got my self a SIP 140turbo

basicly got myself a bootlid to practise on. cant get the hang of it. any tips.

ive started off gasless using .8mm flux wire.

 

A good tip would be to bin that gasless welder.

 

Try using the gas and 0.6mm wire. If it's only a bonnet then the 0.8mm wire may be too thick.

 

Get your self a proper gas bottle and regulator BOC can supply both. bottles about £43 for a year rental and gas is about £38 (argonsheild)LAST TIME I LOOKED !!!

0.6 wire
light reflective mask

All may sound expensive but to do a good job needs proper gear!!!

also plenty of practice!!!!

 

the welder can do gas aswell.
so .6mm wire and gas, but which gas, i have been told there are different mixes of co and argon. also what would be best for aluminuim and stainless


cheers for the help

 

for normal steel welding CO2 is fine but the better stuff is CO2+argon does'nt spatter as much either for stainless i think it is pure argon it has been about 3 years since i gave up welding.o.6 mm is also the best wire to use as you cant buy any thiner.

 

will the above welder do wings, 2mm washers and seam weld a shell? What would be best to use for a top result? Can somebody recommend me a welder for chassis work?

 

ive just bought myself a sealey 180amp mig welder i'm using to do a full rebuild it welds upto 7mm thick steel so easily the job for chassis gota a compressor lobbed in for the price too bargain xmas special lol

 

Gasless wire is proper pooooooo!! simple as that , use a 0.8 or 0.6 if your rollers will feed it through nice and smooth without it getting caught up

Use a co2/argon mix for best results ,

Another thing people think is that they can do a perfect weld run of say 6 inches regardless of the thickness of steel theyre welding just by turning the welder down ., 3mm and above yes but anything thinner your better off doing short bursts , litterly one spot at a time , the end result will be a lot neater and will produce less distortion to boot .

to set up your welding current get a piece of scrap metal the same thickness of that to be welded , point the torch tip at the metal ( make sure its got the earth lead on lol , ) press the trigger and listen !!!!!!!!!!!! the only way to discribe it is that the weld should sound like a cat puring , if it pops and bangs and you can feel the wire digging into the weld pool then turn the wire feed down , if its sizzling with the occasional crack then the wire feed needs to be turned up as theirs not enough wire going in and its burning back towards the tip ( befor someone corrects me this is/can be ,l a form of weld transfer called dip tranfer but its a fine line and will generate far to much heat for your body work appication .

Sip arnt a bad make to be honest but look on the back and it'll say something about rated amps per duty cycle , itll probably be something like 120 amp at 25% d/cyc and 80 amp at 80% d/cyc

this is just for your information realy and it means that if you think you can weld 5mm plate for 3 hours solid on max power then your gonna melt something .

a decent helmet if your going to be doing a lot ( and i mean daily) is a must but i had for the first 5 years of welding ( as in 8 hours a day ) a standard £15 mask , all be it with a split screen in , Light at the top to sight your work and dark at the bottom to stop that nasty arc eye .

last thing is that yes , when you start to weld the heat generated at the weld pool is hot enough to burn away the likes of paint and general muck , but its not something to get into the habit of doing , clean all areas and surfaces to be welded of paint , underseal , rusty metal etc , atleast 1/2" away from the edge ,

to recap , clean the parent metals to be welded , tack into place and fully weld with just short bursts , set the welding current and wire feed ( a puringpussy cat )

Hope this is of use ????????????

 

Brilliant advice LEE, I think I will be back here for reference, can there be a technical write up on welding, I cant see one on search? I am thinking of a CLARKE 135TE turbo, using 0.6wire and Co2/argon mix gas, should do for a first go??

 

With welder sizes i always go for the best you can afford , for a good all rounder you want to be aiming for a 180 amp unit , i know its hard but try to stickto branded makes aswell ,

sip are ok for the hobby man and can tackle some bigger jobs aswell .,

Clarke and draper i havnt had much experience with so cant realy comment , Have a look on ebay for a second hand unit , youll get twice the welder for half the money

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Elland-145-Pro...QQcmdZViewItem

not a bad set .

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SNAP-ON-MIG-WE...QQcmdZViewItem

a snap-on set

the very top brands to look out for are

Murex ( they also make snap-on's welders )
BOC
Butters
Transmig

two other things i have just thought of that will also help you is :-

use a tip one size above the wire you are using , ie , if u are using a 0.6 wire use a 0.8 tip , if using 0.8mm wire use a 1mm tip etc , this will help stop the wire sticking if it gets a bad arc or burns back .

Not wanting to teach others to suck eggs but the correct direction to mig weld is to push the torch , ( not pull) i e start at the right hand side of a weld and traverse to the left , the torch tip should aslo be at approx 30-45 degrees to the work piece and inline with the weld .

 

thanx mate. gona have one more go with the gasless to see what happens the sponge of the gf for some gas