Checking welding current

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Gunner Asch

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:24 am

Guest

On Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:43:24 GMT, Grant Erwin
<grant@NOSPAMkirkland.net> wrote:

Quote:

Ignoramus7016 wrote:
Steve, if the amperage dial is calibrated properly, you should have a
great time welding 1/8" 7018 at 125 amp setting, especially horizontal.

If that is the case, I would say, to hell with shunts and ammeters.

i

See, now, the machine I welded on when I passed my vertical & overhead 7018
certs, if you set it to 125 amps the rod would be glowing red. More like
108.

Machines do vary.

Grant

I run my Dialarc 250 at dial setting of < 90 amps to do this.

Indeed they do vary.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

Private

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:30 am

Guest

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:i8m8c5-86i2.ln1@news.infowest.com...

Quote:

I'm actually not as concerned about the exact number output as much as I
want to know if this old machine will still weld what I want to burn long
enough to pay for itself, and get me going without having to fork over
twice as much for a new one.

Since I'm getting replies all over the map on this one, I have decided to
do the following:

Get some of the rods of diameters I'm going to be welding with. 7018,
6010 and 6011, 1/8" and 3/32". Set the settings at the suggested
amperage. Weld, and see how they run. Then intentionally crank the
settings up or down from the accepted parameters, and see how they act.

This is a very reasonable plan and something you will need to do anyway to
learn the capabilities and character of your individual machine. I think
you are cutting yourself short thought, as these machines are also very good
with 5/32" xx10 & xx18 and will run 3/16 well (but with the rain hat
straight up and obviously using lots of power (& gas)). Testing should
really be done over the full range of output but especially at the higher
and lower end.

I suggest that you will find that most heavy work can be done faster and
with much less distortion by using bigger rods whenever suitable. These
bigger rods are often available (free) after questionable exposures to air &
moisture, see the earlier thread subject 'drying E7018'. Bigger rods also
tend to lay down smoother better appearing beads, (especially horizontal
fillets) and usually it is easier to remove the flux and are less likely to
suffer from flux or rust inclusions when welding dirty or rusty steel.

I quite like to use very small (1/16 or 5/64) 6013 for very light work. I
suggest you buy a small box and sub-package the rods using heavy sealable
plastic freezer bags as even a small box has more rods than you will use for
a long time.

I suggest you will find this is a sweet and very versitile machine with lots
of range.

Quote:

I got back home today after a few days in Gomorrah taking care of some
things. I'll go pick up the radiator tomorrow, and if this wind will stop
for a few days, I'll get old Sally painted. In the meantime, there's
power washing at the car wash, WetOrDry sanding, and getting some new
medium grade bolts to put all the shrouding back on. (They had put it all
back on with soft Home Depot grade bolts.) Maybe make the tumbler for the
gas tank out of the barbecue spit turner I have .......... something to
burn up a few days of doodling.

Good quality bolts (and lock waskers, as you discovered) are cheap
innsurance. They are also much less likely to strip the threads out of
older parts, I suggest you also check the heads of the other bolts such as
the water pump or manifolds to see if they have been replaced with soft
ungraded hardware store bolts.

snip

Quote:

Send off for an official Lincoln decal package.

This and the right color of (good quality) grey paint will make Sally look
like new.

Quote:

I'm having some fun getting this old bucket running again. Pictures will
be available when I'm done. I'm into it about $800 right now.

I still think you have found a great value, and a machine that should last
you a long time and allow you to do some good work. IMHO you should NEVER
(EVER) use it for thawing pipes.

Good luck.

SteveB

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:11 pm

Guest

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote in message
news:fstkeh$b3s$1@aioe.org...

Quote:

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:i8m8c5-86i2.ln1@news.infowest.com...
I'm actually not as concerned about the exact number output as much as I
want to know if this old machine will still weld what I want to burn long
enough to pay for itself, and get me going without having to fork over
twice as much for a new one.

Since I'm getting replies all over the map on this one, I have decided to
do the following:

Get some of the rods of diameters I'm going to be welding with. 7018,
6010 and 6011, 1/8" and 3/32". Set the settings at the suggested
amperage. Weld, and see how they run. Then intentionally crank the
settings up or down from the accepted parameters, and see how they act.

This is a very reasonable plan and something you will need to do anyway to
learn the capabilities and character of your individual machine. I think
you are cutting yourself short thought, as these machines are also very
good with 5/32" xx10 & xx18 and will run 3/16 well (but with the rain hat
straight up and obviously using lots of power (& gas)). Testing should
really be done over the full range of output but especially at the higher
and lower end.

I suggest that you will find that most heavy work can be done faster and
with much less distortion by using bigger rods whenever suitable. These
bigger rods are often available (free) after questionable exposures to air
& moisture, see the earlier thread subject 'drying E7018'. Bigger rods
also tend to lay down smoother better appearing beads, (especially
horizontal fillets) and usually it is easier to remove the flux and are
less likely to suffer from flux or rust inclusions when welding dirty or
rusty steel.

I quite like to use very small (1/16 or 5/64) 6013 for very light work. I
suggest you buy a small box and sub-package the rods using heavy sealable
plastic freezer bags as even a small box has more rods than you will use
for a long time.

I suggest you will find this is a sweet and very versitile machine with
lots of range.

I got back home today after a few days in Gomorrah taking care of some
things. I'll go pick up the radiator tomorrow, and if this wind will
stop for a few days, I'll get old Sally painted. In the meantime,
there's power washing at the car wash, WetOrDry sanding, and getting some
new medium grade bolts to put all the shrouding back on. (They had put
it all back on with soft Home Depot grade bolts.) Maybe make the tumbler
for the gas tank out of the barbecue spit turner I have ..........
something to burn up a few days of doodling.

Good quality bolts (and lock waskers, as you discovered) are cheap
innsurance. They are also much less likely to strip the threads out of
older parts, I suggest you also check the heads of the other bolts such
as the water pump or manifolds to see if they have been replaced with soft
ungraded hardware store bolts.

snip
Send off for an official Lincoln decal package.

This and the right color of (good quality) grey paint will make Sally look
like new.

I'm having some fun getting this old bucket running again. Pictures will
be available when I'm done. I'm into it about $800 right now.

I still think you have found a great value, and a machine that should last
you a long time and allow you to do some good work. IMHO you should NEVER
(EVER) use it for thawing pipes.

Good luck.

I was a steel erection contractor for nine years. The main thing I learned
was " stick with the gravy jobs."

I could make more by going out and repairing a gate than I could by building
it from scratch. And only have a couple of hours and one trip in it. I do
not want to get into this as a full time job, but rather a sideline where I
can work when I want and don't have to feed the overhead monster that is
created when a business is started. My wife and I were talking about it
yesterday (she was a CPA), and besides putting the dba under the umbrella of
one of our LLCs, we will probably only get handyman licenses, worker's comp
and liability insurance.

I can't lift a lot any more. I was an Offshore Petroleum Institute
certified rigger, crane operator, able bodied seaman, crane operator, and
had OSHA sponsored courses in rigging all along the way. Still, one has to
rig all that stuff up, and move it around. And usually it's harder when
others present haven't got a clue and either watch you bust butt, or just
watch, or worse yet, try to help. I want to stick to smaller stuff that I
can fix in place, or bring to my home shop and buzz up on the wirefeed. The
low work higher hourly rate jobs.

As it goes, I'm sure I'll make adjustments as I don't like to pass on jobs
that are good money even though I may have to go buy some bigger rods or
some of this and that. I do like the round threaded containers with the
gaskets that one can put a few pounds of rods in, and keep them dry, and not
carry the whole 50#. We do get a bit more rain here than I am used to in my
other location, so will have to protect accordingly. A new toolbox,
probably diamond plate aluminum, is on the horizon. Then I'll make hose
hangers and other goodies to keep my stuff straight on the trailer, and make
locking straps to keep the riffraff from bothering it.

Well, time to go to the big city and pick up the radiator, sandpaper, decal
pack, and fasteners. Not sure how it is where you are, but spring has
sprung here, but we are still having occasional cool windy days, and today
is one of those. A good day for parts chasing.

Film at eleven.

Steve

Private

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:08 pm

Guest

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:6d3ac5-7pe1.ln1@news.infowest.com...

Quote:

I was a steel erection contractor for nine years. The main thing I
learned was " stick with the gravy jobs."

Keep your eye on the money, anyone can buy themself work.

Quote:

I could make more by going out and repairing a gate than I could by
building it from scratch. And only have a couple of hours and one trip in
it. I do not want to get into this as a full time job, but rather a
sideline where I can work when I want and don't have to feed the overhead
monster that is created when a business is started. My wife and I were
talking about it yesterday (she was a CPA), and besides putting the dba
under the umbrella of one of our LLCs, we will probably only get handyman
licenses, worker's comp and liability insurance.

It can often be good to hire on as an employee (or part time contract
employee), get your employer to pay for all consumables, licences,
Worker'sComp and PLPD and do the paperwork AND THE ACTS-REC and you may also
get other H&W and unemployment benefits. You can then rent out your rig for
you to use on the same job as a sideline rental business. This is
especially good if the job is union. I do not know what the tradesman
shortage is like where you are but qualified people who can and will work
are in very short supply in my area and the rates charged by rental shops
for a welder, torch and tools is quite sufficient to give a good profit.
One of the side benefits is that you always come home with a full tank of
gas and usually much other stuff. AFAIK, You can still claim your expenses
as deductions from total income as long as you (not your LLC) do the
renting, YMMV. Your background may result in a foreman or leadhand position
and you may be able to rent your rig as more of a perk and you may not even
need to do much with it.

Quote:

I can't lift a lot any more. I was an Offshore Petroleum Institute
certified rigger, crane operator, able bodied seaman, crane operator, and
had OSHA sponsored courses in rigging all along the way. Still, one has
to rig all that stuff up, and move it around. And usually it's harder
when others present haven't got a clue and either watch you bust butt, or
just watch, or worse yet, try to help. I want to stick to smaller stuff
that I can fix in place, or bring to my home shop and buzz up on the
wirefeed. The low work higher hourly rate jobs.

Where I work, the tradesman shortage means that trained older people are
normally given a younger helper (or two or more) to do ALL the grunt work
lifting and grinding. We have paid our dues working hard and now it is a
case of finding the 'lazy' guy (me) and putting him in charge as he will
find the 'easy' and MUCH more importantly SAFE way to get the job done.
Where I run cranes, the basic qualification is grey hair. Employers will no
longer tolerate unsafe operations and the days of expecting accidents and
injuries is long gone.

The great wages paid by the big jobs have sucked the pool of trained labor
dry and even the local small customers and companies have learned they need
to pay top wages to attract trained people and that their apprentices only
stay until they get qualifications to let them go to bigger money jobs.
This has created opportunities at the local level. Don't sell yourself
short, you are not looking for callbacks, get the maximum return from EVERY
job. IMHO, Do not expect customer loyalty.

Quote:

As it goes, I'm sure I'll make adjustments as I don't like to pass on jobs
that are good money even though I may have to go buy some bigger rods or
some of this and that. I do like the round threaded containers with the
gaskets that one can put a few pounds of rods in, and keep them dry, and
not carry the whole 50#.

Big rods (and gasoline and especially OA are expensive and you can go though
them in a hurry on a big job. Many people have abandoned the flat hourly
rate inluding consumables pricing model and now price as hourly labor +
daily equipment rental + ALL CONSUMABLES EXTRA. It makes your base rate
look very competative but prevents the situation where you only get called
for the high consumable cost jobs.

Quote:

We do get a bit more rain here than I am used to in my other location, so
will have to protect accordingly. A new toolbox, probably diamond plate
aluminum, is on the horizon. Then I'll make hose hangers and other
goodies to keep my stuff straight on the trailer, and make locking straps
to keep the riffraff from bothering it.

CAUTION, It is tough to secure a trailer against theft as they are quick and
easy to just lift onto a truck with a small picker and welding equipement is
easy to fence no questions asked.

Quote:

Well, time to go to the big city and pick up the radiator, sandpaper,
decal pack, and fasteners. Not sure how it is where you are, but spring
has sprung here, but we are still having occasional cool windy days, and
today is one of those. A good day for parts chasing.

A good clean rig is the best advertising you can have. The tools a
tradesman uses tell a LOT about the kind of job he will do.

Good luck, YMMV

SteveB

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:01 pm

Guest

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote

some good stuff ......

You seem to be quite an experienced hand. Could you please give me a
thumbnail of your experience?

Steve

Private

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:05 pm

Guest

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:dv5bc5-g6g1.ln1@news.infowest.com...

Quote:

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote

some good stuff ......

You seem to be quite an experienced hand. Could you please give me a
thumbnail of your experience?

Steve

I admit (and claim) that I have been to lots of rodeos, but.......

http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=1EP4AW5LEH4D8MS66LH08E3QQ338C1P2&sitetype=1&sid=22230&did=4

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22on+the+internet+nobody+knows+you+are+a+dog%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

We earn our credibility here not by the qualifications we claim, but rather
by the knowledge and wisdom we express. Many of us sig our comments with
'just our .02' (which may be an exaggeration), or qualify our statements
that they are 'worth what the reader paid for them' which may be closer to
the truth. Each of us must apply tests of truth and reasonableness to
everything we read here and elsewhere both on the net and especially in the
MSMedia. Mark Twain said "A man who does not read the newspaper is
uninformed, but a man who does is misinformed."

IMHO, my credentials and experience validate my suggestions here, but since
I appreciate that this is a very public (and permanent) forum, and I
therefore choose to conserve and protect my privacy, that it is incumbent on
each reader to make their own judgments.

We are all students in life and I appreciate the knowledge that is
contributed here and find it a great source for URL links to other
information on a wide range of personal interests. My humble scribblings
here are just an attempt to participate and contribute as thanks for
information that I have received.

Happy trails,

SteveB

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:12 pm

Guest

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote in message
news:ft13f8$76r$1@aioe.org...

Quote:

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:dv5bc5-g6g1.ln1@news.infowest.com...

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote

some good stuff ......

You seem to be quite an experienced hand. Could you please give me a
thumbnail of your experience?

Steve

I admit (and claim) that I have been to lots of rodeos, but.......

http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=1EP4AW5LEH4D8MS66LH08E3QQ338C1P2&sitetype=1&sid=22230&did=4

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22on+the+internet+nobody+knows+you+are+a+dog%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

We earn our credibility here not by the qualifications we claim, but
rather by the knowledge and wisdom we express. Many of us sig our
comments with 'just our .02' (which may be an exaggeration), or qualify
our statements that they are 'worth what the reader paid for them' which
may be closer to the truth. Each of us must apply tests of truth and
reasonableness to everything we read here and elsewhere both on the net
and especially in the MSMedia. Mark Twain said "A man who does not read
the newspaper is uninformed, but a man who does is misinformed."

IMHO, my credentials and experience validate my suggestions here, but
since I appreciate that this is a very public (and permanent) forum, and I
therefore choose to conserve and protect my privacy, that it is incumbent
on each reader to make their own judgments.

We are all students in life and I appreciate the knowledge that is
contributed here and find it a great source for URL links to other
information on a wide range of personal interests. My humble scribblings
here are just an attempt to participate and contribute as thanks for
information that I have received.

Happy trails,

Thanks. You just make relative and pertinent contributions that seem to be
based on good experience. I have always appreciated working with good hands
(workmen), and valued their information and insight, even though I wouldn't
invite a lot of them home for dinner, nor want to introduce them to my
sister.

Steve

Private

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:42 pm

Guest

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:qfndc5-ran2.ln1@news.infowest.com...

Quote:

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote in message
news:ft13f8$76r$1@aioe.org...

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:dv5bc5-g6g1.ln1@news.infowest.com...

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote

some good stuff ......

You seem to be quite an experienced hand. Could you please give me a
thumbnail of your experience?

Steve

I admit (and claim) that I have been to lots of rodeos, but.......

http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=1EP4AW5LEH4D8MS66LH08E3QQ338C1P2&sitetype=1&sid=22230&did=4

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22on+the+internet+nobody+knows+you+are+a+dog%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

We earn our credibility here not by the qualifications we claim, but
rather by the knowledge and wisdom we express. Many of us sig our
comments with 'just our .02' (which may be an exaggeration), or qualify
our statements that they are 'worth what the reader paid for them' which
may be closer to the truth. Each of us must apply tests of truth and
reasonableness to everything we read here and elsewhere both on the net
and especially in the MSMedia. Mark Twain said "A man who does not read
the newspaper is uninformed, but a man who does is misinformed."

IMHO, my credentials and experience validate my suggestions here, but
since I appreciate that this is a very public (and permanent) forum, and
I therefore choose to conserve and protect my privacy, that it is
incumbent on each reader to make their own judgments.

We are all students in life and I appreciate the knowledge that is
contributed here and find it a great source for URL links to other
information on a wide range of personal interests. My humble scribblings
here are just an attempt to participate and contribute as thanks for
information that I have received.

Happy trails,

Thanks. You just make relative and pertinent contributions that seem to
be based on good experience. I have always appreciated working with good
hands (workmen), and valued their information and insight, even though I
wouldn't invite a lot of them home for dinner, nor want to introduce them
to my sister.

Steve

Thanks for the compliment; I hope my suggestions are helpful.

Work safely,

Russ

Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:40 am

Guest

SteveB wrote:

Quote:

"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote

some good stuff ......

You seem to be quite an experienced hand. Could you please give me a
thumbnail of your experience?

I got curious about this before you posed this question.

I think if you look at the message sourcing data, you will find that
perhaps "Private" is one of the alter egos, of an individual, who is
recognized, here, as one of our best known sources of accurate
information.

Private

Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:20 am

Guest

"Russ" <Nospam@noname.net> wrote in message
news:Qe4Jj.14876$p97.11140@trnddc03...

Quote:

SteveB wrote:
"Private" <please@dont.bother> wrote

some good stuff ......

You seem to be quite an experienced hand. Could you please give me a
thumbnail of your experience?

I got curious about this before you posed this question.

I think if you look at the message sourcing data, you will find that
perhaps "Private" is one of the alter egos, of an individual, who is
recognized, here, as one of our best known sources of accurate
information.

Thanks for the compliment; I hope my suggestions are helpful.

Work safely,

SteveB

Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:23 pm

Guest

"Russ" <Nospam@noname.net> wrote in message
news:Qe4Jj.14876$p97.11140@trnddc03...

Quote:

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

As I said, lots of good info that seems based on hands on experience rather
than book learning. I'd rather hear from those types than the nitpickers
who can talk welding all day, but have trouble figuring out polarity.

Steve

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