Welding Tips and Tricks

When my boss our smaller 220 TIG welder for a 575 SP welder we got an TIG Pulser unit with it. we didn't know what it was for and our local welder supplier said it wasn't necessary. So we put it on a shelf and forgot about it. now after watching some videos specifically about the "rule of 33" and seeing what it can do I am wondering if I should hook it up and use it.

I work at a machine shop and most of my TIG work was fixing mistakes from the CNC guys, but after a while there was nothing i could do with a lot of the parts cause the heat would warp them cause they were in the final stages of details, so they were scrap after i was done with them, or i couldn't build up corners enough without spending too much time re working the part.

So my question is my Tig pulser unit can only go as high as 20 ppm would there really be a point is hooking it up? I do need a lot more practice and the machine we traded for had way more features than was necessary at the time. but i am understanding their uses more and more. but if i cant go beyond 20ppm is there a point in adding a lot of complications to an already unexplored area for me?

Here are some pictures.

This will serve you well, once you figure it out.

It does 20 HZ (pulses per second), not 20 pulses per minute.

Pulsing is very valuable in controlling heat in critical situations, like building edges. I's also valuable on thin materials, and aluminum in particular.

Jody's "rule of thirds" is a good starting point.

I find, on aluminum pipe and tube (I've done 3/8" 6061 .049 wall instrument tube) that auto-pulsing features are a great advantage. I've not needed to use it the way Jody does in his videos on the subject, but I understand the benefit.

Steve S

Sorry yes I meant pps not ppm just a typo. Thank you for your response. I had hoped to delve into this aspect of TIG welding through emulation of settings and practice and then deviate with modifications to those settings. But now I will need a place to start from with 20pps or less and work from there. The manual doesn't get very specific at what each setting does, just that certain qualifications must be met before they can be implemented. Oh well time to spend an afternoon burning off the bosses gas lol

Sorting this out will be fun!

I don't have enough experience in pulse to be an expert, but I will try to advise where I can. Jody's videos are the best information I can suggest, and he will answer questions directly from the "contact us" tab on the main page.

Steve S

The way I'd look at this is Jody's rule of 1/3rds is probably something he arrived at by experience / trial & error himself & was possible not those exact figures - chances are he set the machine by "ear" / till it felt right - much like setting a mig that does'nt show volts / wire speed - once he established what worked for him the settings were probably close enough to round them off so all the settings were 33% & that's easy to remember.

Generally using pulse around 1 > 1-1/2 pps works well especially when mastering aluminum - adding filler on the high of the pulse & moving the pool / torch forward on the low -this is still valid on stainless & still controls total heat input to a fair degree - it also gives you a slower travel speed which helps while maintaining torch angles around tube joints - his theory of arc focus at higher pulse rates also makes sense - the fact you don't have 33pps won't hurt that much - all that matters is there is an area around 5 >8 pps that will drive you nuts - the auto darkening masks struggle to work at this rate & it will give you a headache easily - once your through this rate & it increases the pulses reach the point where the eye does'nt notice them ( ideally 25 or more ) your maximum of 20 is slightly low - but I think you should try it - it's not quite into the ideal zone - but it should be workable - the 33% background current & on time are still valid on your machine.
The machine I used in the past had no digital readout & the dials had long since lost their markings so I'm not sure what settings I used - it was only ever set by ear ! - I currently only have an import thing which gets by for the occasional Tig I need - but it only has slow speed pulse so I can't experiment with Jody's settings unfortunately - hope to upgrade soon when funding allows.

Good luck playing - interesting little unit - never seen one before.

Hey,

Thats the exact unit i had when doing tig work at trade school. I only ever used it a couple of times, it was before I learnt anything from here,

Just start flicking switches and turning dials, with the above comments in mind, and jodys advice, and see what happens. It will be a good idea to write and settings you find work well, down in a note book.

Good luck, Mick

I would give a call to Lincoln. Most manufacturers are able & happy to help. And they usually know their equipment very well. Tell them what you are doing and hope to acomplish, and I'm sure they can help.

You might try using the following page, enter 10735 under the category 'Search by Code number".
At the lower right of the search, there should be an operator manual,
click on the little arrow to download the pdf document regarding your equipment.
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/su ... nuals.aspx

yea that was the manual, i had found before and it wasn't too clear.

Even after I had taken a few courses at the local trades collage an intro welding/cutting course and a CWB prep course, i never got a lot or enough explanation of how things really worked, they just plugged safety crap over and over and fear the porosity monster. So I ended up making a journal of types of things that worked especially for the spool gun, and mig welding galvy conduit. i guess I'll just have to make more entries, since I don't have a TIG section anyways, this would be a time to start.

The helmet flicker is good to note I would probably have just tossed the unit back on the shelf if that was what i first encountered, but the eyes getting used to higher ranges might be an issue. Can it cause permanent damage?

If I wanted to work on a build up is there some project I could attempt? and if things aren't working out the way i need what order should I start adjusting settings? Like is there a hierarchy order that i should observe so I don't go in circles trying to adjust the dials?


EDIT: also the welder also came with a momentary switch the Supplier called a Doorbell switch, looked like some one rigged up a momentary switch with some phone line wire, is this basically an "Arc Start Switch"? and is there a hazard in using it because the wiring seems cheap an hokey? i was going to try to use it for Tack welding for TIG. The switch itself is not home made, it is a sealed unit of sorts.

The helmet flicker would never have occurred to me, as I use a fixed lens.

If you use an autodark, I'd think the first knob to fiddle with is "background"... It should be high enough a percentage of your max amps to prevent your hood from switching off. On a 200A aluminum weld, 33% (66A) should be plenty to keep your hood dark, but on a 16 ga. stainless outside corner with little of the arc reflecting at you from the metal, at 50A peak, 33% (about 16A) may give you fits. An ideal hood, then, would have an adjustable "off" delay.

I found, welding aluminum pipe and tube, the "rule of thirds" is about where I'd settle for background level and peak time, regardless of the pulse rate. On pipe, I got comfortable with 2PPS, and thinwall tube, about 20PPS, if I recall.

I've never used automatic pulse features on steel, and no longer have access to auto-pulse at all, but I've gotten in the habit of manually pulsing aluminum of any type, and certain open-root stainless welds. I have no idea if I'm anywhere near the "thirds", though, as it's done by "feel".

Two cents...

Steve S

well i do have a 3.5x5" glass lens helmet I use some times for very fiddly work where i need to get real close for detail work, i could use that then if i am playing with pulse. I'd wear it all the time if my glass lens just didn't suck up every drop of spatter in the shop cause the field of view is amazing and very clear. Oh well. that's another thread i suppose.

So after some 3 seconds of searching the main page i found http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig ... tings.html and it explained things very well, although he seems to hate anywhere from 2-30pps with is like 70% of my usable range lol. but I'll start with 1pps and work from there. I'd have tried today, but there was a lightning storm and I need to run a 70' extension cord to the barn where my shop is

When I'm using a glass lens, I always have a polycarbonate cover lens on BOTH SIDES. The outer to protect the glass from spatter. The inner to protect my face from shattered glass in an impact.

Steve S

are those polycarbonate lenses commonly available? or do you make them your self? I bought up the last of the glass lenses my supplier had for that particular helmet as it was an older BOC helmet and they have all switched over to Linde here in Canada. at the time no one told me about the extra lens covers. I'll ask next time I am there.

Common, dirt cheap.

Required by most job safety regs.

Available most commonly in "2X4" for the pipeliner style, and "4X5" for the big-lense jackson hood like mine. Those are approximate, and english, measures, but if you're buying a fixed glass lens, there should be a poly cover lens of the exact same size available. Should be 25 cents or less in bulk. Maybe 75 cents bought as singles?

Steve S

In Canada, $2 each, when you buy a pack of five.
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/Auto ... /8481152.p

Oddjob83 wrote:are those polycarbonate lenses commonly available? or do you make them your self? I bought up the last of the glass lenses my supplier had for that particular helmet as it was an older BOC helmet and they have all switched over to Linde here in Canada. at the time no one told me about the extra lens covers. I'll ask next time I am there.

well i watched a bunch of videos last night and took some notes, and thought i'd try my hand at it today with the pulser. as luck had it some one dropped off a wheel assembly from a model A ford or something i couldn't tell from looking at it.

he needed some nubs thickened out cause they had worn down so after some testing on some 1/8 cold rolled with out warping it, i thought i'd try. worked pretty good in a horizontal position too.

Before


After


and then i decided to have some fun doing something i'd seen someone else do by making a little man on a quarter I ground off the surface as i wasn't sure what kind of plating was on it before i started.

Show off!



Nice work!

Steve S

lol yea right, i lucked out i am by no means a pro as i still need to delve into ranges of 2pps - 20pps but i now have a better understanding of whats going on for sure. i gave the little man to by boss for his desk, it was his rod and his hydro/gas after all lol. the finish is really crappy for stainless rod too, was 316 ss filler rod if i recall, we really only keep it around cause my boss said it helps with welding dissimilar metals. but according to Jody's Videos 309 would be best. if i take a wire week to it it shines but if not is looks like it was made of coal.

Yeah, 316 is NOT for dissimilar metals.

316 is for welding 314-316-320 austenitic stainless steels. It's a higher corrosion resistance (higher crome and moly content), and is common in food-grade and salt-water marine work. It's still not immune to chlorides (most common salts).

There's a whole range of rods for dissimilar metals, but 309 is the "go to" for chrome-bearing alloys to plain carbon steel.

Steve S

Oddjob83 wrote:
... I ground off the surface as i wasn't sure what kind of plating was on it before i started.

Good call, the surface of modern (post-1964) american "silver" change is zinc. Basically galvanized.