Pulse Tig

[Anthony J Monic]

Hi, I,ve been reading this site for awhile and finally signed up. I have been teaching myself to Tig weld. I have an Econo Tig, it is a few years old. There is no adjustment on this model. The foot pedal has a full sweep, 30A to 160A in DC and two settings in AC - AC high and AC low. Without any adjustments I was able to concentrate on just welding. I would like to sell my Econo Tig and further my skills with a more adjustable machine. Possibly a Syncrowave 180 or 250. Is pulse tig something I should look to get? I've tried to simulate pulse tig with the foot pedal, but I'm sure a built in pusler would work better. Any info? Thanks

[paulrbrown]

Hello Anthony, I learned on an Econotig, then went to a Synchorwave 250 with the 300 pulser, made a big Diference in weld bead appearance. I then bought the Dynasty 200dx, for the Money, the Dynasty has the 250 beat and for size and ease of setting up electricals [250 needs 100 amp breaker] you can't beat the Dynasty. Now as far as all those buttons go, you will just have to read,read,read and experiment, but the Digital display allows you to really dial in your setting and be able to repeat it. You will also get a better duty cycle with the Dynast than the Econotig. Hope this helps, look at my post 'Tig as Decorative'. Glad your here, Paul

[HAWK]

Anthony,

First things first: WELCOME!

It's great to hear new people getting into TIG welding. The pulse serves a variety of functions. The Dynasty 200DX has tremendous pulsing capabilities. It will comfortably weld 3/16" and thinner materials. There are ways to push the machine to 1/4" and beyond for that occasional project.

The PC3OO Paul mentioned is an external pendant that works well, but does not have the full featured functions of the Dynasty 200 DX with the built in pulser. Here are a few examples of pulsed TIG applications:

1. A slow pulse rate of .8 to 2 PPS (pulses per second) is good for adding filler. It is a helpful teaching aid to get the rythym for adding filler.

2. A higher pulse rate in the 300-500PPS range creates weld puddle
agitation. This puddle shaking is beneficial to bring impurites
to the surface.
a) This is advantageous when welding cast aluminum alloys
that may be otherwise very difficult to achieve a quality
weld.
b) The puddle agitation can also be used to weld anodized
aluminum. Without a high pulse rate this anodized coating
requires grinding or wheel brushing to remove prior to
welding. There are other ways to weld anodized without
pulse, but that is off the subject.

3. Mid range pulsing (100-300PPS) can help in welding mild steel
that has some mild surface mill scale.

All these applications can be worked around without pulsing. However with the technological advancements of putting operator friendly pulsing into a small package like the Dynasty series they are easier than ever before.

Once you get used to having a machine like the Dynasty series with pulsing you won't want to give it up. I use a couple of Dynasty units for nearly all my TIG work.