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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Sydney, NSW, Australia
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    Default Welder about to go out the window

    Hey guys im back asking again about setting up the welder going thru working out the possibly 100 settings i have had enough and about to sell the machine and buy one with digital readouts

    is there anyway of adding a amp meter to my Italco 185I that will read the actual welding voltage before i weld rather than during my weld? obviously i need my eyes to look at the weld pool while im welding so i cannot look at the mutlimeter tapped into the polarity terminals i tried setting up a camera but its a major tussle camera went flat after i set everything up

    i have seriously had enough i cannot weld like this and i can't work out my settings

    the plan was to look back thru my video of the multimeter using my hand to break the video into sections for volts A,B,C,D etc... than write it all down inside the welders lid

    just seems like its all fighting me

    if i could set up a amp meter i could just dial in my voltage than work out my feed that would be very easy, but this whole measuring the voltage while welding at the same time is difficult

  2. #2
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    Aug 2009
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    Default

    Done a little bit of investigating i looked on the back of my machine it says minimum 30amps, maximum 180amps, now it says lowest voltage is 15.5volts maximum voltage is 23volts

    i have 10 settings on voltage which equals .75amps per setting increment on the dial

    this would confirm my only reading on voltage setting 2, 16volts its a little bit off from the .75amp increment but its a starting point

    tell me if i am going down the right track please?

    the camera was flat but on level 6 which would be 20volts (according to the above results) i ran a great bead on some 3mm RHS sound about the right voltage?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
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    Default

    I think you are mixing a few metaphors.....
    An amp meter can't measure voltage and your voltage settings switch doesn't change Amps.
    For MIG welding you don't give a hoot about amps. You just set the voltage and the wire feed. The amps are a result of your stickout and wirefeed and irrelevant.
    You can measure the voltage with a $1 volt meter that you can tape inside your hood if you like with a long thin wire pair. That way you can keep an eye on the Voltage drop while you adjust your stickout and your technique - for a while. But in the end, you will get used to changing the voltage for thicknesses of the welding jobs and the wire feed by feel as you start welding.....
    Here is one of the volt meters I'm talking about: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/263592228873
    Cheers, Joe
    retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....

  4. #4
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    Aug 2009
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    Default

    Thanks mate i was hopping it were as easy as looking up my manuf of wire and finding out my machine voltage and wire length per minute and getting the right settings

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
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    Default

    Sadly no. You do have to experiment a bit, as each welder and gun combination is slightly different. The rest is a bit of muscle memory that comes with practice. Whenever you move a little away with the gun and get more stickout of the wire, the current drops off and the heat gets reduced.... you cna see it after a while and adjust your hand position accordingly. Your speed also contribute: as you move faster, the penetration drops off, as the heat isn't staying in the pouddle long enough.
    WWhen you see an experienced welder, they look like they are not concentrating and it seems like it is very easy to do. In reality, they just have sufficiecent practice to KNOW what their hand is doing and they can adjust their hand posistion and speed acording to the sound the weld makes - without you knowing or seeing what they are doing......
    THe problem with hobbyists like me is that we do half an hour welding once avery few days or weeks. That just doesn't get us there.... I'm doing ano0ther welding course at the moment and that gives me an additional 4 hours a week of arc time and an instructor looking over my shoulder every now and then. At the end of each week's 4 hours solid, I feel like I'm getting somewhere.
    It really does take tha much time to get your hand, eyes and ears "in"...
    SO get some scrap and start getting arc time
    Cheers, Joe
    retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....

  6. #6
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    May 2011
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    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    Default

    As Joe stated, it's experience that tells you what settings are required. I've found even the time of day can vary the weld quality!!
    Where I live, it's almost flat out on the top voltage setting to get a decent weld. After 5.30 pm, I can forget about welding, everyone puts on the stove for tea, and there's not much power left for my welder, Whether this is correct or not I don't know, but that's what it feels like.
    If someone could correct me on this, I'd love to know.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  7. #7
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    Oct 2008
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    N.W.Tasmania
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    Default

    That could be the case when using an old school transformer welder, but with modern electronic inverter welders the 240v input voltage is less important than with transformer welders, because the electronics alter the duty cycle of the switching circuitry of the switch mode power supply to keep the big capacitors charged to the correct level for the settings selected. It may be an issue if the voltage is too low, and you are attempting to run the welder at a high amperage setting, but for moderate drops in voltage modern inverter designs cope pretty well.

  8. #8
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    Default

    I have worked out my settings a little bit my welders starts at 15-16v and goes up to 24-25v i have 10 steps in my voltage so each step should work out roughly .5 volts now i can use the Miller welding calculator to set my voltage and wire feed i am hopping it is that easy fingers crossed

    i will try get the welder out this afternoon i have some 2.5mm and thicker steel so will see

  9. #9
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    Default

    This was my test today still cannot ind that happy spot, here's how today went 2.5mm RHS Steel, what appears to be about 19-19.5v wire feed speed 3.3 meters per minute

    results

    007.jpg008.jpg

    getting somewhere or nah?

  10. #10
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    Oct 2011
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    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
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    Are you using MIG with gas or gasless? I tried gasless once but soon passed on it as it is a messy beast with spatter everywhere.
    I'd also try the same wire speed etc but different speeds of hand movement - it maybe that you are moving too fast to get the heat that is needed.

    Michael

  11. #11
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    Default

    That weld looks gassless and not very good,are you able to run gas or you only want gassless.

  12. #12
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    Default

    I just made a reply by mobile and tried to edit it but some how deleted the post, yeah this is gasless weld i did have a argon mix from bunnings but i needed the cash from the deposit i really should buy a bottle instead of the bunnings one's

    here is another weld i ran i had wire feed set to 4 which is 3.3-3.5m/min i had the voltage set to 7 and i got that really nice feel to the gun where the wire wasn't pushing the gun away the wire wasn't burning short and i could hear that loud bacon frying sound but my welds look poor

    here is that weld the very top weld is settings 4 WF and 7V

    045.jpg047.jpg046.jpg

  13. #13
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    Default

    Are you moving the hand piece left to right (pulling) or right to left(pushing)?

  14. #14
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    Aug 2006
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    Default

    Have you chipped the slag off it???

  15. #15
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    Default

    That last picture was gun in right hand motion from left to right pulling the weld

    Yeah i used a wire brush for the slag i will go get a picture now

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