Cheap Tig Welder

[altstart]

G'day Folks
I went to a garage sale yesterday and amongst the rubbish was a tig and stick welder with a note that said not working as is where is. This welder is a WIA vortex I offered $10.00 and the bloke accepted. As soon as I got home I was straight into my shed and opened it up. I pulled the power supply board and found a couple of dodgy caps. I made a note of all the caps on this board and went to Jaycar. A couple of hours later after changing the caps I powered it up and no joy a quick check with my meter revealed no power to the main on off switch. The mains plug was the moulded one piece type I cut it off and found no continuity to the neutral pin on the plug. I replaced the plug and pure joy it works perfectly as a stick welder. I dont know for sure but I think if it works as a stick it will work as a Tig. I now have to acquire a Tig torch and a supply of Argon a regulator and S/S welding rods and of course the skill to weld S/S Properly. I had a good day yesterday and celebrated with a few beers last night.
Cheers Altstart

 

[InCider]

Good score Altstart! What do you plan on welding? New brew shed and stand?

 

[benmick6]

welding stainless in my opinion is easier than mild steel. when tig welding set yourself up in a comfortable position, sitting on a stool or chair. when welding always try to keep your wrist or elbow leaning up against something or on your work bench to keep you nice and steady. Try and keep the material your welding as clean as posible with a stainless steel wire brush. A mild steel wire brush on stainless deposits particles of mild steel which will cause the stainless to rust. Practise your welding on some heavy gauge steel. Always try and keep a steady hand and when using filler wire make sure you have a nice molten pool of steel before dabbing it in otherwise it will stick. Its also a good idea to wear riggers gloves, welding gloves tend to be to thick to feel anything. If your not wearing gloves and accidently touch the filler wire on your tungsten it will give you a nice zap. The tungsten should be sharpened to a nice point with a taper starting about 5mm away from the tip. It took me a while to get used to tig welding. practice makes perfect.

 

[ausdb]

Wow great score, if you are going to buy a TIG torch for doing brewery bits and pieces don't buy a big one! get something able to handle up to 125-150 Amps as most of the time you will be using much less than that and also get a rubber hose they are way more flexible than the vinyl of the cheapy chinese ones. If your welder does not have a gas solenoid then make sure your torch has a hand valve on it, also buy an arogon regulator with a floating ball flow control as well. You can set just the right amount of flow and it saves argon as it is EXPEN$$$IVE. I got a D sized refill last week and it was $132 for the fill, then factor in $150 a year to rent the cylinder as well.

Buy lots of tungstens as you will probably find that you contaminate them a lot when learning, 1/16" is a good size and the red (thoriated) works well with stainless and mild steel. Also when sharpening them make sure you sharpen them so the grind marks go lengthwise not round wise or the arc will not e very stable.

I'm only a newb myself but find it is good fun and if you have ever done fusion welding with an oxy torch it will help a lot as I find TIG welding is all about heat and torch control just like oxy welding, but way more fun (ansd also frustrating at the same time)

 

[altstart]

Good info here and I will take it on board. I have a stick welder and have built a boat trailer and a 7 X 5 box trailer and my brewery. I also have Oxy Acetylene and can weld with gas. I have access to a supply of S/S scrap and am looking forward to welding stainless. At the moment I do not have any projects planned but I am confident that will change when I learn to Tig compentently. I have wanted a Tig for some time but could not justify spending a couple of thousand dollars on a decent one. This will allow me to experiment with Hydrogen fuel cells and cold fusion.
Cheers Altstart

 

[chappo1970]

Jim,

I have a spare TIG torch if you want to borrow it just to test.

Cheers

Chappo

 

[InCider]

You could knock up drip trays!

 

[altstart]

Jim,

I have a spare TIG torch if you want to borrow it just to test.

Cheers

Chappo

Yes please very generous of you.
Cheers Altstart

 

[chappo1970]

Yes please very generous of you.
Cheers Altstart

I'll call you tomorrow to organise the drop off Alty.

Chap Chap

 

[Deerfoot]

Question, I have all my welding gear in boxes as we are still unpacking but you need to RENT a your gas bottles versus just buying them?

Wow great score, if you are going to buy a TIG torch for doing brewery bits and pieces don't buy a big one! get something able to handle up to 125-150 Amps as most of the time you will be using much less than that and also get a rubber hose they are way more flexible than the vinyl of the cheapy chinese ones. If your welder does not have a gas solenoid then make sure your torch has a hand valve on it, also buy an arogon regulator with a floating ball flow control as well. You can set just the right amount of flow and it saves argon as it is EXPEN$IVE. I got a D sized refill last week and it was $132 for the fill, then factor in $150 a year to rent the cylinder as well.

Buy lots of tungstens as you will probably find that you contaminate them a lot when learning, 1/16" is a good size and the red (thoriated) works well with stainless and mild steel. Also when sharpening them make sure you sharpen them so the grind marks go lengthwise not round wise or the arc will not e very stable.

I'm only a newb myself but find it is good fun and if you have ever done fusion welding with an oxy torch it will help a lot as I find TIG welding is all about heat and torch control just like oxy welding, but way more fun (ansd also frustrating at the same time)