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I'm sure that fan is an off the shelf item that's used in a lot of other things than just an econotig. I wonder how many other fans we all have that have manufacturer labels saying something like that. But I bet it would last forever if you did give it a drop of oil every 90 days.
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I wouldn't call this a econotig, it can tig in both AC and DC. DC tig 160 amps withe 28v and 35% duty cycle and AC 160 amps 28v with 20% duty cycle. Those are some pretty solid numbers.
I took the fan all apart and oiled it up and fixed the cold joint at the 230v switch. It has no problem on start up now and runs even more quite.
It's interesting that the fan doesn't blow over the transformers it pulls air over them to cool them. I would think if they had a opening like in the back but on both sides and pushed air over the transformer it would cool better but maybe I'm wrongComment
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Finally the new mig gun showed up they used a Profax 180 mig tweco style gun. Everything was plug and play, only issue I ran into is they forgot to change the contact tips to 0.035 as it had a 0.023 tip on it which bummed me out and they said they werected going to toss in a package of consumables which they didnt.
So tomorrow I'll be calling weldmart and seeing if they will send me out a package of 0.035 tips which I'll keep as spares and Friday I'll go pick some up from the lws so I can start practicing.
How do you know when you got the wire spool tension adjusted correctly. I think I have mine set up good it doesn't unspool and there's just a tiny bit of slack between the rollers and spool.
I also seen miller say to adjust the wire tension it should make a circle when you hit the trigger against wood. I tried without the contact tip in and got about half a circleComment
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I watched miller's video again and you need a contact tips and to already curle the wire which I didn't dof either. Once I get the tip I'll have to figure it out.
Hopefully this weekend I'll get some pictures of some welds this machine is capable of, it seems like it's been a long road to get the mig side setup. Bought this thing over a month ago and only did a 2" mig weld with no gas to test itComment
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Got new tips and got maybe 15mins worth of welding in on some 1/4 steel. When you do a flat weld should you just drag the puddle or should you make e's or any techniques be used?
I know for fillets and laps to give it a slight weave.
I set the machine at full blast past 160 amps and cranked the wire feed speed up and had the argon c02 at 15. I almost get full penetration on 1/4 in one pass .
Below are some picturesComment
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Also how close should the wire be to the base metal I'm use to running stick hot enough where I actually drag the rod on the base metal without it sticking or keep it really tight.
Should I keep the wire at the front top of the puddle?Comment
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I'm not really familiar with your machine, but I'll tell you what I do...<br />
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Obviously, the more skookum your wire is, the less likely it will birdsnest on you if it the wire gets blocked for some reason. You want the drive wheels to slip instead of knot your wire up inside there if that happens. This is for solid wire by the way. I use a gloved hand and pinch the wire between my fingers right at the contact tip and adjust the tension until I can stop the wire, then I tighten the rollers just skosh. Obviously highly scientific right? <br />
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For flux core, use the cerated drive wheels and tighten them down until you just start to see the "tooth marks". If you tighten them down too much, you can crush the wire and make it not happy. <br />
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Solid wire...push or pull, doesn't really matter in my opinion. What matters is that you have your settings correct and you stay on the leading edge of the puddle if you're using some sort of manipulation. I use different techniques depending on what I'm welding on. I also use which ever technique gives me the best view of my weld puddle. <br />
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Avoid welding downhill. <br />
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By looking at your welds, it appears you have some pretty large spatter beebees, so monkey around with your settings until you find the sweet spot. Go up or down with the wire feed speed just a little at a time. Change only one thing each time until you make an adjustment until your arc isn't so harsh. Also, make sure you're cleaning the metal properly, even for your practice welds.Comment
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The metal wasn't clean and I think it was my wire feed speed being to high. This machine was never extended to do flux core only solid wire, I would stock weld if I need to do flux core. The drive roll tension is a interesting setup which I make change to make it more adjustable cause right now it is what it is.Comment
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Picked up a channel lock 360cb welding pliers there the nice ones with the blue and red grips and there made in thEngland USA unlike most made in Japan or China. Going to get some more time in this weekend with the mig and doing different types of welds and playing with the settingsComment
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Wish I could get more voltage out of the machine but it says the MTR is supplied by the same windings as the welding circuit. Are most welders setup this way where wire feed speed decreases welding voltage?
When I'm set at 160 amps and full wire speed the wire feed motor draws 14.2 volts DC.
If anyone gets a minute find the link I posted for the manual and scroll down towards the bottom and look at the amperage/volts/ duty cycle charts along with the open circuit voltage testing they had did. I do need to grease the brass bolt that slides the part of the transformer it says to use high pressure grease I think I may have some but it contains molly which makes me nervous of it causing a short. I had put some oil on it not long ago and adjust the plastic slide rails so it slides easierComment
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How can I tell if the weld was ran to high voltage it doesn't have a bead appearance but just a bolb of melt down the joint.Comment
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