The content of the channel is improving right back to when it was in the back days, congrats! Glad to see such an important channel getting the love it deserves!
Hello, Very nice video.Thank you for the helpful info. it'll help a lot of us people in welding on how to check and maintain their machines to work well for them. Thank you.
Had a brand new machine with gaps too wide.. It would occasionally start first time, but usually you heard the buzz and saw a thin arc jump from the electrode to the work, but the main arc would not light up.. Holding the electrode really close to the work usually got it to go, and I thought it was just how the particular machine worked, but then it got worse and wouldn't start at all.. I was dreading having to ship the thing for repairs, but I checked the gap and it was twice as wide as the spec, so I just got a pair of pliers and and squeezed the points closer together (this HF just used a pair of points on sheet metal arms soldered to the PC board, no little arms with set screws or anything fancy Iike that, so it's likely that the points just opened up due to vibrations during shipping and handling), and the thing worked great. No more almost having to touch the workpiece to get an arc, it started first time, every time with normal electrode positioning... I had another welder that blew mosfets on the HF board all the time, and another where the HF arced internally to a control board and fried the whole welder...
I also had a brand new everlast 200 dv do this. I did not know about gap. Customer service sent me new pedal, new board. Finally had to ship back. Said it would mess up with them. Got it back and it works. Made that high pitched sound n would not start organically. Will check this next time
It's not sending current to bridge the gap to initiate the arc, it's merely voltage and lots of it. Current doesn't flow like that, not that I expected you to get it right. It superheats the air as it drives the molecules apart for a plasma path to the opposite of polarity. The same process as lightning, but less lethal. 😁
be careful though opening up the machine know sometimes the filter capacitors, can hold a charge for 10-15 minutes or possibly even longer, even after disconnecting and powering down the machine for example a xmt 350, even though it does not have HF, can have about, if I remember almost 800v across the two capacitors!
These are large capacitors with high voltage. 240 volt inverter machines charge to nearly 280 volts. First stage of an inverter is converting AC to DC. AC voltage is root mean square and when running at high output, capacitors are nearly this voltage. But idling, they are significantly higher. When I shut my Dynasty off, it hisses in a decreasing note. This is the capacitors bleeding off voltage.
Hey I’ve been trying to look through the channel to see if you have a video about the best way to tab a AWS D1.1 code book if not it would be very helpful thank you
I have a prime weld tig 225 and it has been doing this since I got it. The machine is still under warranty so my question is should I try and fix this myself or send it back?
If the manual tells you to check and do this, then sure. But if it doesn’t, or says “no user -- parts inside”, they may tell you you’ve violated your warranty. I would check first.
Hey! My 250EXT started today to act up, it kind of lights up inside the cup and then it goes to the metal to be welded (this while on DC) could it be this?
Fun fact not everybody knows - it's possible to build up a static charge on your torch and make it TEMPORARILY impossible to strike up again. Easiest way to make this happen is trying to strike on something with a solid earth ground while your work lead is disconnected. To fix it, all you gotta do is: check your worklead, then with the torch OFF gently tap your tungsten on the work. Voila back to normal striking.
I had it happen too, strike an arc and then let off, and next strike nothing happens, thought it was oxide layer blocking the high frequency. And sometimes if I use the cold weld function, damn thing will blow the tungsten up! I don't know why, if it's because too high a current or something. I now set a small amount of rise time to prevent this from happening, but cold weld function doesn't allow that.
I have a strong suspicion that your grand daddy told your daddy that he use to set the gap on his distributor points in his old Impala wagon (and probably his motorcycle too) using a matchbook cover. You young kids today using your business card with your picture....... Ugh. 🙂
The contacts don't need to be super clean or polished, in fact they are not contacts, no connection. The voltage is so high it will punch through anything. A bit like a spark plug
@@alfredocuomo1546 It's not a relay it's a spark gap, the distance of which is adjusted to tune the circuit to be most efficient. The output is then coupled to to an open construction inductor in series with the main output, about 15 turns, it is coupled at 1:1 ratio, acting as a transformer.
Just asking why would they have two places where a high voltage arc one being in the welder and another from the electrode to the work piece? I thought it worked like a coil in a car with a relay controlling the low voltage and the Coil/inductor generating the arc@@Phantom-mk4kp
The content of the channel is improving right back to when it was in the back days, congrats! Glad to see such an important channel getting the love it deserves!
Much appreciated! It really does mean a lot to hear 🤘
Thanks. Mine tends to not light up well on aluminum 30% of the time but lights up well on steel. I'll have to check it.
Holy shit this actually worked on my crossfire tig 210. Thanks! Saved me a bunch of messing around
Hello, Very nice video.Thank you for the helpful info. it'll help a lot of us people in welding on how to check and maintain their machines to work well for them. Thank you.
You’re welcome 😇
Had a brand new machine with gaps too wide.. It would occasionally start first time, but usually you heard the buzz and saw a thin arc jump from the electrode to the work, but the main arc would not light up.. Holding the electrode really close to the work usually got it to go, and I thought it was just how the particular machine worked, but then it got worse and wouldn't start at all.. I was dreading having to ship the thing for repairs, but I checked the gap and it was twice as wide as the spec, so I just got a pair of pliers and and squeezed the points closer together (this HF just used a pair of points on sheet metal arms soldered to the PC board, no little arms with set screws or anything fancy Iike that, so it's likely that the points just opened up due to vibrations during shipping and handling), and the thing worked great. No more almost having to touch the workpiece to get an arc, it started first time, every time with normal electrode positioning...
I had another welder that blew mosfets on the HF board all the time, and another where the HF arced internally to a control board and fried the whole welder...
I also had a brand new everlast 200 dv do this. I did not know about gap. Customer service sent me new pedal, new board. Finally had to ship back. Said it would mess up with them. Got it back and it works. Made that high pitched sound n would not start organically. Will check this next time
Correction, they said it would not mess up with them.
Thanx for the info
Excellent. Now I'll fix mine👍👍
It's not sending current to bridge the gap to initiate the arc, it's merely voltage and lots of it. Current doesn't flow like that, not that I expected you to get it right. It superheats the air as it drives the molecules apart for a plasma path to the opposite of polarity. The same process as lightning, but less lethal. 😁
be careful though opening up the machine know sometimes the filter capacitors,
can hold a charge for 10-15 minutes or possibly even longer, even after disconnecting and powering down the machine
for example a xmt 350, even though it does not have HF,
can have about, if I remember
almost 800v across the two capacitors!
great advice!
These are large capacitors with high voltage. 240 volt inverter machines charge to nearly 280 volts. First stage of an inverter is converting AC to DC. AC voltage is root mean square and when running at high output, capacitors are nearly this voltage. But idling, they are significantly higher.
When I shut my Dynasty off, it hisses in a decreasing note. This is the capacitors bleeding off voltage.
Thanks on my way to see if thats what's up with mine 👌
Some manufacturers are now using an electronic control for HF start, so no spark gap to adjust.
Hey I’ve been trying to look through the channel to see if you have a video about the best way to tab a AWS D1.1 code book if not it would be very helpful thank you
I have a prime weld tig 225 and it has been doing this since I got it. The machine is still under warranty so my question is should I try and fix this myself or send it back?
Id try and clean it first without touching anything.
If the manual tells you to check and do this, then sure. But if it doesn’t, or says “no user -- parts inside”, they may tell you you’ve violated your warranty. I would check first.
Very useful 👊💥
Hey! My 250EXT started today to act up, it kind of lights up inside the cup and then it goes to the metal to be welded (this while on DC) could it be this?
Fun fact not everybody knows - it's possible to build up a static charge on your torch and make it TEMPORARILY impossible to strike up again. Easiest way to make this happen is trying to strike on something with a solid earth ground while your work lead is disconnected. To fix it, all you gotta do is: check your worklead, then with the torch OFF gently tap your tungsten on the work. Voila back to normal striking.
Thanks for sharing! I did not know
I had it happen too, strike an arc and then let off, and next strike nothing happens, thought it was oxide layer blocking the high frequency.
And sometimes if I use the cold weld function, damn thing will blow the tungsten up! I don't know why, if it's because too high a current or something.
I now set a small amount of rise time to prevent this from happening, but cold weld function doesn't allow that.
💯
Not sure blowing air around inside with the power still on is a good thing - each to their own!
Fans will pull the dust out faster. A bit of heat shrink on the blower will insulate it. Gonna do that right now!
Be careful whammin on the pedal with the machine open⚠️⚠️😂😂
I have a strong suspicion that your grand daddy told your daddy that he use to set the gap on his distributor points in his old Impala wagon (and probably his motorcycle too) using a matchbook cover.
You young kids today using your business card with your picture....... Ugh. 🙂
Point oh three five is pronounced thirty five thousandths.
It’s also pronounced zero point zero three five.
Best way to clean & polish contacts is with a burnishing blade or use a strip cut from a brown paper bag to polish the contacts then adjust them.
Thanks for sharing!
The contacts don't need to be super clean or polished, in fact they are not contacts, no connection. The voltage is so high it will punch through anything. A bit like a spark plug
the relay only controls the low voltage side which initializes the high voltage for the arc@@Phantom-mk4kp
@@alfredocuomo1546 It's not a relay it's a spark gap, the distance of which is adjusted to tune the circuit to be most efficient. The output is then coupled to to an open construction inductor in series with the main output, about 15 turns, it is coupled at 1:1 ratio, acting as a transformer.
Just asking why would they have two places where a high voltage arc one being in the welder and another from the electrode to the work piece? I thought it worked like a coil in a car with a relay controlling the low voltage and the Coil/inductor generating the arc@@Phantom-mk4kp
I was putting heat shrink on and got to close and the outside of red braided hose melted ,The size of a quarter, thank you