First weld with my new dynasty 200dx

[Hobbyist]

My new welder arrived today and of course I had to try it out right away. Only problem is, at this point, after spending almost 3k, all I have is a little stick welder. And while I'm a novice at tig, I'm even worse with stick.

Trying to support local business, I bought locally even though it cost a few hundred more. But I figured since I'm somewhat of a newbie, this would make it easier since I could tell them what I want to do and they'd help me figure out what odds and ends I'd need to put the package together. They assured me they had everything but the welder, which they had to order, in stock and there would be no problem.

Today I went to pick up the welder and accessories. Turns out they were mistaken about how well stocked they are. Items they didn't have in stock included the foot control, a gas hose to connect the cylinder, the power adapter for the water cooled torch (which I had told them would be part of the package). And they had exactly one size of 308L filler (too big for what I want to do). And they made me wait until 4:55 to find out, so it was too late to go anywhere else to get those parts.

But hey, I can make sparks. And by next week I should be doing it with gas.

[Hobbyist]

It's such a great weld it's worth a second look.

[paulrbrown]

Hobbyist, I can see on thing you can do to improve your work, you have to clean the material before welding, Tig, unlike Stick, is very unforgiving of dirty material. Wirebrush,sand,scotchbrite,grind, whatever....and get down there so you can see that puddle and arc distance, I once read 'welding is not a spectator sport', I think here to be exact, get close so you can really see what's going on, and you don't have to worry about those nasty Stick sparks....Hope this helps, Paul

[klsm54]

Sorry to hear about your experience with your local distributor. But, you do have your welder, now you can start building on that.

I guess it will be your gut instinct to tell you whether the distributor deliberately mislead you just to make a sale, or if the lack of accessories was due to their lack of experience and knowledge.

If it was a deliberate deception, I would start shopping elsewhere. If it lack of knowledge on their part, and if you arethe patient type, maybe you can both learn together. If this is the case, it could be a positive thing and help build a good relationship between you.

I know one thing, If I was the distributor sales person who screwed up, I would be bending over backwards to get you what you needed, and helping you to get up and running.

Good Luck..

[BCarlucci]

Well i'm sorry to hear about your experiance with the distributor, i have to say that being one myself, we always have stock in almost all the accessories for all of our miller machines, and that salesmen should be bending over backwards to get you what you need, otherwise i'd tell them to kiss the old you know what and go somewhere else. Each time i sell a machine i deliver it to the customer, hook everything up for them and then test the machine, and walk them through the machine for about 2 hours before i feel confident i've done my job. I know all distributors are not like my company, but i do believe in customer service, and at least they should of had a loaner foot peddle to give to you. But at least you have the welder, and you can do some welding with it. And once the other parts come in, if you haven't already paid for them, i'd make them give you a better price on them for making you wait.

Best of luck and good welding

BC

[Hobbyist]

paulrbrown,

Actually, the weld shown was a stick weld. I haven't yet developed the skill of seeing what's going on when stick welding. All I see is a bright spot and a bunch of smoke My memory of tig welding (it's been several years) is of being able to clearly see the puddle.

klsm54,

I'm still undecided on this distributor. I visited three before selecting this one. They seemed as on the ball as any, and they were able to give me a good price on the welder. But I guess I did have my doubts going into it, when the most technically savvy people at any of the local shops seemed to barely know the difference between air cooled and water cooled torches. So I guess it should come as no surprise that they don't know what's needed to hook one up.

I think it's a bit of a catch-22. You want the shop to be there for you, with knowledgable staff and a complete inventory. But that all increases costs. And at the same time you won't shop there unless they cut their price to match someone who provides none of that.

Well, looking at the bright side, it's forcing me to work on my stick skills for a few days

[Hobbyist]

Finally can tig weld

Well, at least my welder can.

It's been way too long since the last time I did this. I just hope I haven't forgotten more than I originally learned.

My first attempt was with ER70S-2 on some scrap steel; cleanliness is not among it's virtues. I tried brushing it and wiping it down with acetone; think I need to try harder. Wasn't too bad in the middle, but along the edges it kept bubbling and making a mess of my tungsten.

Any tips would be welcome.

[paulrbrown]

Hobbyist, how close are you putting the Electrode to the work?, It looks like you need a little more heat and possibly need to slow down, the straightness will come with practice, make sure to keep filler rod in the gas plume, as pulling it out while redhot contaminates it also, I have seen some people just leave it attached to the weld, kinda like a stick electrode that stuck, when they want a break and plan on continuing the weld. Don't forget to keep the shielding gas on the weld even after extinguising the arc, just let the postflow also shield the weld while it is cooling. Keep posting pics, they definately help with analysis. Hope this helps, Paul

[Hobbyist]

paulrbrown,

The scrap I'm using is 3/16. I'm using 3/32 tungsten (it's an old one and I'm not sure, but I think there's a red mark on the end). It's sticking out about 3/16-1/4. And I'm holding it maybe 1/8 from the weld, maybe less, but not as steady as I'd like. 70A and 15 cfh.

I've been using the postflow (default time), keeping it on the weld until it stops. But I'm still working on controlling the filler rod. I even bumped the electrode with it once

Maybe the picture doesn't show it very well, but to me it seems like the weld is sort of just sitting on top. Like it's not very well fused with the base metal.

I'll add another pic when I get a chance to practice some more.

[Danny]

Sand the metal till it is bright and shiny. 70 amps isn t going to be hot enough. Try setting the machine to around 120 amps for the practice work that your doing, and then use your remote to regulate the machines output.

[BCarlucci]

Dan's right you should have your amps around 120 or so, also you might want to increase your cfm, to 25 and above, from what i've learned from welding and from my gas suppliers (i.e. Air products, air liquide, etc) that you should have your regs set between 25-35, there's nothing wrong with having a little to much gas, but there's problems when you don't have enough.

BC

[Hobbyist]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I was wondering about the power. Had my foot on the floor the whole time at 70, so I'll definitely try upping that. And I'll play with the gas flow too and see what happens there.

[Hobbyist]

It's looking better. I got the metal a lot cleaner and turned up the heat. Still had the gas at 15. Think I still had one small bit of crud upper right.

[Danny]

What diameter of filler are you using?


Let the puddle develope a little more (wider) at the start. Then work on trying to push that same puddle width .

[Hobbyist]

I'm using 1/16 ER70S2 filler. I think it's starting to come back to me a bit. I have actually produced a few decent looking welds, including a butt weld on 18ga steel. I'd include a picture but it's too small for my camera to capture effectively. Here's my latest, 1/8 angle to 3/16. Went pretty well till I was starting to cool down the puddle and poked the tungsten into it.