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I'm in the process of finishing out a room in our attic to store all my wife's stuff so we can capture our garage and carport for a shop. Hope to have this all done by end of this month. It is approximately 20' x 32' garage with a 10' ceiling and a carport stretching 20' in front of it. It has a small 60A subpanel mounted outside the garage now and I have contacted an electrician to get a heavy-up done on my service to put a 200A panel in the garage. Wanted to set up a shop anyway but my son has been taking welding in high school (he's a senior) so I'm trying to speed up to set up a welding capability so he can practice at home before going off to college.Reading here, I concluded that an old iron AC/DC arc welder would be a good starting place for both he and I to learn. A Miller 330A/BP came up on CL so I bought it last weekend. The previous owner was doing TIG and threw in an air-cooled torch and foot pedal but only short cables for his TIG setup. The torch and foot pedal will be stored to be revamped if/when we graduate to learning TIG welding. So now I need to decide what to get next to setup the welder. I can install a 50A receptacle for it even before upgrading the power in the garage. We do need to get other things so I hoped you guys could give some advice. I bought him a welders helmet for Christmas and he already has gloves and other clothes he needed to get for the class a school. It seems like the next priorities should be 1) welding cables, clamps, connectors 2) some hand tools and consumables and 3) a good fire extinguisher. The questions I can think of now are:What guage and length (I was thinking 50') should I consider for welding cable?Any particular quick disconnect or clamps I should consider for the cables?Any brand or type of cable?What is a good source for welding tools and supplies around here (Spring, Texas)?Are there other things I should be including on my list of next to get items?Probably enough questions. My level of knowledge on welding is that I know how to spell it and that's about it. I am enjoying learning from this website and look forward to learning with my son. I'm an electrical engineer so I can hopefully test and troubleshoot the older welder I bought if needed. Thanks in advance for any advice or guidance. Really enjoy this forum.
Reply:For the amperage you are looking at being able to use with a 50 amp circuit, #1 cable will be fine at 50 feet. Tweco is a popular and good quality brand for stinger and ground clamps. Tweco 1MPC quick connects will work for quick connects if you decide to go that route. Some other folks should chime in soon with more info.
Reply:I have been using the guy listed below for a while now.He is not exactly close to you, but has given me pretty good prices on the welding supplies I have bought from him.There is a big Airgas place about a block from him, but I like buying from him - he has a very small business.He may not have what you need in stock, but he has always gotten it for me in a hurry.It is a drive for you, but you might call and see if he can save you some $$.ROGERS INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES and EQUIPAddress: 14743 State Highway 249, Houston, TX 77086Phone: (281) 586-6091Hobart Beta-Mig 2511972 Miller AEAD-200LEMiller 250 TwinNorthern Ind. Hybrid 200Longevity Stick 140Longevity Migweld 200SThermal Arc Pak 3XR
Reply:Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check ROGERS INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES out. It is not too much of a drive. I live close to 249. I should have said the Spring address area rather than Spring. Thanks again.
Reply:The question is what do you want to do both now and in the future. I'm a big believer in buy once and cry once so I'd say if a portable is in your future you might want a longer, larger lead. If you want to reach outside the shop you will want a longer, larger lead. Your machine with a larger than 50 amp breaker is capable of small, light arc gouging and you will probably want to do that outside so longer, larger cable. Electron beam technologies in Ill. has great cable and prices, and a weekly special. I would think a 100' each lead if you can afford it and 1/0 for a 300 amp rated machine, but I like to take the fire and sparks out side especially if the garage is attached to the house. If going portable you will soon find out that 100' isn't as long as you think. Lenco and Tweco both work for connectors just make sure that you buy connector rated for the largest ampacity you will ever run so that you can put all your cable together in the future when you need that 300' of cable to reach. As far as equipment goes Ebay can be helpful as well as many on line vendors. I would suggest a fire extinguisher, 2 pairs of safety glasses and 2 sets of ear plugs so you don't get a spark in your ear and lose your hearing. Hope this helps.
Reply:You can use the 60 amp fine and save the money. Check around flea markets .garage sales for leads ,just know what new is worth. To save a buck just use lug ends now and a 250 amp stinger and a copper ground around 300 amp.Length your choice have the lead 30 ft longer than ground. Good luck a great welder ,will last forever.
Reply:Home Depot, Lowes & Tractor Supply cheap for supplies buy some 1/8 6011 and 7014 for practice.Look for scrap for practice bed angles the best. Plate ,beams any old metal a paddle switch 4 1/2 grinder and a clear shield a must.That welder can gouge and will work with a LN-25/ 12VS feeder to upgrade.
Reply:If you can put the welder near the garage door you may be able to reach everything with less than 50' of lead. Shorter leads not only cost less, they take less time to un-coil and re-coil.Tweco-style disconnects are the most popular but you may want to use Dinse connectors because they are commonly used on TIG welders and there are a wide variety of Dinse connector blocks and adapters for TIG torches. You could avoid quick-connects altogether but it's a good idea do disconnect your stick lead when the TIG torch is used to avoid problems with HF leakage.Also, since you are putting a 200A panel in your garage, I would recommend a 100A breaker for the welder and hard-wire it if possible. That would allow you to use the full output power of your welder. After all, a 330A/BP ain't exactly portable!Considering the duty cycle of that welder, #1 leads and #6 wiring is adequate. You could use 1/0 and #4 respectively if you want to be conservative, and a 15' whip of #2 for the stinger will make life more pleasant.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:I bet you will get better prices for rods and stuff at a welding supply than you will at the box stores. Every time I looked at rod and especially wire at HD it seemed ridiculously high. You never want to use a TIG machine for gouging! Gouging is hard on any machine for that matter. #1 cable should be fine unless you want to burn 3/16" or larger rods. A 10-15' #2 stinger is easier to handle and not as heavy. #4 is way too small. Tweco style cable connectors are the most common. If you buy the copies they're about half the price of original Tweco. I like the Bernard style twist stingers and again the copies will work fine. If you were setting a rig you might want the original. Cable might be cheaper buying on line and you don't need the super flexible. It costs quite a bit more. Flex-a-prene or Carol prene are a couple names of good welding cable. Since you have a very good DC welder, get some 6010, 7014 and 7018 rods in 3/32" and 1/8" sizes. 5/32" if you want to weld thicker material. I'd also recommend getting a 5" grinder. Not much bigger but a lot more HD. A typical 4 1/2" grinder is about 6 or 7 amps. A 5" will be 10 or 11 amps and do a lot more grinding but it depends on how much grinding you plan on doing.Last edited by Welder Dave; 02-14-2015 at 01:41 PM.
Reply:Better talk to your insurance agent about your plans.If the garage is attached to the house or within 50 feet of the house welding plans wont fly.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmer37Better talk to your insurance agent about your plans.If the garage is attached to the house or within 50 feet of the house welding plans wont fly.
Reply:It depends on your insurance co.This is no place for bum info.Around here you can get canceled for having a trampoline, peeling paint,moss on the roof, gunpowder in the house,certain breeds of dogs.Doing business in your home can get you canceled.
Reply:My welder is on casters, so I can roll it close to the work.I have an 8 gauge extension cord with 50 Amp connectors.The 8 gauge cable to power either my table saw or welder was less expensive than long welding leads.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
Reply:Thanks for all the advice. I disappeared for a while finishing up my wife's attic store room. Finally got it done and moved all her stuff out of the garage and made room for the welder. Bought some 1/0 cable and supplies from a local welding supply and wired up a 50A circuit on a welding outlet. Everything was looking good so we plugged in the 330a/bp turned it on and NOTHING. The fan ran and the welder was humming but my son could not strike an arc. No spark at all. Back to the drawing board. I searched here and was able to download a technical manual and went over the schematic. Looked like a thermostat or the contactor was not working in the contactor circuit that engaged the main transformer. Opened up the side panels tonight and began cleaning up with a shop vac to see if I could find the problem. We tested the contactor and it was getting voltage but not working. I figured it was bad and would need to be replaced. Oh well, another delay. Then it clicked. It must have been stuck from a lack of use. I put the meter on the welding outputs and got about 95V open circuit voltage. Everything looked like it was working so we turned it off, buttoned it back up, and hooked up the leads. My son struck an arc and ran a handful of beads on a small piece of 3/32 plate. He's happy. Life is good. Now it's time to get him practicing. He's mostly done MIG and is not happy with how the beads he ran turned out. He should get more time in now that we are set up at home. He said the arc was much easier to strike and beads easier to run on this machine. Maybe I can coax his welding teacher over to the house with a barbeque on the weekend. I'm looking forward to learning on this too. Thanks again for all the advice.
Reply:Thought I'd add a picture or two.I know it's old but beautiful to me.
Reply:Those are excellent welders and burn 7018 beautifully (And 6013 and 7014 and 7024....)And the go-to machine at my place for tig welding Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Nice welder. +1 on electron beam technologies. I went with DINSE connectors on my welder so I could swap out my stick leads for a water cooled torch.Miller Multimatic 255
Reply:Originally Posted by Texan481 Maybe I can coax his welding teacher over to the house with a barbeque on the weekend. I'm looking forward to learning on this too. Thanks again for all the advice.
Reply:What part numbers should we get for the Dinse connectors to be able to swap back and forth from stinger to torch? (looking to get set up like the OP with the same welder or a Dialarc HF). I just got 100' foot cable and finding that connectors are expensive, I don't want to buy more than one type/style/size/etc. The LWS is very helpful with getting me set up with the right connectors, but are double the price of on-line sales. I am not against paying the extra cost to guarantee I am getting what I need. I just ordered a pair of connectors from LWS for my old Century buzz box and they wanted $50 which is almost what the welder is worth. I balked at $50 and they came down to $40, do I said yes. The great thing about buying there is that if they don't fit my welder I bring them back for exchange or full refund. But with a quick connect set, I don't have to worry about compatibility with old equipment so will just order on-line.Century buzzbox that I learned on 40+ years ago (was Dad's)Crappy Century 110volt mig 70 amp pigeon pooper.Lincoln Idealarc TIG-300 |
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发表于 2021-8-31 22:38:58