Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG

[wlyons]

Hi,

Does anyone out there have experience with the Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG? Just wanting to know if it's suitable for sheetmetal fab or if I should be shopping a little higher range.

Thanks,
Wayne

[jlrussell4]

Hi Wayne,

I have a Lincoln Square Wave 175. It is excellent for sheet metal fab. It welds really nice at low amperage settings. If you want to go bigger and better (and more expensive), by all means do so. You never know when you might need or want more :lol:
Jim

[goleafsgo_12]

often times a bigger welder takes on a higher lowest amperage setting. just watch for that as some welders dont go below 35.

[rosshudson]

I have a 175 and love it. It has a short duty cycle when welding 1/4 alum. I built a bumper out of 6061 and coul only go about 8 inches at a time.........for a non water cooled tig it is great! I got mine used for 800 with cart tungston and rods :lol:

[goleafsgo_12]

nice. How much do the tips cost? Never thought about it but am curious now.

[rosshudson]

Tungston cost can vary on the type or make up of the tungston. 2% thoriaded for 10 can be about 30 to 50 dollars......but once you get the hang of it and do not contaminate your tung. it lasts a long time....

[goleafsgo_12]

ya, My boss did something with a block of copper, something like burning off the contamination or somethin, cant quite remember, I saw him do it but Ill have to ask. They last pretty long though, I find it neat how they dont burn up with that extreme heat!

[slobitz18222]

I use thick copper to form a slight ball on the tungsten, which i find better fir aluminum sheet.

[Peter Miles]

When you say "thick copper", how thick is thick? I've got some 1" and above stuff that I was planning to sell to the recyclers, but I might hold onto some of it if there are some good reasons to.

Thinking about it, I also seem to remember seeing other threads that refer to using a copper backup for various welding operations. I don't recall what type of welding and on what type of metal however.

[awolff]

>>When you say "thick copper", how thick is thick? I've got some
>>1" and above stuff that I was planning to sell to the recyclers,
>>but I might hold onto some of it if there are some good reasons to.

Thickness isn't real critical for this process. Anything 1/8" or thicker will work if all you are doing is putting a small "ball" on the end of the tungston. Remember that tig work is done with either AC or DCSP (DC-) some welders will (briefly) switch to DCRP (DC+) and start an arc for a VERY SHORT period over a chunk of copper until a ball forms on the end of the electrode before switching back to AC for welding. This is not required for DCSP (DC+).

>>Thinking about it, I also seem to remember seeing other threads
>>that refer to using a copper backup for various welding operations.
>>I don't recall what type of welding and on what type of metal however.

In this instance I use either a piece of brass(at least 1/4" thick), ceramic backers, or sometimes a piece of aluminum to cover the back side of a LARGE gap that needs filling when I am using the MIG because the dis-similar meterials will not become part of the joint.

[Wray Schelin]

Hi Stan,

When tigging aluminum thin sheet ( anything up to .080") if you use a 2% thorated tungsten electrode the ball on the tungsten will be super tiny and the heat is concentrated better. There is no need to form a ball with a 2 % thorated tungsten.

If you're welding aluminum over .080" with a pure tungsten electrode then yes you can preform the ball by the method you suggested.

You can also use a pure tungsten electrode to weld thin aluminum but it will throw a lot more heat into the panel resulting in a larger Heat affected zone and larger weld beads.

Wray

[awolff]

I have a 175 and love it. It has a short duty cycle when welding 1/4 alum. I built a bumper out of 6061 and coul only go about 8 inches at a time.........for a non water cooled tig it is great! I got mine used for 800 with cart tungston and rods :lol:

I agree with you about the use of a water cooled torch, however you might find that you can weld heavier aluminum at lower amperages if you use a mixed gas (50%Argon-50%Helium) instead of pure Argon. I noticed that I could weld nicely at 150-170 amps (with another machine)using mixed gas, where I needed 250 amps with pure Argon

[wlyons]

Thanks to everyone that provided their input. I placed an order and I'll let you know how it turns out!

[thefabman]

Hey Al,

I will have to try out the mixed gas theory. I have a tri mix bottle here i use for stainless and I am curious if it will work the same as the ar/hel mix you are talking about. I will let everyone know if it does. All for forming a ball on tungsten. I have found that for light aluminum i don't always ball my tungsten, but for 1/8" or more i put a ball by appling a dc+ charge to the tungsten slightly higher that the tungsten amp rating by putting short cycles to a peice of copper (.093), but have used stainless also. Will lets you know about the gas when i give it a try.

Scott

[goleafsgo_12]

he used the copper (like 1" THICK) but any copper will do. He used it to burn off the impurities that got on the tungsten while welding. Like when you hit the rod to the tip by accident, he used the copper to burn that off, its gets rid of this haze around the electrode.

[Scat-r-d]

I'm new here but have to say after years of stick and mig I just picked up a 175 and love it!

It works great for motorcycle fab, ie. stretching tanks, building oil bags, and such.

Wish I would have broke down and picked up one sooner!

Lynn