Welding Tips and Tricks

Has anybody tried to use the little inverter 80 amp HF welder to scratch start Tig weld? I was wondering if you can reverse the leads on these and use it. I've never used an inverter DC welder before, since all my welding is done with Noah's hand me down equipment that he used to make the arc.

I have plenty of places that it would come in handy throughout the plant where I could just drag a 110v extension cord rather than pulling 150 lbs. of welding leads up 45 ft. to weld. I have to have explosive proof outlets and they're at a premium with only a few scattered throughout the plant for the 480v machine. That means dragging 150 lbs of extension cord for it to get to one of the 3 outlets.

It would be nice to adjust it right there rather than either having somebody adjust my amps at the ground or climb down and back up every time. I'm getting too old for that sheizen.

Len

I use the Lincoln Invertec V100-s for scratch start TIG on mild steel and stainless steel. No issues.
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/assets/s ... /IM585.pdf

Braehill wrote:Has anybody tried to use the little inverter 80 amp HF welder to scratch start Tig weld? I was wondering if you can reverse the leads on these and use it. I've never used an inverter DC welder before, since all my welding is done with Noah's hand me down equipment that he used to make the arc.

I have plenty of places that it would come in handy throughout the plant where I could just drag a 110v extension cord rather than pulling 150 lbs. of welding leads up 45 ft. to weld. I have to have explosive proof outlets and they're at a premium with only a few scattered throughout the plant for the 480v machine. That means dragging 150 lbs of extension cord for it to get to one of the 3 outlets.

It would be nice to adjust it right there rather than either having somebody adjust my amps at the ground or climb down and back up every time. I'm getting too old for that sheizen.

Len

That little inverter actually puts out decent stable current.
Yes you can tig with one but remember, it is only 80 amps
so thick stuff is out. I have one that I use over in our horse barn.
Only a 110v 20 amp circuit available over there. Most times
I just stick weld with it using 1/16" 7018 rods.

Thanks WerkSpace and Rake.

I should have known you can change the polarity from using my Lincoln 180 Mig welder (I guess I lie about never welding with an inverter) with Flux core. But that answers my general question.

Now if they can figure out how to get the wind to stop blowing my cover gas away up there life will be grand. Actually, a Scott airpac filled with Argon, a jet pack to get me up there and a giant purge tent that deploys around me while I weld. Sorry, that's my other planet, back to Earth. OK grand is a strong word.

For $149 I can probably get that much stick welding out of it, though most things I weld need to be Tig welded.

Len

I have have to do many pipe welds outside with tig and sometimes its not practical to erect some sort of wind shield particularly at high level as you say. I have good success by using a number 4 cup with a gas lense and doubling your argon flow. The increased flow though the small nozzle keeps the wind out of your puddle unless it is really bad. Sometimes even a large tarp does not work.
Cheers.

The bad part is the plant is located on the top of a hill with nothing to break the wind from any direction, and it seems the wind never completely stops blowing. The good news is I don't have weld at the top of the column all that often. I made some pretty creative wind blocks that have taken way longer to build than to actually weld the repair.

I finally got a shop away from the production area that I can do most of the welding in without worrying about setting off the UV detectors and shutting the plant down and setting off the deluge system. That never goes over all that well. Could be worse, somebody is a welder at the waste water treatment plant, yikes.

Len

I know what you mean. I know a guy who is charge of a sewerage treatment plant. Most people rib him about it, he just tells them it might be shit to them but for him it is bread and butter! What an attitude, I respect him enormously for it. Just the same I'm glad its not me

Len,

UV detectors? To detect a hydrogen fire, I assume? Interestingly, the emergency response teams take straw brooms to a LHY crash site as a quick fire-detector. Wave it in front of you as you approach. If it catches fire, run like hell the other direction.

Steve S

@Steve,

Yes, they are throughout the plant and they work suprisingly well. Every once in a while a small roof leak onto a heat exchanger will set them off when it steams off. Doesn't set the deluge system off it you clear the alarm in time. My old shop was in the one eend of the plant and if I forgot to close the fire door I wold set the one off. I learned to stop and clear the alarm in a hurry.

If there's ever a fire in the plant while I'm there, they're going to need the broom to clean up the mess on the floor after I make my exit not check for flames.

We also have Nitrogen purges that come on as soon as the plant shuts down and a diesel fire water pump that kicks on automatic when the system calls for the deluge to be activated.

Len

Accidentally setting off the deluge must make one real popular with ones co-workers for a good week or so...

Steve S

When the PM comes out to test the deluge system they always put it in my mail slot because they say I'm the only one who gives it an actual test, no mock drills for me. I had a saying for a while "if you're not getting wet, I'm not welding". Hey, the bright side is you don't need a second person for fire watch if I set off the deluge system.

Good news is we work alone about 80% of the time on daylight and 100% of the time on night shift unless we have a problem so I'm the only one to get wet . But then again you're usually not welding unless you have a problem and that's
when my helpers get a little damp.

Some things you only have to do once and they stay with you for the rest of your life.

Len

Being a hobbyist just learning I am taking the tough route learning to TIG (scratch start) on this. I limit myself to 3/32 thick material which is fine for the projects I’m conjuring up. It is DC only and there is no option for fingertip or pedal control. I did add a gas lens to the torch.
Since I’m still a babe in the woods with laying down a bead, I can only comment on that it has been very reliable and makes an arc when asked without problems. I’m the weak link in the chain.
I do run it on a 20amp circuit and the only extension cord used is 10 gauge/10 foot long. I got it from McMaster-Carr. The ground clamp it came with wasn’t too bad so it is still being used.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200512862
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200485165
http://www.mcmaster.com/#9581t31/=pqg25h

This is what I'd like to buy but need to save some pennies up first
http://victortechnologies.com/Thermal%2 ... atures.php

Well before our trip to three different doctors today, I stopped by HF and bought one and a 10 gauge extension cord. Then had to drive an hour each way to one of our satellite plants to do two minutes work, no rest for the wicked. I'll try to get a chance to try it tomorrow night and report back.

I carried it in the box in the palm of one hand, amazing. I think the 25ft. 10 gauge cord weighs more than the welder and I'm sure it has more copper.

I personally have never been let down by one thing that I've bought from HF, but that's knowing that I get what I pay for. Sometimes I'm even pleasantly surprised by what you get for the money. I hope this time is no different.

Len

Well, I got some seat ( well not exactly) time with the little inverter. I have been putting up some walls around the plant to quadrant some areas to save heating and cooling cost, or so that's the plan. When it went below zero out last week we found an area with water lines in it that ended up on the wrong side of the heated area. What a mess. OK, back on point.

I had to weld some 1/8 x 2 angle into a make shift framing for a wall in order to get heat back to the water lines. This all took place from 10' to 16' off the floor and I welded most of the day with the little welder slung over my shoulder from it's strap that came with it. A heavy extension cord and an Argon hose tied off to the ladder and I was welding. I can say this is the first time I've ever welded something while holding up a welder.

I had a free OKI/Bering torch that somebody gave me years ago and it was the only torch with a valve on it that I was willing to cut and put a small Dinse connector on. I wanted to see how this thing welded before I invested in any dedicated parts for it. Well it welded good enough that I order a small CK gas cooled torch for it with the Dinse connector.

Only thing that I had a problem with was it's a little hard to scratch start as it wants to stick at first. The torch I was using has odd collets and no collet body so the only consumables I had were 3/332 and it was a little bit much for the 80 amp machine. I'll try with 1/16 tungsten when the new torch comes in.

I did have to switch it over and stick weld a few spots were it was impossible to tig and it didn't like the not so dry (3/32) 7018's I had on hand, but once I got the m to start it burned them as nice as could be.

So if I never weld another thing with it, it has saved me half a day from not having to go to our other plant 30 miles away and picking up the gas welder to build this wall. There's no 480V power in this part of the plant to run my normal welder.

OK, that was long winded, sorry.

Len

Len, if you haven't been let down on any HF products, you don't shop there often.
just saying....
John