Reply to Thread

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Having the latest greatest tools doesn't mean much if you can't use them to their potential. Lots of bling but only the Mythbusters were actually able to polish a turd.
An oxy/fuel gouging tip is another option.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

The upside of showing up with a truck and 3 timesmore stuff than needed was most people impressed that they never wonder if you know wtf you are doing. When a guy crawls under a machine with a few rods and comes out and guy says, I could tell by the sound of that it was real welding,,, ha

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

If I was going to put together another truck,,, which I kind of did recently would be looking at howmuch universal I could make it, cheaper and lighter. If I can do it with a battery drill, pair of Channellock's and a wire rope cumalong I am all over it.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Weld pics are not very forgiving.
I should look back before I comment but,,, I have miles behind an air arc and in my own world have used it about once or twice in 30+years. But if you are spending hours doing this the extra equipment is worth getting. Hook it up and test before investing in all the fit up. When I did my big truck it cost me some effort in over estimating the air I would really need. Today weight and cost are bigger issues, simple is good.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by ttoks

Good to know, I've contemplated just going for a plasma setup as I wouldn't mind one anyway, but I already carry around a CC power source and soon a compressor for other things, the only in field benefit the plasma has over an oxy is cutting non ferrous metal and stainless which I don't see myself doing a lot of in field.

It's repairs like this where I think carbon air arc gouging would be the go, I gouged out these cracks with an oxy, but especially the one on the gusset with the other gusset next to it was a pain to get a grinder into, and as you sat oxy gouging has really poor control and can be quite slow and is quite expensive on gas, whereas air arc is surgical and fast in comparison.

Was the weld partly uphill? It looks a little ropey but the camera might cause it to look worse than it is.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

I used 1/4" carbon rods.last week,300 amps,and 7 or 9 cfm,worked great,just use the aire button when can...no cycling problems at all..and I did some serious gouging..removed a bout 12 feet of weld 2x2"

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by ttoks

Good to know, I've contemplated just going for a plasma setup as I wouldn't mind one anyway, but I already carry around a CC power source and soon a compressor for other things, the only in field benefit the plasma has over an oxy is cutting non ferrous metal and stainless which I don't see myself doing a lot of in field.

It's repairs like this where I think carbon air arc gouging would be the go, I gouged out these cracks with an oxy, but especially the one on the gusset with the other gusset next to it was a pain to get a grinder into, and as you sat oxy gouging has really poor control and can be quite slow and is quite expensive on gas, whereas air arc is surgical and fast in comparison.

For what your doing air arc is it. Plasma is hard to get in deep with as well, much like oxy fuel is. Another thing with the plasma is the dross is very hard to remove when gouging and it takes many passes to get any depth of cut. I've never used a 100+ amp machine but I couldn't imagine it would be a huge difference over a 60-80 amp machine. Other than the grinding, which any gouging process requires, air arc is insanely fast.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by M J D

There was a dude who got some here I while back. Didn't seem real experienced so I would take any review with a grain of salt. I've used air arc, plasma , gouging electrode and oxy fuel tips. I would rate air arc as #1, plasma next as far as control but 3rd at removal. Oxy fuel at second for removal and last for control. Electrodes at some where in the middle. All in all it's really hard to beat an air arc for removing material in a controlled fashion. With that being said for crack repair I use an 1/8" thick , 6" pipeline grinding disc the majority of the time.

Good to know, I've contemplated just going for a plasma setup as I wouldn't mind one anyway, but I already carry around a CC power source and soon a compressor for other things, the only in field benefit the plasma has over an oxy is cutting non ferrous metal and stainless which I don't see myself doing a lot of in field.

It's repairs like this where I think carbon air arc gouging would be the go, I gouged out these cracks with an oxy, but especially the one on the gusset with the other gusset next to it was a pain to get a grinder into, and as you sat oxy gouging has really poor control and can be quite slow and is quite expensive on gas, whereas air arc is surgical and fast in comparison.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by Lis2323

I've always wanted to try a couple. Just out of curiosity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There was a dude who got some here I while back. Didn't seem real experienced so I would take any review with a grain of salt. I've used air arc, plasma , gouging electrode and oxy fuel tips. I would rate air arc as #1, plasma next as far as control but 3rd at removal. Oxy fuel at second for removal and last for control. Electrodes at some where in the middle. All in all it's really hard to beat an air arc for removing material in a controlled fashion. With that being said for crack repair I use an 1/8" thick , 6" pipeline grinding disc the majority of the time.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Seems i recall trying a couple, they worked ok but its been so long i cant remember the details.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by Welder Dave

There are also stick electrode gouging rods that don't require any air.

https://www.castolin.com/en-CA/produ...c-chamfertrode

I've always wanted to try a couple. Just out of curiosity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

See if you can find a K2000 Arcair torch. They were discontinued but a welding supply (or e-bay) may still have one. They only required 15 CFM. There are also stick electrode gouging rods that don't require any air.

https://www.castolin.com/en-CA/produ...c-chamfertrode

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Just keep in mind the duty cycle of the compressor. I have a pulford 15cfm petrol compressor with a fusheng compressor head and it says it has a 75% duty cycle.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Another option has come up that's interesting, ive come across a 25 CFM & 145PSI compressor linked below (so kind of halfway between the other two I am looking at) that pretty much doesn't have a built in tank, only 2 gallons of tank on the machine which is made up by the lifting frame, but it's vertically stacked, engine on top of the pump rather than engine and pump on top of a tank which means its got a tiny footprint, this thing is only 33 x 22 inches footprint, the 15 CFM compressor I'm looking at is 49 x 20 inches and is also 250 pounds lighter meaning no need for a GVM upgrade to my vehicle.

If I have enough pump capacity to maintain 80PSI, should it matter having pretty much no tank? I do always have the option of installing a remote tank at a later date as they're pretty cheap, about $200 for a 150 psi rated and certified 25 gallon air tank, this setup would allow me to mount the compressor and generator in line in the bed of my vehicle rather than side by side allowing me to leave the full bed length down the middle for materials, if it would work.



https://sydneytools.com.au/product/l...air-compressor

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

I lost my air arc in a fire and a couple years later had to borrow one for one small job. Then on Hobart some popped up, Rocky D and I each bought one for 50$ which was a giveaway but havnt used it since, been 20 years.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by ttoks

What does it cost you for a 1/4 lance and how many lances do you think an E size (140 cubic foot) oxy bottle will run?

I've found 1/4 lances for about $7 each, and a 140 cubic foot oxy bottle is about $120 here (all in AUD, yeah I know we get ripped off compared to US prices)

What do you use it for? I'm want to hog out crack's for welding repair on thing like excavator boom's, removing tooth adaptors from excavator/loader buckets, removing weld to cleanly cut off bucket ware skins to replace them etc, how do you think the exothermic lances would go for these applications? as I said I've only really used them for demo work, and then usually 1 inch lances.

I am afraid I am going to be unable to answer any of your questions concerning oxygen consumption and consumable costs.

I purchased the unit used along with a Victor track torch and a Lincoln LN25. I thought the lance would be perfect for seized pin extraction on our loaders, or excavator if need be. Fortunately I never had to use it.

As it turns out it was somewhat like having insurance with the exception of still having your money in hand at the end of the day.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by Lis2323

For those who haven't seen one here's a pic of mine.....









Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What does it cost you for a 1/4 lance and how many lances do you think an E size (140 cubic foot) oxy bottle will run?

I've found 1/4 lances for about $7 each, and a 140 cubic foot oxy bottle is about $120 here (all in AUD, yeah I know we get ripped off compared to US prices)

What do you use it for? I'm want to hog out crack's for welding repair on thing like excavator boom's, removing tooth adaptors from excavator/loader buckets, removing weld to cleanly cut off bucket ware skins to replace them etc, how do you think the exothermic lances would go for these applications? as I said I've only really used them for demo work, and then usually 1 inch lances.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

For those who haven't seen one here's a pic of mine.....









Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by Insaneride

Say ttoks, have you heard of exothermic torches? This one uses a 12 volt battery and oxygen. I know an iron worker that was telling me about it recently. He said they never even charged the car battery for a week and one day they left connected. They were using it for bridge work at night (less freeway traffic). The pros is you don't need all that CFM and diesel fuel. The cons is it uses oxygen but you probly already have that stuf.

I've used them but only for demolition work, they are pretty expensive even for the small ones, plus they use a fair bit of oxygen which in itself is pretty expensive, the whole point of setting up for carbon arc is that its cheap I use oxy gouging most of the time at the moment where I can (for some things it's not allowed due to heat input issues)

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by M J D

It's still listed on arcairs site.

I didn't know that. There was none available when I tried to buy one two years ago.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Say ttoks, have you heard of exothermic torches? This one uses a 12 volt battery and oxygen. I know an iron worker that was telling me about it recently. He said they never even charged the car battery for a week and one day they left connected. They were using it for bridge work at night (less freeway traffic). The pros is you don't need all that CFM and diesel fuel. The cons is it uses oxygen but you probly already have that stuf.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by ttoks

I have two real options, either a 15 CFM diesel compressor, or a 32 CFM diesel, I would need to spend a few grand having my vehicles suspension upgraded to carry the bigger compressor though so I'm hoping I can get away with the smaller one even if it isnt ideal.

What PSI at those listed CFM's?

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

I run an arcair4000 7' cable, use 3/16 - 4/16 - 5/16 carbons. I have a 14hp (gas) 30gal tank, Ingersoll Rand 24cfm @175psi. My reel hose and compressor plumbing is ALL 1/2"id, with various 3/8" whips.
Using 80psi (sorta dry air) I don't have any problems. I've gouged for hours (IR 1.7gal fuel tank will last 4-5 hours). Even while playing spit the carbon stub in the bucket. lol

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

Originally Posted by Josey

They stopped making the K 2000 a few years ago. Unless you can find a used one.

It's still listed on arcairs site.

Re: how much compressor for carbon arc gouging?

They stopped making the K 2000 a few years ago. Unless you can find a used one.