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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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HF 230v Spot Welder info
Anyway, this welder has never been particularly powerful. It will spot
weld up to about 18GA; any thicker, and you should pack food and water for the wait...WTF, it's HF after all. Right? Wrong. It started loosing serious amps, and sparked/smoked from under the lever. The switch stuck on also. I disassembled it enough to remove the switch. No big deal. The switch is repairable. Fixed, I thought. Well, the switch was. Still low current and sparking under the handle. Round 2. Found very high resistance in the braided strap connections supplying current to the moveable jaw. Cleaned both sides of the connection, wire wheeled the tong ends and brushed the sockets they mount in. Now it rocks! Welds in 18GA take less than half the time they did when it was new. Hit the switch, and it's right there. I drilled out the tongs and tapped 3/8-24 for Miller tips. The OE tips suck. The Miller package contained a squeeze tube of some white goo. Oh, something to improve the power flow through the threads, I thought. Wrong. It's some sort of anaerobic thread locker. Assholes! The new Miller tip screwed in 3/4 way and stopped. Dead. It would not unscrew. I even heated the tong red hot; just snapped the tip off the threaded end. I drilled it out to a thin threaded barrel and collapsed it with a small punch. Didn't touch the threads. Damn I'm good This is a good little spot welder for light stuff if you clean up the current path and throw some good tips on. Just watch the duty cycle. JR Dweller in the cellar -- -------------------------------------------------------------- Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses -------------------------------------------------------------- Dependence is Vulnerability: -------------------------------------------------------------- "Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal" "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.." |
#2
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
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HF 230v Spot Welder info
There's an article in the current issue of "Machinist's Workshop" which is a
review of the HF spot welder. They found the same issue with the tips you did. They made up some out of bronze, said they worked fine. I like the idea of drilling out for Miller tips, though. I wouldn't think you'd need any kind of heatsink grease on a large-area copper-to-copper contact, but I still think that's what that white stuff was. Might try a dab on an ordinary nut/bolt and see if it binds up, then I'm wrong. Copper is notorious for sticking when machined, maybe the tap tore something which bound up. I might try a steel 3/8-24 SHCS and run it into the newly-threaded hole in the tong and make sure it bottoms out cleanly before you try the Miller tip again. I had a Miller MSW-41 on the pedestal awhile ago, real nice machine, took up too much space though, so I sold it. I've been monkeying some with sheet metal lately and have wondered about the little HF unit. Timely writeup, thanks. GWE JR North wrote: Anyway, this welder has never been particularly powerful. It will spot weld up to about 18GA; any thicker, and you should pack food and water for the wait...WTF, it's HF after all. Right? Wrong. It started loosing serious amps, and sparked/smoked from under the lever. The switch stuck on also. I disassembled it enough to remove the switch. No big deal. The switch is repairable. Fixed, I thought. Well, the switch was. Still low current and sparking under the handle. Round 2. Found very high resistance in the braided strap connections supplying current to the moveable jaw. Cleaned both sides of the connection, wire wheeled the tong ends and brushed the sockets they mount in. Now it rocks! Welds in 18GA take less than half the time they did when it was new. Hit the switch, and it's right there. I drilled out the tongs and tapped 3/8-24 for Miller tips. The OE tips suck. The Miller package contained a squeeze tube of some white goo. Oh, something to improve the power flow through the threads, I thought. Wrong. It's some sort of anaerobic thread locker. Assholes! The new Miller tip screwed in 3/4 way and stopped. Dead. It would not unscrew. I even heated the tong red hot; just snapped the tip off the threaded end. I drilled it out to a thin threaded barrel and collapsed it with a small punch. Didn't touch the threads. Damn I'm good This is a good little spot welder for light stuff if you clean up the current path and throw some good tips on. Just watch the duty cycle. JR Dweller in the cellar |
#3
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
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HF 230v Spot Welder info
I have the 110V version and have had no problems with it. 10Gauge stainless
welds nicely with it. I even played with some thin aluminum and made respectable spot welds in it. The metal tears out around the welds before things come apart. I was considering building an attachement to hold bandsaw blades and seeing if it will butt weld them. Glenn "JR North" wrote in message ... Anyway, this welder has never been particularly powerful. It will spot weld up to about 18GA; any thicker, and you should pack food and water for the wait...WTF, it's HF after all. Right? Wrong. It started loosing serious amps, and sparked/smoked from under the lever. The switch stuck on also. I disassembled it enough to remove the switch. No big deal. The switch is repairable. Fixed, I thought. Well, the switch was. Still low current and sparking under the handle. Round 2. Found very high resistance in the braided strap connections supplying current to the moveable jaw. Cleaned both sides of the connection, wire wheeled the tong ends and brushed the sockets they mount in. Now it rocks! Welds in 18GA take less than half the time they did when it was new. Hit the switch, and it's right there. I drilled out the tongs and tapped 3/8-24 for Miller tips. The OE tips suck. The Miller package contained a squeeze tube of some white goo. Oh, something to improve the power flow through the threads, I thought. Wrong. It's some sort of anaerobic thread locker. Assholes! The new Miller tip screwed in 3/4 way and stopped. Dead. It would not unscrew. I even heated the tong red hot; just snapped the tip off the threaded end. I drilled it out to a thin threaded barrel and collapsed it with a small punch. Didn't touch the threads. Damn I'm good This is a good little spot welder for light stuff if you clean up the current path and throw some good tips on. Just watch the duty cycle. JR Dweller in the cellar -- -------------------------------------------------------------- Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses -------------------------------------------------------------- Dependence is Vulnerability: -------------------------------------------------------------- "Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal" "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.." |
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