Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello,

I work for a company in the welding industry, and had an interest as to how TIG Welders adjust their welding amperage when changing jobs.

To this point, I was interested in which of the following best describes your work practice (Scenario 1 or 2):

Scenario #1: Adjust the welding amperage at the machine control panel once & forget it... meaning that you rely upon your foot control every time you change your welding amperage. As an example, if you are welding 1/4" material on day #1 and initially adjust the machine to 250 amps, do you keep the same setting on day #2 when welding 0.090" material (using your foot control to adjust to the thinner material).

or
Scenario #2: You change your amperage setting at the machine every time you change jobs & material thicknesses.

Please feel free to chime in with your response, and with any questions you may have.

Thank you in advance for your response.

Infotig

It all depends if you have a foot pedal or not.
If you have a foot pedal, than yes, just leave the machine at 250 amps all the time. Why not?
But if you don't have a foot pedal, and your welding jobs are always changing, you must always change the amperage at the machine.
But you have to be pretty good at setting the amperage at the machine, per job. Hard to make do a little hot or a little cold.
I'm sure you already knew this.

~John

Infotig,
Yes you can always leave your machine set at 250 amps and it will not hurt a thing. However you might want to consider this. Lets say you set the machine at 250 amps which means when the pedal is maxed out this is what you get as your output. You will have less fine control with it set at 250amps as apposed to say 100 amps. Yes pushing the pedal set at a higher amp will get your work piece hotter faster but sometimes you want that finite control, say while welding SS or sometimes aluminum. As an example when you move the pedal 1/8" set at 250 amps, your amps might move say 40 amps verses 10 amps with the machine set at 100 amps. Something to consider.

I always set the machine to a "peak" I don't want to exceed, and for the very reason Superiorwelding mentioned above.

Today, for example, I was welding 10" sch. 5 stainless with a 1/8" gap. I did not need more then 120A to establish my tacks, nor more than 75A at any point to weld it up. Setting the machine to 120A gives me finer control than 250+, and for awkward positions, I'll dial the machine back to 75 for even finer control.

OTOH, when I weld heavy aluminum, I set the synchrowave 250DX to max... 310A.

Steve S

I set to roughly the peak amps I want to run, usually a little higher. I was taught to make sure you have some amps to spare at the end of the pedal.

I usually set the machine about 20 amps higher than I think I'll need. I don't really like to max the pedal, feels like I don't have control when I bottom out the pedal.

Otto Nobedder wrote:I always set the machine to a "peak" I don't want to exceed, and for the very reason Superiorwelding mentioned above.

Today, for example, I was welding 10" sch. 5 stainless with a 1/8" gap. I did not need more then 120A to establish my tacks, nor more than 75A at any point to weld it up. Setting the machine to 120A gives me finer control than 250+, and for awkward positions, I'll dial the machine back to 75 for even finer control.

OTOH, when I weld heavy aluminum, I set the synchrowave 250DX to max... 310A.

Steve S

+1

My machine (Syncro 250DX) is always within a few steps from my work so tweaking the amperage is minimal effort. I like to have the peak slightly higher than what I think will be necessary just so I have a little "punch" available if I need it.

Hello Everyone, thank you for your replies to my post. It sounds like a vast majority of you set the machine slightly higher than what you need every time you change applications. So in the case of welding something like a 0.090" coupon, you may dial it back to 100 amps (e.g. from a previous setting of 250 amps) which may give you more resolution per pedal stroke.

I did hear from others I have spoken to, that leaving the machine at one set point is doable as well (to your point AK Weldshop and Superior Welding) with the sacrifice of less control at the pedal given less resolution per stroke.

Thank you again for everyone's comments.

I must agree, there is finer control with setting closer to your working amperage.
But for uses were you don't need that fine control, set your amps at max and forget it.
It goes both ways.
Do what works good for you.

~John

Otto Nobedder wrote:I always set the machine to a "peak" I don't want to exceed, and for the very reason Superiorwelding mentioned above.

Today, for example, I was welding 10" sch. 5 stainless with a 1/8" gap. I did not need more then 120A to establish my tacks, nor more than 75A at any point to weld it up. Setting the machine to 120A gives me finer control than 250+, and for awkward positions, I'll dial the machine back to 75 for even finer control.

OTOH, when I weld heavy aluminum, I set the synchrowave 250DX to max... 310A.

Steve S

I agree and do the same, I have a sweet spot where my brain has trained my foot to be on the pedal around 75% so I always have room to go up and down with easy.

I generally leave machine set to the 'high' side, if I'm gonna weld thin stuff, I'll turn down the current to match. I have a TA 185, & it seems to end up at about 30 amps above optimum, till I make a big readjustment. My machine displays the actual current flow for a few seconds after 'foot off the pedal'.