Welding Tips and Tricks

Just got a micro TIG pulse welder for mold repair. This one actually works! I got one months ago and returned ...didn't work right.

I know this is afield from this forum but I'm trying to find power info on this unit. I have the manual but there's no watt-seconds, joules, pulse length, or any real usable info. I think they're sold to jewelers who don't know what numbers are for anyway.

Any ideas?

Oh, damn, I LIKE that.

Every time I did a mold repair, it was a crude "fill it" and "hog it out". Far more time consuming than a microTIG, adding "just" enough material that the machining time was down to, well, nothing by comparison.

(I should add, these were molds for vacuum-forming, and did not require the precision you're seeking. The value of adding no more filler than needed is not lost on me, though.)

I wish I could help, but I look forward to what you find out.

Steve

Cool, I used to weld repair molds under a stereo microscope, fun stuff. Look forward to seeing this in action.

Thanks. It'll be trial error, then file down and trial again.
I tried it w/o gas just to see if this one worked. It did. It blew .100 holes in .020 brass so I think it has some oomph. I hope the pulse length is long enough to get a bit of flow.

The last one I got -$2000 - wouldn't retract the electrode and it was live all the time so I got flashed a bunch. All 31 transistors were blown but the guy took it back no problem. This one was $1500. We've been running a mold for 4 months with 1 out of 16 parts that go right in the trash. Ebay is good.

I'll get a video next week. I have just the lens for it.
Won't be very entertaining. There's no footpedal. When you touch the electrode the gas flows for a second then a beep just before the solenoid retracts the electrode and fires the spark. Then the gas stops a second later.

I have 100 watt-second stored energy resistance welders and fixed that mold but it only lasted 2 weeks...no penetration.