Welding Tips and Tricks

I switched to wedge collets a while back and noticed the back caps were only engaging the first couple of threads and the o-ring seal maybe not seating properly. Took some time to investigate.
The lense/wedge collet assembly is 2.2mm longer than with the standard copper collet.
So I ground 2.2mm off the head of the brass wedge collet:
I suspect I was loosing gas before, all good now.

Good catch.

I might have been more worried about the seemingly improper seating between your gas lens cup and the teflon heat shield that is on that torch which seems to be one for standard alumina cups. They make one specifically for gas lens alumina cups.

I think you have the wrong collets for the gas lens you are using.

What series are the gas lenses you use? Stubby uses series 4 lenses and collets.

That's tested, it's all good. I have heaps of gear and chuck together what works mixing and matching.

Also check the number on the collet itself, the numbers should be different for the long/short ones. That's not by accident.

All stubby gas lenses for 17/26 torches. All the same. Some came in kits, some individual parts from LWS and fleabay. Sometimes parts or kits I buy from the US (like CK) is not a perfect match for Australian brand torches, so you mix and match to make things fit sometimes. You guys wouldn't understand that coming from the US, hell I'm not sure I even understand it.
It just is what it is and you gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done. These particular wedges maybe came from my LWS. No markings on them other than 2.4 (mm) so I guess they are bamboo.Not saying all wedges are like this, just these ones. Maybe if they were branded they would be ok. I tried two different brands of lense with the same result.

Coldman wrote:All stubby gas lenses for 17/26 torches. All the same. Some came in kits, some individual parts from LWS and fleabay. Sometimes parts or kits I buy from the US (like CK) is not a perfect match for Australian brand torches, so you mix and match to make things fit sometimes. You guys wouldn't understand that coming from the US, hell I'm not sure I even understand it.
It just is what it is and you gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done. These particular wedges maybe came from my LWS. No markings on them other than 2.4 (mm) so I guess they are bamboo.Not saying all wedges are like this, just these ones. Maybe if they were branded they would be ok. I tried two different brands of lense with the same result.

Yeah, the 2.4mm only designates 3/32". The CKs have numbers on them. All collets are not created equal, but suffice to say the difference in length are different series collets. IMO, you can't trust most of these companies, even an LWS to give you the correct collets.

Look at this CK Worldwide page, they only list series 2 and series 3 collets.

http://ckworldwide.com/wedge-collets.html

But these are the part numbers.

Part Numbers:
CK-2C020GS - .020" (0.5mm)
CK-2C040GS - .040" (1.0mm)
CK-2C116GS - 1/16" (1.6mm)
CK-2C332GS - 3/32" (2.4mm)
CK-2C418GS - 1/8" (3.2mm)

Part Numbers:
CK-3C040GS - .040" (1.0mm)
CK-3C116GS - 1/16" (1.6mm)
CK-3C332GS - 3/32" (2.4mm)
CK-3C418GS - 1/8" (3.2mm)
CK-3C532GS - 5/32" (4.0mm)

These are what you need for a series 3 converted to a stubby: (series 4)

Part Numbers:
CK-4C040GS - .040" (1.0mm)
CK-4C116GS - 1/16" (1.6mm)
CK-4C332GS - 3/32" (2.4mm)
CK-4C418GS - 1/8" (3.2mm)
CK-4C532GS - 5/32" (4.0mm)

I don't know about any Australian torches or parts.

Thanks for that.
Wedge collets basically last forever and I've now shaved all mine to size. So unless I loose them all I won't need to buy any for a very long time.

I stopped in at my LWS to see what they had. They didn't even know what a wedge collet is!!! I had to school them up. So the ones I have must be ebay bamboo specials. Herein lies the problem. For good fresh oats you have to pay a fair price. Oats that already passed through the horse comes cheaper.

Coldman wrote:I stopped in at my LWS to see what they had. They didn't even know what a wedge collet is!!! I had to school them up. So the ones I have must be ebay bamboo specials. Herein lies the problem. For good fresh oats you have to pay a fair price. Oats that already passed through the horse comes cheaper.

This is exactly why I said I wouldn't trust an LWS to know which collets to sell you. Let me explain why. I have mentioned that my LWS was taken over by Praxair. The previous staff was really good, but only one of them works part time now, the rest are Praxair folks. The new Praxair folks don't seem to know as much, they will just point me to the rack on the wall which doesn't have any stubby or series 4 parts.

So, you may wonder how did I come to realize these collets don't fit each other...and that was partially my fault at another LWS. I thought I needed 9/20 collets for the stubby kit, and mentioned to the guy I had a stubby kit and thought they used 9/20, but somehow the 9/20 are different and when I got home I could tell they were different than the stubby series 4, but I still didn't understand this series 4 piece....I went back and he got really p!$$ed at me, of course blaming me, but I mentioned that I told him I was using a stubby kit, and that's when he told me they use series 4. He knew, just didn't realize when I originally told him I had a stubby but thought I needed 9/20.

Recently I bought some extra collets from the Weldmonger store. Because of this problem I had previously at Welder Heaven, I made a note to make sure the collets were series 4 for the stubby kit. Garrett did check and they were not, but there wasn't any marked as series 4 on the Weldmonger site, he did swap them in my order however. One problem, they sent me slotted collets for the 1/16" which I already had, so that piece is still lingering. Through some searching on the web I found those part numbers for the series 4 and asked Garrett if that was the correct wedge collet for the 1/16" size needed. He said yes and ordered some from CK Worldwide, but I'm not sure if they got them, he hasn't sent them out to me yet, AFAIK.

This is a long reply Coldman, but this is to say, these gas lenses and collets are a can of worms. To make it more complicated the collets are marked in metric on the collet (2.4mm), but the part numbers are created on imperial sizes, best I can tell. Note that the part number for the 2.4mm collet is CK-2C332GS, CK-3C332GS and CK-4C332GS! This makes it even more confusing for everyone.

So a welding supplies in Sydney has 4C-332GS wedges for $3.30 so I have some coming up. I think it's gonna be a problem because they state they are 32mm long which is what the ones I shaved were. So I'm thinking maybe the stubby lense is sus.

Coldman wrote:So a welding supplies in Sydney has 4C-332GS wedges for $3.30 so I have some coming up. I think it's gonna be a problem because they state they are 32mm long which is what the ones I shaved were. So I'm thinking maybe the stubby lense is sus.

Ok, you got me curious about this, so I went a measured with the gas lens and collet as you were doing above and I get approx. 36mm which is somewhere between your 35mm and 37mm, but yours is 35.71mm so close to my 36mm.

I also notice that the insulator seems to matter also, and some of mine don't allow the gas lens to go in as far to the torch and that seems to prevent the back cap from tightening on the collet. I have 2 insulators like that, and I have 2 that allow mine to work. One has very little thread for the cup however.

Are you getting 32mm for the total length of the collet alone? Let me go back out and measure a couple of the collets alone.

This is even stranger, I measured the collets alone and they measure 30.60mm and 30.55mm for 2 different ones, but hard to get an exact measurement on the end as the wedge is angled.

My measurements are all different from yours. I believe all my parts are CK Worldwide.

I'll have to wait for the new collets to come in before I can measure them. You'd think if they have the same part number they'd be the same size.
I run two torches, a 26 Tigmaster flex head and a 17 CK flexloc. Currently have different insulators fitted. On the tigmaster the lense doesn't seal on the insulator but the cup does is it works good.
Then itself measures 28mm overall. No brand again, just electrode size stamping.

It's hard to get CK parts here. The big boy here, BOC, has an exclusive arrangement with CK Worldwide. But they only bring in a very limited range of parts that they use with their own line of BOC branded torches. Anything else they don't bring in and prevent others from doing so under exclusivity. So you can't buy their CK power sources either, for example, as this will clash with the BOC branded machines. So if I want CK parts I have to source from traders in the USA that will ship down under. If I do that I'll want to have the parts real bad because of the exchange rate to the Ozzy micropeco and the sucky shipping charges from the USA.

Coldman wrote:I'll have to wait for the new collets to come in before I can measure them. You'd think if they have the same part number they'd be the same size.

I ordered some heatsheild's/insulators today, the CK 4GHS parts. Some say for series 20 torches, have no idea what that means. Could be all the 17/26/9/20/18, not sure.

Jody includes 1 17 and 1 18 heatshield's in most of his kits. The ones I saw online look a tad different. As long as they seal I'm ok, but one of mine provides more threads for the cup, where another provides just barely enough for the threads to engage.

Coldman wrote:I run two torches, a 26 Tigmaster flex head and a 17 CK flexloc.

I run a similar combo, but my 26 had a replaced flex head I got on Amazon, and I didn't like it when I was looking at it earlier, so I nabbed the heatshield off that one as that was the better of the 2. I have some others that are intended for a non-stubby 17 setup, those cups are entirely different. So I can't use those.

I'm curious to compare when the ones I ordered today come in. I also ordered another replacement 26 flex that will handle 250 amps DC according to the Amazon ad.

Coldman wrote:Currently have different insulators fitted. On the tigmaster the lense doesn't seal on the insulator but the cup does is it works good.

I stand by my original comments, these torch parts and a giant can of worms with so many part numbers and different components, it's mind boggling. Your 26 looks like the Euro style. My 26 is the standard flex head style similar to the CK.

Coldman wrote:Then itself measures 28mm overall. No brand again, just electrode size stamping.

I have 2 different types of collets, neither have the actual part number on them, I stand corrected. One type only has 2.4mm on it, and the other type has both 3/32 and 2.4mm. Some definitely came from Jody, but others could be from my local LWS.

Coldman wrote:It's hard to get CK parts here.

I used to do shipping, well aware of the problem, and that goes for the high duties the AU Govie charges. Computer parts were horrendous. Shipping in general is pretty high, must have to do with not as much product going down there, but shipping from Japan is cheaper to AU than US. Unfortunately the way things have gone there's very little product manufactured in Japan anymore, most of it has gone to China also...that should change in short order.

The UK gets much better flat rate postage than AU does (between US and respective countries). Nothing that any of us in the US have caused, I can assure you of that.

After reading this thread, I wonder if any of my stuff fits like I thought it did. I also have some stuff for a 20 series setup that I assumed would work and now I question that stuff.

Thanks guys.

TraditionalToolworks wrote:I ordered some heatsheild's/insulators today, the CK 4GHS parts.

Should find out soon, my heatshields are out for delivery today. Coming from Weldfabulous, and quite amazing given I just ordered them a couple days ago and they were shipped from Minnesota where all the worst problems are located...

Ordered on June 10th, arriving in California on June 12th, shipped from Minnesota.

Ok, interesting update.

Got my heatshields in. Of the 2 HSs I have that came from Weldmonger, one looks similar but slightly different. Not sure if that is a Chinesium HS or not, but the genuine CK 4GHS product I got first my CK Worldwide torch perfectly and I know I have a CK Worldwide #6 cup, CK 3/32 tungsten and CK 3/32 wedge collet and CK 3/32 gas lens.

The other HS I have looks similar but very loose on the CK Worldwide torch.

I just buy all CK products for my torches, and never have any issues. Love me some CK.

Yes, yes, I do have some Chinese torch parts knocking around in some drawers...but that is mostly where the stay.

Spartan wrote:I just buy all CK products for my torches, and never have any issues. Love me some CK.

Me too! I guess you missed that part where I mentioned I thought the CK stubby kit I got from Weldmonger had CK parts in it, but maybe it didn't?

Spartan wrote:Yes, yes, I do have some Chinese torch parts knocking around in some drawers...but that is mostly where the stay.

I have some, but not too much at all other than what came with my green weenie. I *thought* the rest of mine were all genuine CK. No worries, I know for fact all my components on my CK torch are genuine CK parts with these latest heatshields. I took them out of the CK packages myself. Not entirely sure about my stubby kit I bought though, but I'm not using any of those parts at the moment.

TraditionalToolworks wrote:

Spartan wrote:I just buy all CK products for my torches, and never have any issues. Love me some CK.

Me too! I guess you missed that part where I mentioned I thought the CK stubby kit I got from Weldmonger had CK parts in it, but maybe it didn't?

Gotcha. That wasn't clear to me when I read your post.

Spartan wrote:Gotcha. That wasn't clear to me when I read your post.

Spartan,

I don't want to accuse them of sending me Chinesium, for all I know all the CK heatshields are Chinesium, and also I am not 100% sure, but 99% sure both of those came from Weldmonger in my stubby kit.

I have 2 others but those are for a standard collet setup with no gas lens, and that's what came on the Everlast initially, I did use those for a bit. I think I only have 2 others which came with my stubby kit...anyway, no worries, not trying to point the finger at Weldmonger, just good to know that what I have all works now. On one, my CK gas lenses don't seat properly through the heatshield, so the center seems slightly smaller. I'm not entire sure which one that was, could have been the 18CG-20.

The odd thing about Weldmonger is that Jody has 2 different heatshields in the pack on his site, but CK doesn't sell them like that. The stubby kit includes those 2. The CK packs have the 4GHS part in them, 2 in each pack. The 18CG-20 says Welding City. Maybe in the past he had Welding City 4GHS when I purchased my stubby kit??? Everything I've seen of Welding City says avoid them to me. I agree with you 100%, CK genuine parts for me...just not sure if I was deceived or not.

https://weldmongerstore.com/products/2- ... insulators

TraditionalToolworks wrote:Everything I've seen of Welding City says avoid them to me.

Their standard consumables are fine, as there is little to go wrong there. I'm using them in my TIG torch on my Invertig 400. Their large gas lens collet bodies are fine too, based on the ones I got from them. The only ones I had trouble with were the small gas lens collet bodies for the 9/20. Cause porosity until I threw them out.

Oscar wrote:Their standard consumables are fine, as there is little to go wrong there. I'm using them in my TIG torch on my Invertig 400. Their large gas lens collet bodies are fine too, based on the ones I got from them. The only ones I had trouble with were the small gas lens collet bodies for the 9/20. Cause porosity until I threw them out.

That's fair, but I'll be sticking to CK consumables. Welding City doesn't carry them so I guess I won't be shopping there.

Got the new collets.
Here are pics of them in both my torches. Notice the o-rings have not engaged.
I might take a drive over to BOC to see if they have any genuine CK parts.
Any idea what the correct CK part number should be for the gas lense itself in 2.4mm or 3/32" and heat shield?