Newbie first beads pics coming up!

admin

Chinese WSE200P machineDirect polarity non pulsed10L/min pure Argon4mm SAE 1020 Steel2% toriated 3/32 tungsten properly pointed5 seconds post flowevery other pot on machine on minimumfront of the piece: the top on is the second bead and the other is the first bead of my life!back:ANY suggestion, help or ***-kicking is appreciated
Reply:How many amps are you running? The beads look strange, It looks like you have a lot of undercutting on a flt bead.I would say to slow down. It looks like you are going to fast.I would start out with no filler. Jist get a puddle formed and move alonge at a steady pace. Get a feel of what happens as you press the pedal or back it off. You should be able to see the chnges in the puddle. Then start to add filler afteryou get a feel for the heat.I would start by laying the rod on the plate at a 15deg angle, start a puddle one the plate and move the puddle to the rod. You want the rod to melt from the puddle not from the arc. Move in a straight line, no circles or arcs with the torch. You want to keep the rod at the same angle and right at the edge of the puddle. Run a bunch of beads this way so you get a feel how fast/slow you need to move.Then try to dip the filler rod. Same idea only now you move he rod vs just keeping it at te puddle. Theres a rythum to it. sort of add, move, add, move. Again you want to melt the rod with the puddle not the arc.One other thing, I would get sveral other pieces to practice on. You want to work on cool to warm metal if posible. It will give you a real feel how much heat you need. If the plates hot you will run the bead at a lower amp than yo would if it was cold. It will mess with you when you start from a cold plate. been there done that. Also be sure that the pate is cleaned on both sides. Its easy to pull crud thru the steel from the back. The heat marks on the back show you are getting the plate hott enough that this may become a problem if you keep running welds. All of a sudden you will get crappy beads with porosity and not understand whee it is comming from.Good luck. Post up some more picts after you play a bit.Last edited by DSW; 07-28-2008 at 11:38 PM.
Reply:first thanks a lot for the reply and for the help.I noticed some things:1) my tungsten is glowing red hot when I finished the beads and lift the mask, this is normal or the tungsten should not be glowing?2) on the second bead i gave full pedal but the puddle was not too big, i think i'm getting not full amps.this could be from the ac outlet? the ac outlet is somewhat far from the electric post. and the wires are not very tick.
Reply:The tungsten will get hot. Glowing, I honestly can't remember, but then I usually don't look at it right away. Is the tip staying sharp or is it melting to a dull point? If it's saying sharp everything should be OK. Post flow cools the tungsten, so maybe it needs to be increased, I can't remeber what the stock setting is on mine right now. I seem to be haveing a bad case of CRS tonight. I am not familiar with your machine so can't make a suggestion on how to turn up the amps other than suggest you read the manual. The puddle won't get super big anyways. You should see a /\ cone of arc from the tungsten. The closer to the work the smaller the base of the /\ and the smaller the puddle. If you back up the puddle will get bigger as the base gets wider but you get othe problems like poor arc stability and poor gas coverage.The incoming power can limit your max settings but usually you will trip the breaker if you try and draw more than the line is set up for.My guess is that the machine needs to be turned up, bu cant say how unfortunately. Post a pict of the front of the machine and mabe someone can make a suggestion.Good luck.
Reply:the point is sharp,front of machine:but i have built a foot pedal control, when its fully depressed shows about 190amps when not weldingI think the amperage display on this machine does not actually read the  amperage but instead provide a estimate of how much amperage would be from the pot signal.I will using other ac outlet near the source of the house.i noticed that the radio (i'm always listening music) gets really weak and distorted when I full depress the pedal, when the pedal is little depressed nothing happens... maybe could indicate a overload on the electric system
Reply:High Frequency arcs can mess with certain things like radio waves if not correctly grounded and hooked up. I know of several people that have had issues with garage door openers due to this. That's what I think is happening to your radio signal, you are getting interference from the machine. Sort of like how the TV gets fuzzy when some one vacuums. ( slightly different but the same idea).Give the closer outlet a try and see what happens.Good luck.
Reply:My tungsten was not 3/32 like I belived was 1/16 and on AC was melting big time 1 second and the tungsten balled and got shorter inside the cup.on DC its keeping the point and I can weld fine low tickness stuff.Time for some 3/32 and 1/8 tungsten on AC
Reply:Stay with DC for steel, that way more heat can be put into what your welding and less into the torch. Get DCset for wrong polarity and it will melt electrodes even faster than AC. Though I have played with reverse DC for very thin stuff.AC is mostly for TIG on aluminium, it will ball electrodes if any significant current is passed.Also non pure 1/16 electrodes max out under 150 amps. likely closer to 100 amps depending on what the setup. But 3/32 should take you out to 200 amps for most applications.Last edited by Timberwolf; 09-08-2008 at 09:59 AM.Lincoln PT185 TIGLincoln 175 MIGLincoln 240 amp AC StickLind Needle Arc plasma welderPlasma cutter, soon???