/8" really, and even thats a little heavy. Stand on the pedal and take it slow and you should be able to get a bead going but you wont be able to "weld" it with that machine.
(This is assuming I read the dial right and it maxes at 100)

[slimneverdies]

Well its not a 100 amp machine, its a 150 amps. So are you saying that I should be trying this on a thinner sheet of metal. Its a 3/8 strip of metal. Should I be trying to penatrate thru the entire metal which I know it doesnt have enough powee? Maybe some 3/16 ?

[Broccoli1]

Snow- the 100 = 100% power of the Econotig

[Broccoli1]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Its a 3/8 strip of metal. Should I be trying to penatrate thru the entire metal which I know it doesnt have enough powee? Maybe some 3/16 ?

Are you saying the Practice scrap is 3/8" Thick

Get some 1/8" thick 2" or 1" Flat stock and cut up some coupons- about 3" long and but weld them.

The torch is getting Hot because your practice runs are very long.

If you wanna get a cooler and a WC Torch go ahead but they are $$.

Normal welding will most likely not get too hot on the torch since the welding will not be that long at one time.

[slimneverdies]

Well Broccoli I didnt get any smaller scrap like you suggested. So I went on and tried some more 3/8" and some 1/4" scrap. The 3/8" at around 90%(guessing) didnt quite burn all the way thru. On the other hand the 1/4" at 90% got good penetration. I cant find anyone who just has the smaller scrap for sale. What do you think, hey and dont laugh

I took pics of the front and back

[slimneverdies]

the back of 1/4"

[slimneverdies]

Getting the camera right

[wirehunt]

I wouldn't worry about trying butt welds on that thickness of material with those amps unless you start putting a prep onto the plate. That second last photo has welds starting to look like welds now.

Put the pedal down full and don't move it from there, and have that machine up to maximum, for running beads on plate you need heat.

[slimneverdies]

Yeah i figured the 3/8" was too much for a 165amp tig. Now i just need more 1/4"