[adrynalinjunkie]

I have been practicing welding .065" 2" mild steel pipe.

I get better results with the pulse on... set at 1 PPS, but I have no idea what to set the P.du ie.. "peak welding time" or % of time I am at max Amps when pulsing

I also have no idea how to set the background Amps ie.. I lo or low amps expressed in % of peak Amps

Any sugestions on eathier of these settings?

Also I weld this .065" steel tube with 60 Amps set as a max (like the instructions suggest) and end up at about 80% pedal ie.. 45-50 amps BUT,

when I pulse this same material I turn the max amps from 60 up to around 100 Amps , does this sound resonable?

Or should I try upping the max amps from 60 Amps to a different amount of Peak amps when switching to pulsing with 1PPS?

[weldin mike 27]

Are you down with JODYS rule of 33? That is 33 pps 33% on time, 33% background current not sure if that's right, others will clarify, put rule of 33 in the page search engine. (note. Do not google rule 33. That is something else entirely)

[adrynalinjunkie]

I will give it a shot. But right now I newbie like me likes to run 1 PPS as it helps me time the dipping of the rod

[weldin mike 27]

Jody has videos on it. Also put on some AC/DC music on. That gives a good beat to time dipping rod.

[adrynalinjunkie]

That worked very good! I think the next biggest change is my skills

[weldin mike 27]

The music of the 33 rule? And lots of practice really does help.

[noddybrian]

The rule of 33 I'm sure is great if you have a machine that will do high speed pulse ( but many imports don't go over epileptic 10 PPS sadly ) & need to control heat on thin material - I do think slow ( like 1PPS or less ) helps newbies keep pace with the filler & is good so as not to overheat root passes - I get a number of newbies visit me as they know I've used Tig on & off for some years & have bought the cheapest machine from Ebay but can't weld like Jodie ! ( & they always think it's the machine !! ) with Chinese machines the controls are often not marked or not very accurate but with slow only pulse I have mostly started them with pulse at 0.7 > 1 PPS set max amps to 1amp per thou plus 50% - background amps half of that - on time start at 40% then adjust to suit heat input ( only adjust 1 parameter at a time or you can confuse yourself ! )- not saying this works for everyone / situation but is a fair starting point. hope this helps & good luck - you will most likely come up with your own favorite with time / experience.

[adrynalinjunkie]

The music of the 33 rule? And lots of practice really does help.

I was Listening to Corrosion of Conformity on Pandora! Lol

[weldin mike 27]

Sounds pretty bassy. Just don't use power drumming. You'll use too much filler. 10 lbs already..... Sh#t.

[adrynalinjunkie]

The rule of 33 I'm sure is great if you have a machine that will do high speed pulse ( but many imports don't go over epileptic 10 PPS sadly ) & need to control heat on thin material - I do think slow ( like 1PPS or less ) helps newbies keep pace with the filler & is good so as not to overheat root passes - I get a number of newbies visit me as they know I've used Tig on & off for some years & have bought the cheapest machine from Ebay but can't weld like Jodie ! ( & they always think it's the machine !! ) with Chinese machines the controls are often not marked or not very accurate but with slow only pulse I have mostly started them with pulse at 0.7 > 1 PPS set max amps to 1amp per thou plus 50% - background amps half of that - on time start at 40% then adjust to suit heat input ( only adjust 1 parameter at a time or you can confuse yourself ! )- not saying this works for everyone / situation but is a fair starting point. hope this helps & good luck - you will most likely come up with your own favorite with time / experience.

Thanks Brian, I will try this tonight!

[adrynalinjunkie]

OK Brian,

I tried it and those are my new favorite settings for this .065 wall tube...!

Since i am new to dipping the rod .8-1 PPS really helps me stay in time....

[noddybrian]

Glad it helped - I think it's a fair starting point until you develop your own preference - the slow pulse is easier as a guide to adding rod - if your machine has accurate controls it's easy to write down what works for a given material - many of the cheap Chinese things from Ebay that I get to see have either no calibrations or are meaningless which is one of the things that frustrates people learning - I learned " by feel " on a couple of old machines - one the front was rusty & had virtually no markings left of any controls - the other had at some time had a tin of paint knocked over that ran down the front panel ! so I never knew what any settings were other than by trial & error ! - if your lucky enough to have a new machine where everything is shown on a digital display it does make life better as you can set recommended parameters - anyhow good luck with your project.

[adrynalinjunkie]

Yes this HTP 221 can save 64 different programs..(and it saves everything, even pre and post gas..I have 2 programs saved so far. Lol ...the rule of 33 and yours!

[noddybrian]

Never used or seen the 221 but several members here have them & seem very happy with them - with regards to using pulse - it can be very useful but if you are new to Tig welding may I suggest not using it routinely while learning - I think you get a better feel for it & reading the puddle if you don't use the pulse - I don't even think using a foot pedal helps when learning as you have no idea what current you are using - my first welds were all scratch start with mo current control followed by lift start & I think you learn the most doing it this way both in terms of current setting & controlling the puddle with filler rod & travel speed - all the features of the new inverters are great & can make a good welders job easier - but while starting out developing core skills & muscle memory is good - only time I would say using the pulse helps learning is with aluminum where slow pulse really helps when adding filler if your after even spaced dimes - as to your original pipe I would probably prefer to not use pulse & travel fast to avoid heat soak or even stop & allow some time to cool but it's a personal thing unless specified in a WPS so use what you get on best with.