Thread: TIG & MMA Welders & Welding

G'Day All,

Thanks for that comprehensive repy, Bez. It's so good to hear from someone who obviously has the experience.

There's a bit of misunderstanding here, my TransTIG 150 is marked 'Australian Made' (etched into the circuit board), by CIGWELD in 1993 according to the inspection tags inside the box.... Luckily, duty cycle is no real problem for me because nothing is heavier than 1.6mm, and I have mostly short welds with lots of set-up and prep time (for longer straight runs, and anything thicker than 2mm, I still prefer the MIG). So maybe there's still hope for this machine for my use.... Still trying to get the wiring diagram from CIG but no reply as yet..... Other forums tell that the new TIG inverter machines 'drive' so much nicer than the old transformer ones that I may have to go that way anyhow......

As for the MIG 'flash start' idea - yeh, it may not be possible to improvise. As Mick C. points out, you'd also have to vary the wire speed at the same time.... I guess I'll just have to dream about those u-beaut machines with their hot start, pulsed spray arc, ramp down, etc,etc....

But I do get by pretty well with the old Migomag. I sure agree with what Bez advised - turn the volts and wire speed way up and travel really fast and steady! Only other tip I would give is to get well set up and balanced, with both hands steadying the gun, so that you can follow thro' the run without any hesitation. Don't try to regulate travel speed by watching the weld pool (you'll be way behind the action) - need to practice and practice and practice until you just know how fast to move.

One other wild idea that I want try when I next have the MIG set up for aluminium is to mount the TIG torch alongside the MIG gun, and use it to pre-heat before striking the MIG. With pre-heat, and the wire cut to a sharp point, the old MIG gets away to a pretty good start.... But it might be just too cumbersome.....

Originally Posted by Flyinsparxx

G'Day All,


One other wild idea that I want try when I next have the MIG set up for aluminium is to mount the TIG torch alongside the MIG gun, and use it to pre-heat before striking the MIG. With pre-heat, and the wire cut to a sharp point, the old MIG gets away to a pretty good start.... But it might be just too cumbersome.....

Geez Flyinsparxx, why don't you attach a spray gun as well and you can paint the job at the same time.........hang on...you might have to attach a fire extinguisher also. Seriously though, it's not a good idea to have the AC/HF Tig machine and the Mig connected to the same bench running simaltaneously. Especially if it's the older model Migomag 195.


...by the way. Yes your Transtig 150 IS Australian made but they don't make any machines here any more.

Yeh, good point Bez. Wouldn't want stray currents from a basic brute like the Migomag around the other machine with those delicate circuit boards......

Oh well, another idea in the bin. Carry on sparkin........

Hi there,
Has any one tried these cheap ac tigs that are on ebay at the moment?
I am tempted to get one for occasional use at home, possibly just with disposable gas bottles.
I would mostly weld 1.6-3mm aluminium. I think there are water cooled torches available for them too.
If anyone has one or tried one please let me know.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/200-amp-AC-DC...QQcmdZViewItem

Hi Haydofly,

If you do a search (via the search button) on tig welders you should find that this subject has already been raised by me several months ago. I ended up buying a CIG unit as I know that parts will be easy to get. I spoke to a welder repair technician before buying the unit and he said that he had a few people come into see him (over the past couple of years) about their Asia built welders had gone kapput. He said the big problem was most the parts (generally circuit boards) were irreplaceable, but this could be resolved by putting in a better known brand.

Ok the units have a warranty but you have to send it off to them to be repaired, who pays the freight costs - you could depending on who you bought it from?. If you were running a business can you afford to be with out it for a week or possibly a lot more?.

All the best with your purchase.

Regards
David

Last year BEZ mentioned that he had sold Kemppi machines.
I've had a Kemppi ACDC 2000 for a few years now and only use it
for hobby work so it doesn't get a lot of use. While it was still under warranty it stopped working (I'm told it had blown power
transistors) and now it has done the same again recently. I assume this is going to be very expensive to fix and given that it
was brought as a retirement thing I'm more than a bit disappointed that it seems so fragile. Has BEZ or anyone else had
similar experience with this machine?

In use I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. In the first instance I was
using AC and the welding current just stopped. Recently I was using DC and stopped for the evening, let the cooling switch off
under it's own control then powered off. On restart, no welding current but ignition current Ok. The machine has Pulse control panel (all bells and whistles) so very disappointing.

Is this really just a case of a machine trying to do too much on domestic (single phase) power supply?

Thanks for any replies.

Jmann,
Just a few thoughts

I doubt that the power supply is inadequate for the machine especially if you are using it at typical tig amps -below 100 amps.

Have you any idea of what is going into the machine. Many areas are below as far as a genuine 240 volt supply.

In Qld they tell me that power can go under by 10%. Electrical people will be able to better comment on that figure, but I suppose 216 volts could be considered a benchmark for now.

A reading from your GPO with a multimeter will tell the tale.

I know that power surges affect microprocessors and thats what the machine will have on board for sure.Anything with a micropressor is best left unplugged when not in use.

We run an AC DC Kempi Mastertig 2000 ( Industry grant) at school and it has survived the students for 18 monts so it can't be too bad.
Some times you can be lucky and parts aren't that expensive.The key to it may be a decent repairer.If your lucky enough to strike a place with an electrician experienced in inverter welder repair you will be OK. Ring about and ask questions.
Best of luck with it.

Grahame

I believe standard voltage is 230V with +10% -6% tolerance (ie range of 216-253V).

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Jmann,
Just a few thoughts

I doubt that the power supply is inadequate for the machine especially if you are using it at typical tig amps -below 100 amps.

Have you any idea of what is going into the machine. Many areas are below as far as a genuine 240 volt supply.

In Qld they tell me that power can go under by 10%. Electrical people will be able to better comment on that figure, but I suppose 216 volts could be considered a benchmark for now.

A reading from your GPO with a multimeter will tell the tale.

I know that power surges affect microprocessors and thats what the machine will have on board for sure.Anything with a micropressor is best left unplugged when not in use.

We run an AC DC Kempi Mastertig 2000 ( Industry grant) at school and it has survived the students for 18 monts so it can't be too bad.
Some times you can be lucky and parts aren't that expensive.The key to it may be a decent repairer.If your lucky enough to strike a place with an electrician experienced in inverter welder repair you will be OK. Ring about and ask questions.
Best of luck with it.

Grahame

Thanks Graham and Browny for you comments on supply voltage. I'm in the metro area in Adelaide so I'd be surprised if they are below par but will
have it measured. I agree with Graham that running one in a school should shake out any inadequacies and I guess that sort of robustness is what I thought I was buying. I'm wondering whether the thing is just getting too
hot and I'm not being warned. The counter argument to this is that on the night of this last failure the ambient temperature was around 5 degrees Celcius and my welding runs were 1 minute, re-adjust the piece maybe 1 minute, weld, re-adjust , go to the loo etc. Total use half an hour. I wouldn't have thought that to be too excessive a duty cycle but I guess it could be if the overheating warning light was faulty etc (which I've never seen coming on)?
I guess I'll have to wait and see what the repairer says is wrong on the inside although I get the impression that the repairer is working in the
dark with these machines because the boards are complex and the
circuit diagrams pretty much non-existant (somebody might like to comment). Repair appears to be similar to modern PC's - take out each board, replace it, and see if the problem goes away. Hoping all the time that the components on the new board don't let the smoke out.
Thanks for the replies - I'll post any update information if I get some from the repairer.