[TraditionalToolworks]

I have ordered from ebay stuff out of china, a 3/4X12 tap fitting a dremel collar and a couple hard to find toyota parts.. I haven't been taken yet and the shipping was about 2 weeks for all as I recall...

I've ordered a number of things that were shipped from China and 2 weeks is FAST, IMO. I wouldn't expect 2 weeks by any means nowadays with the flight limitations. I did once get some stuff in about a week and a half, but that doesn't happen anymore, and the Trade War with China can only be expected to get worse, IMO.

Shipping from China seems random now, with fewer planes flying the route.

Exactly and only expect it to continue to get worse. I would think that Taiwan might be easier, but it is still China in theory.

I just requested, and got, an Ebay refund for a flashlight ordered May 14.The expected delivery window ended June 24. According to its tracking # it was handed to an airline in Singapore on May 23.

Was thinking about doing a refund on my tig torch head, but it's so cheap, it was like $12.50 w/shipping. I saw a place that would ship from the US though, so may contact Amazon and see if I can just refund as the seller won't respond. I've been waiting to give them one of the worse reviews on the planet.

I don't even know where it's at, it could be anywhere, it just says shipped 2 days after I ordered it.

 

[California]

I don't even know where it's at, it could be anywhere, it just says shipped 2 days after I ordered it.

If you have a tracking number, this site will show the various checkpoints where it was scanned (like UPS tracking) as the package moves.

http://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking/

 

[TraditionalToolworks]

If you have a tracking number

That's the problem, no tracking number and in my orders on Amazon it tells me there is no tracking info and I should contact the seller.

Of course the seller is useless.

If I had a tracking number I could look it up, yeah, I get that much...I think this shows that Amazon is getting the wave of china-drop-ship vendors like Ebay has for several years. Used to be that Amazon one could expect good service. Those days are gone. Funny though, I recently bought some 30mm diamond discs for my Dremel, 10 pieces for $12 w/shipping. It was scheduled out for August delivery but shipped from Compton, CA and arrived in less than a week. Go figure. I ordered that after the tig torch head. You can barely buy diamond in America, none of the small 30mm sizes.

I have other tig torches, but it's the principal. There's a reason I wanted this one.

With so much welding equipment made in China, things don't look good.

 

[jerlands]

I've ordered a number of things that were shipped from China and 2 weeks is FAST, IMO. I wouldn't expect 2 weeks by any means nowadays with the flight limitations. I did once get some stuff in about a week and a half, but that doesn't happen anymore, and the Trade War with China can only be expected to get worse, IMO.

This is what the site "Universal Parcel Tracking" supplied -

Estimated date of arrival at the post office

15 Jul 2020 - 18 Jul 2020, 12 - 15 days remaining
The forecast is not 100% certain, and is based on 250 packages delivered in the last 60 days

• 03 Jul 202010:38​
  Shipment data received China
  
  
  
  
  
  ​

 

[ronsii]

If you have a tracking number, this site will show the various checkpoints where it was scanned (like UPS tracking) as the package moves.

http://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking/

Unfortunately a lot of times the tracking number they use gets changed as it switches from one carrier to another.... and sometimes they assign the wrong number to your email in the first place the only way to know for certain is when you see it in your hands

 

[California]

Unfortunately a lot of times the tracking number they use gets changed as it switches from one carrier to another.... and sometimes they assign the wrong number to your email in the first place the only way to know for certain is when you see it in your hands

True. For the $5 flashlight I got refunded as described above, the vendor assigned a Yanwen number (local courier like UPS) and a China Post number. The local number shows movement as far as 'handed to airline' but no customs export clearance which makes me think those steps are bogus. China Post reports their number is valid but they have never scanned the parcel - 50 days after my Ebay purchase. So I cancelled.

In contrast I just ordered a knurled mig feed roller and it has already moved across the border into Hong Kong with export customs declaration completed. This one is handled by SpeedPak, an Ebay affiliate based in Shanghai. I'm optimistic that this one will arrive in a couple of weeks.

 

[Meltedmetal]

I've had a number of things out of China that took a long time to arrive. You may still get your flashlight. A pair of metric taps purchased the end of march didn't arrive until the middle of June. Quite a few things I've looked at on ebay lately don't ship or are crazy expensive to ship to Canada. I suspect it is all tied to the Hauwei debacle and Meng Wanzhou.

 

[RKCRLR]

Welding Aluminum with MIG-205DS

I decided to play around with trying to MIG weld aluminum with my MIG-205DS.
I purchased one of these PTFE liners:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/172173869028
One of these U groove drive rolls:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184314295365
And a 1 lb roll of ER4043 0.030 Aluminum wire.

I initially had some problems feeding the wire. I had to crank the drive roll tensioner all the way down to get it to feed without slipping. That was putting a flat edge on the wire.
I removed the steel spiral inlet guide (it unscrews screws out of the plastic guide holder). I put some shrink tube over the end of a piece of the PTFE liner I had trimmed off to make it big enough to stick in the plastic inlet guide holder (a piece of electrical tape would probably work also). See attache picture.
I removed the spring from the wire spool holder to lighten the friction.
This allowed me to back off the drive roll tensioner to the 2 value and not slip. This fixed the flat side on the aluminum wire and the wire feeds good now.
However, I was still having problems welding. I was telling the machine I was using 0.023" wire. I tried both the MIG and MAG settings but the wire doesn't appear to be coming out fast enough compared to the current.

I asked Yeswelder if they had a chart for wire feed speed vs amperage. To my surprise, they emailed me a chart. I've attached a screenshot of the relevant settings (the website wouldn't let me upload the whole PDF). It appears to be a work in progress.
The values for current and voltage are the same or very close as you get when you use the synergic Thickness setting with the exception of the setting for 0.023" wire when it gets above 2.5mm thick. Then the settings just don't make sense.
I entered the values into a spreadsheet and charted Wire Feed Speed vs Amperage for the various wire diameter and MIG/MAG settings (I stayed consistent with Yeswelders MIG/MAG terminology even though it isn't technically correct). It became obvious when I compared these charts against what Lincoln recommends (screenshot attached) that there isn't a combination that provides a fast enough wire feed speed for 0.030" wire for a given amperage. However, it appears that you can get appropriate feed speeds for 0.035" wire. I tried to attach the spreadsheet but the website wouldn't let me. I attached a couple of screenshots for the 0.023" wire but I ran up against my attachment limit. I'll attach the rest in a subsequent post.
I've ordered some 0.035" ER4043 wire and some 0.040" tips. I'll see if I have better luck with that.

 

[RKCRLR]

Additional screenshots of wire feed speed charts

First two are for 0.030" wire and second two are for 0.035" wire.

 

[Rondo]

Re: Additional screenshots of wire feed speed charts

Seems to be a trend in China products on E-bay. They collect sales dollars for a few weeks and then disappear without shipping anything. Then when you open a case, Ebay ends up paying everyone back. I wonder how long it will go on. I quit supporting out of country sellers on Ebay and Amazon.

 

[Shootr]

Re: Additional screenshots of wire feed speed charts

I'm still waiting for my .023 roller to come from the chicom, but am pleasantly surprised that the .030 groove seems to drive the solid .023 ER70S-6 just fine with only medium tension on the knob.

 

[RKCRLR]

I had commented that the Thickness settings on my MIG-205DS make no sense for .023 wire for Thicknesses above 2.5 mm. I get the following settings when Thickness is set above 2.5 mm:

The values below are for the 0.6 MIG wire setting with no voltage offset:

Thickness	Amperage	Voltage
3.0	79	17.9
3.3	80	18.1
3.7	81	18.3
4.0	82	18.5
4.3	83	18.6
4.5	84	18.7
4.8	85	18.8
5.0	86	18.9
5.3	87	19.0
5.5	88	19.1
5.8	89	19.2
6.0	90	19.3
6.3	91	19.4
6.5	92	19.5
6.6	93	19.6
6.7	94	19.7
6.8	95	19.8
6.9	96	19.9
…	…	…
17.5	205	28.5

The pattern continues to increase by 1 amp for thickness between 7.0 and 17.4.

The values below are for the 0.6 MAG wire setting with no voltage offset:

Thickness	Amperage	Voltage
2.6	67	17.0
2.8	68	17.2
3.1	69	14.4
3.3	70	17.6
3.6	71	17.8
3.8	72	18.0
3.9	73	18.1
4.0	74	18.1
4.2	75	18.2
4.3	76	18.2
4.4	77	18.3
…	…	…
14.6	205	28.5

The pattern continues to increase by 1 amp for thickness between 4.5 and 14.5.

Could someone else with the MIG-205DS see if they get the same settings?
I realize the settings when using the Thickness option are too hot but the ones above indicate something is wrong with the board logic.

 

[Shootr]

I had commented that the Thickness settings on my MIG-205DS make no sense for .023 wire for Thicknesses above 2.5 mm. I get the following settings when Thickness is set above 2.5 mm:

The values below are for the 0.6 MIG wire setting with no voltage offset:

Thickness	Amperage	Voltage
3.0	79	17.9
3.3	80	18.1
3.7	81	18.3
4.0	82	18.5
4.3	83	18.6
4.5	84	18.7
4.8	85	18.8
5.0	86	18.9
5.3	87	19.0
5.5	88	19.1
5.8	89	19.2
6.0	90	19.3
6.3	91	19.4
6.5	92	19.5
6.6	93	19.6
6.7	94	19.7
6.8	95	19.8
6.9	96	19.9
…	…	…
17.5	205	28.5

The pattern continues to increase by 1 amp for thickness between 7.0 and 17.4.

The values below are for the 0.6 MAG wire setting with no voltage offset:

Thickness	Amperage	Voltage
2.6	67	17.0
2.8	68	17.2
3.1	69	14.4
3.3	70	17.6
3.6	71	17.8
3.8	72	18.0
3.9	73	18.1
4.0	74	18.1
4.2	75	18.2
4.3	76	18.2
4.4	77	18.3
…	…	…
14.6	205	28.5

The pattern continues to increase by 1 amp for thickness between 4.5 and 14.5.

Could someone else with the MIG-205DS see if they get the same settings?
I realize the settings when using the Thickness option are too hot but the ones above indicate something is wrong with the board logic.

I'll check tonight and make a list - if you have an excel spreadsheet already and want to dm me a link to it I'd be glad to fill in my findings.

 

[California]

Re: Additional screenshots of wire feed speed charts

Seems to be a trend in China products on E-bay. They collect sales dollars for a few weeks and then disappear without shipping anything. Then when you open a case, Ebay ends up paying everyone back.

I'm still waiting for my .023 roller to come from the chicom, ....

I ordered a knurled drive roller July 1 and it arrived last evening (July 13). I've learned a couple of things:

SpeedPAK shipping is an affiliate of Ebay. Choose the vendor who uses them! Their tracking reports are real, not made-up. They apparently fill an air transport pod and send one over, every couple of days. In contrast my experience with 'Economy shipping' has been poor.

Ebay seller chnsalescom seems to specialize in welding accessories and actually stocks what they sell. I see they have 100% positive feedback which is rare among China vendors.

That is in contrast to many other sellers, who drop-ship, ie accept your order then have the real vendor send it to you. If your industrial stuff is listed among womens clothing and doo-dads that's probably a drop-shipper. Reading the seller's feedback to see what else he's selling can be a clue to whether he understands the product.

 

[RKCRLR]

I'll check tonight and make a list - if you have an excel spreadsheet already and want to dm me a link to it I'd be glad to fill in my findings.

I put the 0.023 settings in the spreadsheet (2nd to last tab) I made for the other settings and put it in a folder on Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10pbhQEcE0FQlAROaqX7qXofPzNX9Qzsk?usp=sharing
If you find yours is the same as mine no need to fill out the chart.

I also put the settings chart I got from Yeswelder in there.

Thanks

 

[Shootr]

I went through both MIG and MAG at .023/.6mm with no voltage or inductance offsets. NOTE: I'm plugged into a 30a 120V/60Hz outlet using a 25' 10AWG cord.

The values in the three columns on the RIGHT are what I came up with for each setting. NOTE: I was not able to set some of my thicknesses to exactly what you can. I noted all I could do, and skipped ones that jumped several tenths to best match your chart.

Thickness	Amperage	Voltage	Thickness	Amperage	Voltage
3	79	17.9	3.1	69	17.4
3.3	80	18.1	3.3	70	17.6
3.7	81	18.3	3.6	71	17.8
4	82	18.5	4	74	18.1
4.3	83	18.6	4.3	76	18.2
4.5	84	18.7	4.5	78	18.3
4.8	85	18.8	4.8	80	18.4
5	86	18.9	5	82	18.5
5.3	87	19	5.3	86	19.3
5.5	88	19.1	5.5	88	19.7
5.8	89	19.2	5.8	92	20.5
6	90	19.3	6	95	21.1
6.3	91	19.4	6.3	98	21.7
6.5	92	19.5	6.5	101	22.3
6.6	93	19.6	6.6	102	22.5
6.7	94	19.7	6.7	104	22.7
6.8	95	19.8	6.8	105	22.9
6.9	96	19.9	6.9	107	23.3
…	…	…
17.5	205	28.5	11.6	166	28.5

Thickness	Amperage	Voltage	Thickness	Amperage	Voltage
2.6	67	17	2.6	78	17.7
2.8	68	17.2
3.1	69	14.4	3	79	17.9
3.3	70	17.6	3.3	80	18.1
3.6	71	17.8	3.7	81	18.3
3.8	72	18
3.9	73	18.1
4	74	18.1	4	82	18.5
4.2	75	18.2
4.3	76	18.2	4.3	83	18.6
4.4	77	18.3	4.5	84	18.7
…	…	…
14.6	205	28.5	13.7	166	26.7

I do not have the skills to reliably run repeatable beads at different settings, but if you want me to I will try - let me know which thicknesses (I don't have a huge scrap pile but can at least do several if needed).

Tag on my machine

Maximum MIG setting

Maximum MAG setting

I believe a while back you mentioned you had a 220V circuit - if that's the case, that's the only other thing I can think of that could somehow cause differences in our readings. Or our machines have different internals/programming.

I've only run a few feet of the .023, enough to be sure it ran in the first place. You will have to guide me as to what other tests and readings I can provide to help out.

 

[RKCRLR]

Neither one of our 0.023" wire settings above 2.5mm make any sense. No need to try welding. I'll check on 120V tomorrow to see if they change but it shouldn't make a difference.
I've emailed Yeswelder to see what they say.

Are your 0.023" wire settings for thicknesses less than 2.5 mm similar to what are in the chart that Yeswelder provided?

Thanks for your help

 

[Shootr]

I guess the one thing working in my favor - I don't have a clue what the correct settings should be, so I'm going off cheat sheets for other manufacturers' welders that are posted on the internet as a starting point. I've never set my machine up using the metal thickness option - mostly amperage and then adjusting the voltage to the cheat sheet recommendation - then tweaking from there.

I didn't see what the values for less than 2.5mm material would be since 2.5 and up are so far off. This picture is 1/8" clean steel, using the .023 wire and 20CF/H C25 gas. The amps were 100 and the voltage 20.5. I went as high as 21.5V and down into the 19's - but the most pleasing "sizzle" was at 100/20.5. The only difference in these beads is I moved the torch faster on each successive pass:

Now the flip side. I googled "typical" settings for what I was doing and the consensus seemed to be huge: 31V / 125amps @ 437IPM wire speed. I wound up trying 135amps at 28.5V (135x3.5=WFS of 470ish?) and was getting beads like this:

(1-5 were done with more focus. 6-9 I was fooling with the inductance a little)

There was little to no sizzle, with a little bit of popping. It was so quiet I could hear the wire feed motor clearly - and I had my hearing aids out :laugh:!

So, I guess what I'm wondering is if it is possible for the more experienced to tell which welds look better or worse. With that info, I'd like to think I can start putting together my own settings chart for my machine.

 

[dooleykevin70]

My advice at moment is to look up your wire recommended settings an than try an set your machine up based upon that .it may give you better results an also will let you know what amperage your wire can do as well as max thickness

Sent from my LGL455DL using Tapatalk

 

[Shootr]

Hopefully this readable - I'm using INE INEFIL ER70S-6. Thanks for reminding me to go back and look at this - the second set of beads was a bit above recommended voltage.

This is the manufacturer website - it is a bit sparse on information...