Welding Tips and Tricks

I’ll start by introducing myself. My name is Bill and I’m a 32 year old stainless process pipefitter and welder from Central New York. I’ve only been doing this for about 2-1/2 years, after landscaping for a decade.

About a year in I bought a used Miller Maxstar 161 STH and have used it almost daily since except for a couple times it was in the shop. The first time it died on the job after running it at 130 amps on 110v for a few hours off and on. The second time was purely my fault for plugging it into 480v power thinking it was 220v. Other than these mishaps it’s been a great welder and is still being worked 5-6 days a week.

Now on to the Fronius. While I was waiting to get my welder back I had to share a welder with one of my coworkers, which really slowed things down. I knew I wanted a second welder with a few specific features, 160 or more amps, good warranty, good costumer service, easily portable, at least basic pulse features, height frequency start, etc. The Fronius fit these parameters and I could get a 210 amp machine that was only slightly bigger than my Maxstar.

For me the biggest flaw of the Fronius was going to be the torch. I know it gets praise from most, but for me it wasn’t going to work 30’ up in a pipe rack welding the backside of a pipe that I can barely fit my hand between. As for the torch heads, mine came with a 220PG that will take 17 series consumables, except for the back caps. I ordered a CK Worldwide SL2-35MF and it fit the machine perfectly, connected to a 25’ superflex cable and a CK17 FX torch. The biggest challenge for me was going to be a momentary switch to use in 2t and 4t mode. Everyone else as far as I’ve read just cut the plug of the Fronius lead and wired it to a switch that way. I couldn’t bring myself to cut up a $500 torch setup that I could still used while in the shop. Since I had some time until my machine arrived I spent half a day playing detective online and found a plug I was 90% sure was the right one and ordered it. I lucked out and it fit perfectly a Souriau UTS6JC128P male plug. I bought mine on eBay, but they also have them on Amazon. With a multimeter I figured out that pins B and E were for the off on switch an the Fronius torch.

I only have an hour on the machine so far and I would say it’s a step up from the Maxstar when it comes to the arc, little different story with the ease of use. Fronius uses two to three letter codes for settings, most of which are unclear without instructions. At the moment I’m trying to eliminate the one second delay between when I click the button and the arc starting. My only other complaint so far is that the only thing holding the machine in place in its carrying case is the foam in the bottom of the box, so no laying it on it’s side. I’ll do my best to update this post when I really put some hours behind the torch.

This info may or may not be relevant to your unit. I was using a Fronius Magic Wave 270 AC/CD ( 2002 model year ) and I found the following ; when I replaced the 2T/4T "club " it came with standard and fitted a normal WP-20 torch with a foot pedal, I still needed the original torch electric connector plugged in to make some adjustments with the 2/4 torch switches when I went into the menu. A real PITA !

Also there was information in the troubleshooting manual that wasn't mentioned in the user manual; that there was a triangular AC wave form.

The lag is your preflow gas setting. Looks very similar to my Thermal Arc 186.

Bill,

The preflow time can be adjusted under the "GPr" setting to reduce the start delay.
I am running the Transtig170 which is basically the same machine, but lower amperage rating.
I agree, the menus are not that intuitive, I use the 'cheat sheet' that came with the package all the time.
The manual has more details on all the settings.

I like the torch handle, but this is my first machine so I have nothing to compare it to. Probably a bit bulky/heavy for
tight areas.

Good to know the 17 style hardware will fit this torch, I will probably upgrade to better cups/gas lens and a pedal later on, can't justify the money right now.

I almost bought a Maxstar 161 first, found a used one at a good price... was sold by the time I called the guy. Decided to shell out the extra cash for the Fronius instead, more features and options.

Thanks for the post flow tip. For the first few weeks of owning my machine I exclusively used my CK torch setup with most of my welding at 100 or less amps. The past week and a half I switched over to the Fronius torch for welding a bunch of sch 40 stainless. This setup ran beautifully 90% of the time, the other 10% confirming my worries about the torch/ handle. There were a couple times where I would be welding in a tight spot and I would unknowingly hit the switch for amperage adjustment. I would start at 80 and end up extremely low or extremely high amps, almost ruining my welds. I could tell when the amps had reached around 170 (on 110v) because when I would try to start my arc it would flicker for a couple seconds trying to start the arc. The trouble with the high frequency start troubles me, but I chocked it up to using 110v and how hard I was working the machine. Never hit the duty cycle tho.

I have concerns with the HF start was well, not sure if it's the machine or my abilities, lift arc works great for me.
I've found that the tungsten and work piece both have to be clean for a good HF start. I've had inconsistent results, but have tried a close and far gap for starting. Sometimes it will fail to ignite and fault out. There are also some settings in the 2nd Menu that I have yet to adjust, still experimenting. I'm running on 110V as well. Nice looking welds either way.