- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
- Messages
- 2,534
Someone(previous owner) beat on the fuel cap on my D4 Cat dozer and broke off one of the tangs. It was my first attempt at
AC welding using the TIG. I can see there is a learning curve for this type of operation but one has to start somewhere.
I just dialed in the upslope, downslope and welding amps along with the pre and post flow gas times and proceeded to burn
off the tungsten! The welding looked pretty cruddy so really don't know what I was doing wrong. The second attempt went a
lot better with less welding amperes. Anyhow, after grinding off the excess and using up a couple 2 inch roll lock discs to clean
the weld up, I was surprised that it looks as good as it does.
At any rate, that's what I did in the shop today. It actually got above freezing with some sunshine so was able to be outside
some and enjoy the day too.
The tang on the left is the one I added weld to. The base metal didn't want to melt much but the rod (1/16 inch diameter) melted anywhere
close to the plasma arc. I can see larger rod would have been better but that is all I had in the shop today. For a first attempt, I was happy
that I didn't have to get out the oxy-acetylene welder to finish the job. I was using 2T with the finger tip control as it looked easier for a first
attempt. I would have to say that part of the problem was the thin rod and the rest was improper setup likely. The weld looked to have a lot of
oxidation on the surface so need to use more cleaning action on the welder and maybe surface prep as well. I did grind it clean with a stainless
brush as well. Any advice on settings for this weld job would be appreciated. Thanks all for watching.
One other thing, the garage door opened all by itself while welding attesting to the fact that TIG generates a lot of radio frequency hash.
AC welding using the TIG. I can see there is a learning curve for this type of operation but one has to start somewhere.
I just dialed in the upslope, downslope and welding amps along with the pre and post flow gas times and proceeded to burn
off the tungsten! The welding looked pretty cruddy so really don't know what I was doing wrong. The second attempt went a
lot better with less welding amperes. Anyhow, after grinding off the excess and using up a couple 2 inch roll lock discs to clean
the weld up, I was surprised that it looks as good as it does.
At any rate, that's what I did in the shop today. It actually got above freezing with some sunshine so was able to be outside
some and enjoy the day too.
The tang on the left is the one I added weld to. The base metal didn't want to melt much but the rod (1/16 inch diameter) melted anywhere
close to the plasma arc. I can see larger rod would have been better but that is all I had in the shop today. For a first attempt, I was happy
that I didn't have to get out the oxy-acetylene welder to finish the job. I was using 2T with the finger tip control as it looked easier for a first
attempt. I would have to say that part of the problem was the thin rod and the rest was improper setup likely. The weld looked to have a lot of
oxidation on the surface so need to use more cleaning action on the welder and maybe surface prep as well. I did grind it clean with a stainless
brush as well. Any advice on settings for this weld job would be appreciated. Thanks all for watching.
One other thing, the garage door opened all by itself while welding attesting to the fact that TIG generates a lot of radio frequency hash.
