For those of you talking about reversing the polarity, The polarity reverses at how ever many Hz the mains is at ( at lest where it enters the circuit. The frequency must be being driven up by the driver board to get the high frequency switching needed to generate that current. Being as he is using electromagnetic coils such as the fly-back and the home made transformer, the circuit is 100% AC, not DC. The alternating current passing through the blue coil is inducing an voltage in the black coil as it is the secondary in this transformer. The only place where DC may be found here is across his capacitor across the flyback transformer. It's important to note, that: 1. Transformers can NOT pass a DC. If he were to rectify the output of the secondary, then it would be DC. 2. Capacitors, such as the one he has here, or any for that matter, can NOT pass DC current. They only pass Alternating current. DC has no frequency ( as it's polarity never changes ). The Equation for this ( not for the math, but so if you are reading this, a little context to why) . Xc = 1 / 2πfC where : Xc = Capacitive Reactance. a "resistance" measurement of the capacitor. π = a tasty snack ( blueberry maybe? :)) f = Frequency C = capacitance The fact that f and C are both on the lower half of the equation on the right side, ( as in 1 / fc), indicates the the Capacitive reactance is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to the frequency and the capacitance, that means that as frequency lowers, the Capacitive Reactance (Xc) goes up. So at a Frequency of 0 (Direct current) the Xc would be infinite. infinite resistance means nothing gets through. Conversely, if we put an AC signal through the capacitor, AC current is allowed to flow, as it's frequency is not zero, so it's Xc would not be infinite. Also to note, a lot of the current generated in this setup comes from back EMF spikes (aka CEMF, Counter EMF, technical term is actually Counter EelectroMotive Force ) when the coil is turned off. Hence the higher the frequency, the more power. In a typical transformer circuit, you would have a flyback diode or freewheeling diode, reverse biased across the output to handle those spikes (shunting them to ground) in this scenario, we actively use them. They can be in the order of hundreds to thousands of volts. Now I have a HUGE pile of old drives here. I wonder how big of a capacitor I can make LOL! I've never seen that before with the platters. Physics never cease to amaze me.
A transformer can only pass AC, but an inductor can pass both. You clearly have a solid understanding of theory but have misunderstood what's actually happening here. The current from the welder can ABSOLUTELY be DC, and only passes through one side of the diy transformer, effectively an inductor in that circuit. That DC can coexist perfectly happily with a HF AC signal induced from the flyback. This concept is used in nearly all vacuum tube circuits, for example, guitar amplifiers. You send +300 VDC through one side of an output transformer to charge the plate (anode) of the tube, the signal from the grid imparts an AC modulation on the DC which is coupled via the transformer of which the other side is connected directly to a speaker. The speaker never sees the DC and happily transduces the AC modulation as sound. The topology is very similar here, the signal path is just reversed. The isolated flyback circuit takes the place of the speaker, and instead of the AC-modulated-DC going to a tube plate, it's the TIG tip.
They're talking about reversing the electrodes that the handle and clamp are plugged into. As in the work piece needs to be swapped in polarity with the tig torch. Its needed to switch for certain welding methods or wire types
@@jasonbarnes8047 yup. Am aware. You are referring to DCEN vs DCEP. Difference being one gives more penetration and the other more cleaning of the weld. Doesn’t change the fact that a transformer can not pass DC, and work on AC only. The Electrode and ground side are connected directly to the output of the secondary. If you take a multi meter across this leads measuring voltage, you’ll see, it’s ac voltage. A transformer, works on AC ONLY and CAN NOT PASS DC. There is NO rectifier after the winding the torch is connected to.
@@TheDivergentDrummer then you really wanna look into how dc flybacks work cause you're actually wrong they do work with DC, they have to be pulsed or zero volts switching ie zvs drivers.
@@jasonbarnes8047 then please show me where the secondary, that is directly attached to the hot and neutral sides of the transformer ( not the fly back, the home built job it’s as that is the last coil in the circuit) is rectified into DC. Alternatively, I am open to your explanation of HOW the AC coming out of the transformer is DC. There is no diode to even half rectify the waveform on the output. "Does Tesla coil produce AC or DC? AC In coils that produce air discharges, such as those built for entertainment, electrical energy from the secondary and toroid is transferred to the surrounding air as electrical charge, heat, light, and sound. The process is similar to charging or discharging a capacitor, except that a Tesla coil uses AC instead of DC." The fact is, a transformer can NOT produce a DC voltage. It is AC that needs to be rectified. With a frequency of 0, there will be NO magnetic flux field change and therefor no current present. HOWEVER, pulsed DC can be used in a coupled induction scenario as he has here. That is, only if the driver is pulsing the DC on and off to generate the change in mag flux. As mentioned before, the back EMF caused in the secondary can be in the order of the hundreds to thousands of volts, and a regulated transformer will heat up , reducing it's efficiencies. The only way to 'reverse' the polarity, is to redesign the flyback driver so that it is pulsing the negative half cycle, not the positive.
Years ago I had an old ESAB HF unit for tig welding. I took it apart to look inside and found that it was a Bosch ignition coil driven from a transformer with a spark plug and a capacitor, this produced the HF for tig ignition, just using the hf with the welding transformer turned of in the dark you could draw the spark out to nearly a meter and still see it. Got rid of it in the end as the HF would travel back up into the mains circuit and fry any electronics on the same meter, did two workshop fax machines in before I traded it in for a new tig machine which was less that half the power as the transformer unit was rated at 450 amps continuous at 95 volts.
This really is an excellent project. It might better be called "adding a HF start to an Arc Welder" but still, lots of GREAT information. Thanks for sharing your video!
7 місяців тому+1
I'm a welder and I've been looking for someone to do something like this just to be sure it was possible. I think you can find some microchips or modules that can give you a better voltage over the output signal to the torch and the form as well, like a PWM; seems to me that your welding machine it's a little too hot in the voltage side with the homemade transformer if you add in series the voltage from the welding machine and the HF adapter you made. Man you won a subscriber, what a great job.
This is really cool! I did think of something similar for my own welder. When Tig welding the handpiece must be the negative pole. Otherwise the tungsten burns up very fast. And with every other welding method it has to be positive. Thats because the positive side always gets hotter than the negative. When you are tig welding you dont want your tungsten to get too hot. With every other method you want to melt of wire or an electrode so you even want it to get very hot.
@@Psyden5757 I Just added. I mean why would some one mod a Transformer to tig If there is no need tô weld alumínium ? Also good that you comment because after i post i remember that the hv/RF output IS in fact pulsed DC. But the Power source from where the current really comes is Ac. So there is DC in the machine but i highly doubt Ac in those levels affect the electrode consumption
Love your project! It is very creative. I've never seen a TIG arc throw sparks like that. I'm curious if you actually used any shield gas. Pure argon would be best for what you are doing. About 15 cubic feet per hour for that small cup on your torch. More for a bigger cup; you want to maintain laminar flow. If it gets turbulent oxygen from the air mixes with your shield gas. Sorry I don't know the metric conversion but a guy like you won't have any trouble. Best wishes from USA!
10:03 I took apart one of these machines once and the core used on the HF transformer was a half inch diameter rod maybe 3 inches long made of Ferroxcube’s 3C90 material. I had a few 3C90 cores in the UR shape I used in another project that required HF HV coupling and man they just worked.
Guess I missed the need to use shelding gas. There is a comersial device that adds high frequency called a "TIG-PIG" granted it's more $$ but it will do AC which is prefered,if not needed for Aluminum (yes you can weld Al on DC but will eat up your Tungstan and not give good cleaning). With out hi frequency I've never been able to hold a TIG arc. AC Stick electrodes have something in the flux coating that maintains the arc. Your video did explain a lot of things that I never quite understood before. Tanks.
TIG = Tungsten Inert Gas welding process where an inert gas, typically Argon is used to shield the molten metal from Oxygen. You didn't have a gas cylinder or a hose connection to the gas inlet of the TIG torch. That may be why your results didn't look very good. Also the welding machine you are using is an AC machine. Typically AC is only used with TIG for aluminum. You need DC for steel and other ferrous metals. Overall, your "contactless start" HF adapter is pretty clever and demonstrates the inner workings of many TIG welding power supplies.
I have. Seen some very interesting things welded in TIG, I have wanted to do somthing like your saying you want to do, but, its somthing which can change the industry once its seen, so. I hold back at this time to make comments on it. But keep up the good work, 👍
If you have a smooth flow of argon already it may be possible you need to reverse the polarity. I am not an expert, but I know if the DC power flows the wrong way it will throw sparks like this. If that is ok maybe the argon is flowing too fast, blowing the puddle away. Could use a bigger ceramic cup as well.
this is not a rectified but AC current, possibly good for Aluminium welding but, the duty cycle is fixed to 50% and frequency fixed to whatever you have in your mains supply (50Hz or 60Hz). The tungsten will ball like it does in Aluminium welding so use the same electrodes used for Al welding. You will not get much penetration but should be enough for non-critical hobby welding. It could also be used for stick welding cold starting.
@@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498 Idk it would be pretty tough AC Welders are biased towards the negative the 0 point is about 70 negative with adjustments up or down from there. I'd imagine it would be tough on the tungsten, It would be interesting to see how usable it is.
Lots of work... There was no way the stainless steel core would work. Most of the time stainless is non-magnetic so a very poor choice for a magnetic core. The version with the transformer is not that much better given that the transformer core is intended for low-frequency currents. You either need no core at all (i.e. just air) like in Tesla coils, or a HF core made of ferrite. But your enthusiasm is contagious !
You want a core material with good permiability (higher than air) to guide the flux from one winding to the other. An air core also works, just makes your inductance really low meaning it would prefer a much higher frequency without having huge current consumption. (Hence why Tesla coils are usually loosely coupled transformers with 100s of kilohertz of resonant frequency). The impedance of an inductor is j*2*pi*f*L ohms, so a lower inductance would draw a lot more current at a given frequency than a higher inductance. This gets more complicated when you want to match the transformer's impedance to the discharge circuit to ensure maximum power transfer. So stainless steel isn't ideal.
This is fascinating and just a little terrifying. I did learn the autotransformer method for getting the HV into the welding current, grazi for that. Doing it this way makes it possible to put a pressure switch for the argon in there so you don't forget to turn it on, not that I ever did that 37 times... 😅
How did you use an autotransformer to get the HV welding current? I have a number of variac's (autotransformers) and would be interested in trying that. I think I have 1, 2.5, 3, 5, 10 & 15 amp units (all 120v). Which size would be appropriate?
For those wondering, you will need argon shielding gas for the tig to protect the weld pool and tungsten from oxygen in the atmosphere, the torch has screw valve for that, but with it you will loose lots of argon, so i would advice adding timing circuit to the AC ignitor system of this video and solenoid valve that lets the gas out when you need it. Once you want to stop the arc pull back to break it and keep the argon flowing to cool the tungsten and the pool until its less than orange color. This is DC tig, so you wont be welding aluminum with this that requires AC tig, or i guess you could but breaking trough the oxide layer and removing it from the weld pool will be absolute pain, so you wont get any kind of proper structural welds with it, at best you can make tag welds to have someone else with better machine to weld it for you. The AC circuit in this is just to remove need to scratch ignite the arc nothing else and at worse can electrocute you if you fuck up.
you still need shielding gas like ARGON which would give you a much more stable arc. Everytime I use C02/argon mix the TIG goes nuts. Where as if you use 100% argon on a mig it will literally throw the weld.
great video but one thing the reason you are throwing so many sparks and burning holes so fas is that you need to us a 100% argon sheilding gas. great vid just wanted to help
Cool video, you really need a DC welder/power source, The Unit you have is an AC unit that's what's causing your torch to look like a flame thrower, You can get DC welders very cheap just swap your power cables and you will be amazed at the difference. This type of AC isn't practical for welding aluminium either because of the balance between position and negative and frequency. You could add a bridge rectifier though to convert the AC to DC Another thing you could do is add a gas solenoid that would be a cool upgrade.
@oddjobbob8742The Machine he is using is an AC machine. At around 14.40 he shows the gas connection coming off the Dinse power connector and mentions it I believe. You can't really Tig properly without gas given that and what he shows in the video I would assume he's using gas that goes straight to the torch and doesn't go through the machine. Maybe he didn't hook it up or turn the torch valve on.
14:11 you can easily make a foot pedal from (preferably) a non-conductive material like wood, a few screws, and one or two compression springs. Oh and the same pressure switch. Just make a housing that holds that switch with holes for wiring and two screws to function as pins. Make a pedal that slides easily in and out of the housing. The. Attach one end to the housing with some screws or bolts and loose enough to allow rotation on that axis. Put one or two compression springs slightly closer to keep the pedal slightly adjar. Mechanically attach the pressure switch inside and if necessary add a nipple to engage the switch if your sorings require too much compression before closing the switch. Make sure the springs are powerful enough to open the switch and functions as a Deadman switch.
Great Idea, im just questioning myself if i can use this also with a regular stick-welder. So you would always get a great spark without need to initial touch the material with the rod
Technically yes if i'm not mistaken, how ever you also add risk since now you have high voltage arc that might jump from the electro holder to your arm if you are wet from sweat, its raining etc so not advisable. Learn to ignite the rod and have steel peace that is not connected to negative lead to knock out crap from the rods end for better conductivity for easier arc start after you ignited it first time. Alternatively drag the end against rough surface like rock or concrete, though that might impregnate some impurities but helps when you first learn to stick weld. Also make sure the rods are dry and oven them if those have been in non heated garage or you are in high air moisture area. Water in the coating can make ignition harder, well as introduce hydrogen pockets into the weld causing porosity and micro fractures that lead into failure over time, though i have welded with rods that have been in cold tractor garage, while its raining, the tube hammered inside the tube that snapped in half had zinc coating, seam area full of crap and welds due the ignition issues and crap and rust were if i'm honest abysmal looking, the damn thing has gone trough tresses and weights it was never intended to hold and still works fine, so while it effects how easy it is to ignite, i havent seen any practical issues on the weld quality, even though actual welding professionals might burn me at the stake if they saw those welds...
Good job I am trying the same thing right now but I am using a car coil instead of a fly back, I am experiencing with a air core transformer ,I don't know how to do the math for how many truns so it is one to one right now. Thank you for the video I will try to return the information with a video of my own.
Hey man awesome information! The gas pressure is really too high. There is a regulator we use i think a flowmeter. I like my c10 gas to be at like 30cfm if im MIG welding. I think tig is less, ill check on monday lol. It seems like your gas pressure was very high. Seriously man, dope channel. Wish you the best.
Weird build, least there is nothing immediately dangerous on this one like the plasma video, there are questions like does it supply enough current to initiate the spark? did you even research the current required? will it just extinguish soon as the Argon is applied?
How about a high frequency start to an arc welder? that would be super useful for easier starts, and not get that sticky rod ever again. Especially if you weld with big rods at low current.
Друг, используй феррит для сердечника катушки. Плюс необходимо поставить высоковольтный фильтр в виде хотя бы конденсаторов между твоим осциллятором и инверторным сварочным аппаратом. Фильтр нужен чтобы не сжечь сварочный аппарат высоковольтными разрядами и для поглощения электромагнитных помех
Loved this video What size is black and blue wires used in transformer and said you used 2.5 mm of plexiglass for insulator on homemade capacitor but looks like 2.5 cm building a replica for myself so want to be sure
The size of the blue wire doesn't matter the least bit, you can even use 0.14mm2 if the insulation is good enough, the black one looked like 16mm2 but look up an ampacity table to find one that works for your welding current. 16mm2 is good for about 80A max on the long run
Bene, but why does the spark eventually ceases to be stable in the glass container after you started the welding process? Is this just initiating the "first" spark?
excelente proyecto. me imagino que podrá soldar aluminio porque debe ser corriente alterna, lo mismo quiero hacer yo , felicitaciones por su trabajo gracias por compartir sus experiencias.
9:30 this isn't a jab at anyone's intelligence or knowledge but if you do not understand or know what induction is please do not replicate this circuit. Not that this doesn't sound like a cool project but I feel like someone would see this and try to build one at home. This is not an easy task and even if you think you follow everything thing exactly you may have different circumstances that's cab effect your circuit. There's a video talking about microwave oven transformers (MOTs) and the understanded danger with them. I recommend watching that after this before messing around with a flyback driver and transformer.
You probly learned this, but you want a long sleeved jacket when TIGing. I got pretty severe sunburn from TIGing while wearing a T-shirt. Now I keep a light weight, but dark, jacket with my welder.
There’s an old trick used back in the 50’s & 60’s we just connected a 12 V car battery into the welding circuit. There’s a great diagram in the Lincoln Welding Book
There is an old trick to use a TIG torch without a high frequency start. You can use a graphite pencil or other piece of graphite to first start the arc on it and only then move to the welding point.
If the welder is ac and the frequency stays on you can weld aluminum but if it is ac it’s not going to tig weld very good you need dc for steel and stainless
your capacitors burnt because they were shorting between their legs during your first tests, you should have insulated their pins as much as possible..
You could have replaced the two nails by a car spark plug. Stainless, titanium or aluminium make really bad core. You need a ferrous metal. If a magnet stick to it hard. You are good to go. And yes, your spark system could create serious issue. You are generating a lot of "jamming" and electromagnetic pulse. In some way, you build a transmitter. That can be a legal issue. With a few modification. I can transform your project into an EMP device. Meaning it can probably fry some electronic...
For those of you talking about reversing the polarity, The polarity reverses at how ever many Hz the mains is at ( at lest where it enters the circuit. The frequency must be being driven up by the driver board to get the high frequency switching needed to generate that current. Being as he is using electromagnetic coils such as the fly-back and the home made transformer, the circuit is 100% AC, not DC. The alternating current passing through the blue coil is inducing an voltage in the black coil as it is the secondary in this transformer. The only place where DC may be found here is across his capacitor across the flyback transformer. It's important to note, that:
1. Transformers can NOT pass a DC. If he were to rectify the output of the secondary, then it would be DC.
2. Capacitors, such as the one he has here, or any for that matter, can NOT pass DC current. They only pass Alternating current. DC has no frequency ( as it's polarity never changes ). The Equation for this ( not for the math, but so if you are reading this, a little context to why) .
Xc = 1 / 2πfC
where :
Xc = Capacitive Reactance. a "resistance" measurement of the capacitor.
π = a tasty snack ( blueberry maybe? :))
f = Frequency
C = capacitance
The fact that f and C are both on the lower half of the equation on the right side, ( as in 1 / fc), indicates the the Capacitive reactance is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to the frequency and the capacitance, that means that as frequency lowers, the Capacitive Reactance (Xc) goes up. So at a Frequency of 0 (Direct current) the Xc would be infinite. infinite resistance means nothing gets through.
Conversely, if we put an AC signal through the capacitor, AC current is allowed to flow, as it's frequency is not zero, so it's Xc would not be infinite.
Also to note, a lot of the current generated in this setup comes from back EMF spikes (aka CEMF, Counter EMF, technical term is actually Counter EelectroMotive Force ) when the coil is turned off. Hence the higher the frequency, the more power. In a typical transformer circuit, you would have a flyback diode or freewheeling diode, reverse biased across the output to handle those spikes (shunting them to ground) in this scenario, we actively use them. They can be in the order of hundreds to thousands of volts.
Now I have a HUGE pile of old drives here. I wonder how big of a capacitor I can make LOL! I've never seen that before with the platters. Physics never cease to amaze me.
A transformer can only pass AC, but an inductor can pass both. You clearly have a solid understanding of theory but have misunderstood what's actually happening here. The current from the welder can ABSOLUTELY be DC, and only passes through one side of the diy transformer, effectively an inductor in that circuit. That DC can coexist perfectly happily with a HF AC signal induced from the flyback.
This concept is used in nearly all vacuum tube circuits, for example, guitar amplifiers. You send +300 VDC through one side of an output transformer to charge the plate (anode) of the tube, the signal from the grid imparts an AC modulation on the DC which is coupled via the transformer of which the other side is connected directly to a speaker. The speaker never sees the DC and happily transduces the AC modulation as sound.
The topology is very similar here, the signal path is just reversed. The isolated flyback circuit takes the place of the speaker, and instead of the AC-modulated-DC going to a tube plate, it's the TIG tip.
They're talking about reversing the electrodes that the handle and clamp are plugged into. As in the work piece needs to be swapped in polarity with the tig torch. Its needed to switch for certain welding methods or wire types
@@jasonbarnes8047 yup. Am aware. You are referring to DCEN vs DCEP. Difference being one gives more penetration and the other more cleaning of the weld. Doesn’t change the fact that a transformer can not pass DC, and work on AC only. The Electrode and ground side are connected directly to the output of the secondary. If you take a multi meter across this leads measuring voltage, you’ll see, it’s ac voltage. A transformer, works on AC ONLY and CAN NOT PASS DC. There is NO rectifier after the winding the torch is connected to.
@@TheDivergentDrummer then you really wanna look into how dc flybacks work cause you're actually wrong they do work with DC, they have to be pulsed or zero volts switching ie zvs drivers.
@@jasonbarnes8047 then please show me where the secondary, that is directly attached to the hot and neutral sides of the transformer ( not the fly back, the home built job it’s as that is the last coil in the circuit) is rectified into DC. Alternatively, I am open to your explanation of HOW the AC coming out of the transformer is DC. There is no diode to even half rectify the waveform on the output.
"Does Tesla coil produce AC or DC?
AC
In coils that produce air discharges, such as those built for entertainment, electrical energy from the secondary and toroid is transferred to the surrounding air as electrical charge, heat, light, and sound. The process is similar to charging or discharging a capacitor, except that a Tesla coil uses AC instead of DC."
The fact is, a transformer can NOT produce a DC voltage. It is AC that needs to be rectified. With a frequency of 0, there will be NO magnetic flux field change and therefor no current present. HOWEVER, pulsed DC can be used in a coupled induction scenario as he has here. That is, only if the driver is pulsing the DC on and off to generate the change in mag flux. As mentioned before, the back EMF caused in the secondary can be in the order of the hundreds to thousands of volts, and a regulated transformer will heat up , reducing it's efficiencies. The only way to 'reverse' the polarity, is to redesign the flyback driver so that it is pulsing the negative half cycle, not the positive.
Years ago I had an old ESAB HF unit for tig welding. I took it apart to look inside and found that it was a Bosch ignition coil driven from a transformer with a spark plug and a capacitor, this produced the HF for tig ignition, just using the hf with the welding transformer turned of in the dark you could draw the spark out to nearly a meter and still see it. Got rid of it in the end as the HF would travel back up into the mains circuit and fry any electronics on the same meter, did two workshop fax machines in before I traded it in for a new tig machine which was less that half the power as the transformer unit was rated at 450 amps continuous at 95 volts.
This really is an excellent project. It might better be called "adding a HF start to an Arc Welder" but still, lots of GREAT information. Thanks for sharing your video!
I'm a welder and I've been looking for someone to do something like this just to be sure it was possible. I think you can find some microchips or modules that can give you a better voltage over the output signal to the torch and the form as well, like a PWM; seems to me that your welding machine it's a little too hot in the voltage side with the homemade transformer if you add in series the voltage from the welding machine and the HF adapter you made. Man you won a subscriber, what a great job.
This is really cool! I did think of something similar for my own welder. When Tig welding the handpiece must be the negative pole. Otherwise the tungsten burns up very fast. And with every other welding method it has to be positive. Thats because the positive side always gets hotter than the negative. When you are tig welding you dont want your tungsten to get too hot. With every other method you want to melt of wire or an electrode so you even want it to get very hot.
There os no positive nor negative in this machine. Also DC do not weld alumínium. You are confusing with some thing else
@@franciscoferreira-eh1yu He didn't mention aluminum anywhere in his comment
@@Psyden5757 I Just added. I mean why would some one mod a Transformer to tig If there is no need tô weld alumínium ? Also good that you comment because after i post i remember that the hv/RF output IS in fact pulsed DC. But the Power source from where the current really comes is Ac. So there is DC in the machine but i highly doubt Ac in those levels affect the electrode consumption
Well done. Are you using argon gas? Your tungsten is burning up hence the flame.
Love your project! It is very creative. I've never seen a TIG arc throw sparks like that. I'm curious if you actually used any shield gas. Pure argon would be best for what you are doing. About 15 cubic feet per hour for that small cup on your torch. More for a bigger cup; you want to maintain laminar flow. If it gets turbulent oxygen from the air mixes with your shield gas. Sorry I don't know the metric conversion but a guy like you won't have any trouble. Best wishes from USA!
All of the popping was the absence of shielding gas.
You are great. You explain things in an easy and simple way. Thank you. I will try to make this modification on my machine, but after college 😅
10:03 I took apart one of these machines once and the core used on the HF transformer was a half inch diameter rod maybe 3 inches long made of Ferroxcube’s 3C90 material. I had a few 3C90 cores in the UR shape I used in another project that required HF HV coupling and man they just worked.
Guess I missed the need to use shelding gas. There is a comersial device that adds high frequency called a "TIG-PIG" granted it's more $$ but it will do AC which is prefered,if not needed for Aluminum (yes you can weld Al on DC but will eat up your Tungstan and not give good cleaning). With out hi frequency I've never been able to hold a TIG arc. AC Stick electrodes have something in the flux coating that maintains the arc. Your video did explain a lot of things that I never quite understood before. Tanks.
The legendary Arc-pig!
TIG = Tungsten Inert Gas welding process where an inert gas, typically Argon is used to shield the molten metal from Oxygen. You didn't have a gas cylinder or a hose connection to the gas inlet of the TIG torch. That may be why your results didn't look very good. Also the welding machine you are using is an AC machine. Typically AC is only used with TIG for aluminum. You need DC for steel and other ferrous metals. Overall, your "contactless start" HF adapter is pretty clever and demonstrates the inner workings of many TIG welding power supplies.
Correct on both points, no argon kiss the tungsten goodbye. Will need a bridge rectified output.
Bro you using argon looks like compressed air to cause a flame like that .....good build i like 👍
I didnt see any argon here. Its needed as an air shield.
I have. Seen some very interesting things welded in TIG, I have wanted to do somthing like your saying you want to do, but, its somthing which can change the industry once its seen,
so. I hold back at this time to make comments on it. But keep up the good work, 👍
If you have a smooth flow of argon already it may be possible you need to reverse the polarity. I am not an expert, but I know if the DC power flows the wrong way it will throw sparks like this. If that is ok maybe the argon is flowing too fast, blowing the puddle away. Could use a bigger ceramic cup as well.
this is not a rectified but AC current, possibly good for Aluminium welding but, the duty cycle is fixed to 50% and frequency fixed to whatever you have in your mains supply (50Hz or 60Hz). The tungsten will ball like it does in Aluminium welding so use the same electrodes used for Al welding. You will not get much penetration but should be enough for non-critical hobby welding. It could also be used for stick welding cold starting.
@@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498
Idk it would be pretty tough AC Welders are biased towards the negative the 0 point is about 70 negative with adjustments up or down from there.
I'd imagine it would be tough on the tungsten, It would be interesting to see how usable it is.
Lots of work... There was no way the stainless steel core would work. Most of the time stainless is non-magnetic so a very poor choice for a magnetic core. The version with the transformer is not that much better given that the transformer core is intended for low-frequency currents. You either need no core at all (i.e. just air) like in Tesla coils, or a HF core made of ferrite. But your enthusiasm is contagious !
Ideal? Absolutely no. Will work? Absolutely yes
You want a core material with good permiability (higher than air) to guide the flux from one winding to the other. An air core also works, just makes your inductance really low meaning it would prefer a much higher frequency without having huge current consumption. (Hence why Tesla coils are usually loosely coupled transformers with 100s of kilohertz of resonant frequency). The impedance of an inductor is j*2*pi*f*L ohms, so a lower inductance would draw a lot more current at a given frequency than a higher inductance. This gets more complicated when you want to match the transformer's impedance to the discharge circuit to ensure maximum power transfer. So stainless steel isn't ideal.
@@h9hkk6155 even nothing (i.e. vacuum) would work...
@@jihellechat1785 yup
@@jihellechat1785I was thinking seal and fill with Argon. God bless
This is fascinating and just a little terrifying. I did learn the autotransformer method for getting the HV into the welding current, grazi for that. Doing it this way makes it possible to put a pressure switch for the argon in there so you don't forget to turn it on, not that I ever did that 37 times... 😅
How did you use an autotransformer to get the HV welding current? I have a number of variac's (autotransformers) and would be interested in trying that. I think I have 1, 2.5, 3, 5, 10 & 15 amp units (all 120v). Which size would be appropriate?
@@kde5fan737 He used the transformer to inject the HV into the welding current; I don't recall how he generated it in the first place.
Eu gostei do projeto ! Mas a solda tig nao usa gáz também ou usou algum eletrodo que nao presisa do gáz ?
Eu gostei do seu projeto ! Parabéns!
For those wondering, you will need argon shielding gas for the tig to protect the weld pool and tungsten from oxygen in the atmosphere, the torch has screw valve for that, but with it you will loose lots of argon, so i would advice adding timing circuit to the AC ignitor system of this video and solenoid valve that lets the gas out when you need it. Once you want to stop the arc pull back to break it and keep the argon flowing to cool the tungsten and the pool until its less than orange color.
This is DC tig, so you wont be welding aluminum with this that requires AC tig, or i guess you could but breaking trough the oxide layer and removing it from the weld pool will be absolute pain, so you wont get any kind of proper structural welds with it, at best you can make tag welds to have someone else with better machine to weld it for you. The AC circuit in this is just to remove need to scratch ignite the arc nothing else and at worse can electrocute you if you fuck up.
you still need shielding gas like ARGON which would give you a much more stable arc. Everytime I use C02/argon mix the TIG goes nuts.
Where as if you use 100% argon on a mig it will literally throw the weld.
That spark gap sure makes some interesting broadband radio interference...
Wifi? What wifi? :)
I came here to make this comment, I feel sorry for any radio operators that may be nearby, or vital medical equipment for that matter.
So does my tig welders high frequency start, even impacts the florescent lights.
Modern welders use a DIAC instead of the old "points" method. It's still noisy but less ozone.
@_droid can you have an example or link for more info
Coming over from the other channel! Been a subscriber for many years. Keep it up!!
Enjoyed that pal. Now I just need to find an old TV, an old microwave oven and several old computers. 👍
Rulof what is your best advice to us beginners and no knowledge at all but willing to learn your teaching? Thanks!
Very interesting. Do you use gas with your tig welder?
Oh....Good job !
Nice Make !
Congratulation brother !
😮😮😮
😊😊😊
❤❤❤
👍👍👍
great video but one thing the reason you are throwing so many sparks and burning holes so fas is that you need to us a 100% argon sheilding gas. great vid just wanted to help
Cool video, you really need a DC welder/power source,
The Unit you have is an AC unit that's what's causing your torch to look like a flame thrower,
You can get DC welders very cheap just swap your power cables and you will be amazed at the difference.
This type of AC isn't practical for welding aluminium either because of the balance between position and negative and frequency.
You could add a bridge rectifier though to convert the AC to DC
Another thing you could do is add a gas solenoid that would be a cool upgrade.
@oddjobbob8742The Machine he is using is an AC machine.
At around 14.40 he shows the gas connection coming off the Dinse power connector and mentions it I believe.
You can't really Tig properly without gas given that and what he shows in the video I would assume he's using gas that goes straight to the torch and doesn't go through the machine.
Maybe he didn't hook it up or turn the torch valve on.
I love this kind of content, it's right up my alley!
Una sola pregunta, se sigue usando gas para soldar o no es necesario?
Gracias.
Very excited to see the plasma cutter video. Awesome work!
14:11 you can easily make a foot pedal from (preferably) a non-conductive material like wood, a few screws, and one or two compression springs. Oh and the same pressure switch. Just make a housing that holds that switch with holes for wiring and two screws to function as pins. Make a pedal that slides easily in and out of the housing. The. Attach one end to the housing with some screws or bolts and loose enough to allow rotation on that axis. Put one or two compression springs slightly closer to keep the pedal slightly adjar. Mechanically attach the pressure switch inside and if necessary add a nipple to engage the switch if your sorings require too much compression before closing the switch. Make sure the springs are powerful enough to open the switch and functions as a Deadman switch.
Great Idea, im just questioning myself if i can use this also with a regular stick-welder. So you would always get a great spark without need to initial touch the material with the rod
Technically yes if i'm not mistaken, how ever you also add risk since now you have high voltage arc that might jump from the electro holder to your arm if you are wet from sweat, its raining etc so not advisable. Learn to ignite the rod and have steel peace that is not connected to negative lead to knock out crap from the rods end for better conductivity for easier arc start after you ignited it first time. Alternatively drag the end against rough surface like rock or concrete, though that might impregnate some impurities but helps when you first learn to stick weld. Also make sure the rods are dry and oven them if those have been in non heated garage or you are in high air moisture area. Water in the coating can make ignition harder, well as introduce hydrogen pockets into the weld causing porosity and micro fractures that lead into failure over time, though i have welded with rods that have been in cold tractor garage, while its raining, the tube hammered inside the tube that snapped in half had zinc coating, seam area full of crap and welds due the ignition issues and crap and rust were if i'm honest abysmal looking, the damn thing has gone trough tresses and weights it was never intended to hold and still works fine, so while it effects how easy it is to ignite, i havent seen any practical issues on the weld quality, even though actual welding professionals might burn me at the stake if they saw those welds...
I didn't see Argon connected. This can work without argon gas?
Hello Rulof, do you know if it is possible to use this circuit in a modern welding inverter? Thanks in advance
Do you try a change the rod for ferretir with espiral. Do you use high frequency. Ferrite is better.
Aquelas bobinas de ignição de motocicletas não servem .? Elas produzem uma centelha boa para começar o arco .
Good job I am trying the same thing right now but I am using a car coil instead of a fly back, I am experiencing with a air core transformer ,I don't know how to do the math for how many truns so it is one to one right now. Thank you for the video I will try to return the information with a video of my own.
Cool project. Would be cool if you converted it to constant voltage and mig welded with it too
Hey man awesome information! The gas pressure is really too high. There is a regulator we use i think a flowmeter. I like my c10 gas to be at like 30cfm if im MIG welding. I think tig is less, ill check on monday lol. It seems like your gas pressure was very high.
Seriously man, dope channel. Wish you the best.
Weird build, least there is nothing immediately dangerous on this one like the plasma video, there are questions like does it supply enough current to initiate the spark? did you even research the current required? will it just extinguish soon as the Argon is applied?
Did you use any gas?
How about a high frequency start to an arc welder? that would be super useful for easier starts, and not get that sticky rod ever again. Especially if you weld with big rods at low current.
Друг, используй феррит для сердечника катушки. Плюс необходимо поставить высоковольтный фильтр в виде хотя бы конденсаторов между твоим осциллятором и инверторным сварочным аппаратом. Фильтр нужен чтобы не сжечь сварочный аппарат высоковольтными разрядами и для поглощения электромагнитных помех
Enjoyed the video. Looking forward to seeing the plasma cutter.
Loved this video What size is black and blue wires used in transformer and said you used 2.5 mm of plexiglass for insulator on homemade capacitor but looks like 2.5 cm building a replica for myself so want to be sure
The size of the blue wire doesn't matter the least bit, you can even use 0.14mm2 if the insulation is good enough, the black one looked like 16mm2 but look up an ampacity table to find one that works for your welding current. 16mm2 is good for about 80A max on the long run
Bene, but why does the spark eventually ceases to be stable in the glass container after you started the welding process? Is this just initiating the "first" spark?
"RULofThumb" for sure. Some great tips well presented. Loved the disc Capacitor from HDD platters - may use in Mag Loop Antenna.
Nice hair cut,,,,very handsome...and ur machine very good
What gas do you use with tig welder?
Co2 or argon
would this work with a more modern inverter welder? i would be nice to have high frequency start and not have to use the "lift tig"
❤Good job man love you from India punjab Amritsar
excelente proyecto. me imagino que podrá soldar aluminio porque debe ser corriente alterna, lo mismo quiero hacer yo , felicitaciones por su trabajo gracias por compartir sus experiencias.
Does it weld ac aluminum?
cool!you did it ! I have a welder , I want to transform it too !
Does this work with switching PSU IGBT MIG machines?
does it work on stick welder ? why not use electric gas stove lighetr unit ?
And you can control the hf with an arduino with a timer very cool set up!!
The MCU will go insane with that amount of EM-noise.
@@Ma_X64 You have to insulate the arduino from the rest like a faraday cage or just put longer cable away from hf with ferrite choke
Why dont you simply connect the high voltage parallel to the welder? Great video.
possible feedback or high current arc in the spark gap would be my thought
9:30 this isn't a jab at anyone's intelligence or knowledge but if you do not understand or know what induction is please do not replicate this circuit. Not that this doesn't sound like a cool project but I feel like someone would see this and try to build one at home. This is not an easy task and even if you think you follow everything thing exactly you may have different circumstances that's cab effect your circuit. There's a video talking about microwave oven transformers (MOTs) and the understanded danger with them. I recommend watching that after this before messing around with a flyback driver and transformer.
4.17 the perfect level of crazy, awesome tutorial
Nice work brother good
Can someone tell me, can i weld steel or iron bars together using this machine , or just Aluminium ?
Does it work without argon gas?
The argon is only for preventing oxidation
In my miller syncrowave, the coil is an aluminium bar about 25mm x 5mm wound on edge with an insulated coil core.
What is the long part sticking out on the tig head for?
To cover your extra tungsten so you don't have to shorten it
@@tomrager3336 that makes sense, I was thinking it was some sort of precision handle lol.
Anche in inglese ! 😮
Grandeeeeee
You probly learned this, but you want a long sleeved jacket when TIGing.
I got pretty severe sunburn from TIGing while wearing a T-shirt. Now I keep a light weight, but dark, jacket with my welder.
MIG will do it, too. I got reminded of that after not having a MIG for 15+years, then jumping in & welding away last summer.
Yikes... I was burnt.
Very Good, your workshop.
Dude U need a BIG Diode chain for the output end of that circuit Thanks for Sharing your work…subbed !!
If you're using a 12 o clock to start my couldn't use the fly back why you need to spark gap connected through the welder
Bro I appreciate what you've done. But that TIG FLAME is so unstable, and veery LARGE!
What’s the solution? Lower gas pressure or lower current?
@@FarmingwithZana101I reckon an experiment video is in order
The solution is to add a bridge rectifier and capacitors to the welding machine and that will fix the flame problem.
wudent it work if you rectified the Ac corant to DC.
خیلی عالی 👏👏
Very good 😊👌
🇮🇷
Please make a video about that I would like to evolve my welding machine into a similar Direction
There’s an old trick used back in the 50’s & 60’s we just connected a 12 V car battery into the welding circuit.
There’s a great diagram in the Lincoln Welding Book
Great video. I still have questions that I need to research though.
You need to provide argon to the tiger torch
በጣም አሪፍ አሳብ ነው ያካፈልከኝ ምርጥ ስራ ነው
Super! Thank you very much!
This project is very good!
Were you trying to TIG with no gas ?
how about absorption circuit?? all h.v. goes back in to welding machine, it wont work for long...
Need 20kv capacitors 3 series and all others in parallel.... I like hdd capacitor....quite awesome
you haircut looks excelente tho. congrats
weld aluminum ?
There is an old trick to use a TIG torch without a high frequency start. You can use a graphite pencil or other piece of graphite to first start the arc on it and only then move to the welding point.
that is genius!
@@rulof-is-how-to-make As far as I know it was used for decades by "our grandpas" when the electronics wasn't so advanced.
Wow. But i dont see gas attaching ? Tig wolfram current + argon gas
If the welder is ac and the frequency stays on you can weld aluminum but if it is ac it’s not going to tig weld very good you need dc for steel and stainless
GREAT SUGGESTION! IN THE NEXT EPISODE WE ARE GOING TO DO ALL THIS MODS! consider subscribing!
Rulf. Bless you. The second. Part please. ......does it take. Along. Time. No. No. No..do it
👍 nice but can u send us a complete circuit diagram for the starter
when welding Aluminum in AC you will want the HF to stay engaged full time to maintain arc stability
Just switch the polarity and run your ground clamp on the tig torch terminal. Hook up argon and done....
Bet you all he will make his era👌
Excellent tutorial, very cool
Amazing bro👍🏾
your capacitors burnt because they were shorting between their legs during your first tests, you should have insulated their pins as much as possible..
Absolutely fantastic!!!
Eres muy bueno si señor !!!!
HI mate!!! please could you make a welding device similar to Multiplaz 3500? Thank you.
You could have replaced the two nails by a car spark plug.
Stainless, titanium or aluminium make really bad core. You need a ferrous metal. If a magnet stick to it hard. You are good to go.
And yes, your spark system could create serious issue. You are generating a lot of "jamming" and electromagnetic pulse. In some way, you build a transmitter. That can be a legal issue. With a few modification. I can transform your project into an EMP device. Meaning it can probably fry some electronic...
instead of using a flyback with a capacitor you can most likely use a taser mosdule