"lift tig" start

[shaky]

I am just about to by a tig machine. A cheapy that uses 'tig lift' start. I want to use it mainly for car bodywork patching, as my mig maqchine seems to be just too...... crude (i am an oxy/ accetylene person really).

Q. Is the 'tig lift' a cop out? it seems to make sense as I will sometimes be lying on the floor welding, which would make a foot pedal a little difficult to use!

[Hobart Expert Rock]

SHAKEY.......... I FIRST BECAME AWARE OF LIFT START IN THE OLD EXCEL-ARC'S MANUFACTURED BY HOBARTS IN THE EARLY TO LATE 1990'S............. ACTUALLY THAT IS THE FIRST TIME I USED ONE ON AN 8065 EXCELARC......... YOU SIMPLY PUT THE CUP DOWN ON THE MATERIAL YOUR GOING TO TIG AND SLOWLY ROCK IT TOWARD THE TUNGSTON AND MATERIAL BEING WELDED.......... WHEN IT GETS CLOSE ENOUGH IT IGNITES AND YOU CAN USE A SLIDE AMP CONTROL ON THE TORCH FOR YOUR CURRENT CONTROL......... THE LIFT START ARC HAS BEEN OUT FOR AWHILE NOW AND IS CONSIDERED OLD TECHNOLOGY..............ENJOY......... AND HAVE SOME FUN............ROCK............. [email protected]ILLERELECTRIC.COM

[Guest]

We had a Miller machine in for a demo, and it had Lift Arc Start on it,...I liked it...it was better than the hi freq start it had on it. We do a lot of xray welding and there was a concern that it would blow off a bit of tungsten into the weld, but I didn't see it that way...I think it would have been an asset to our company, But I got out-voted.

Laying on the floor heliarcing is no fun, but it is do-able. You just have to be a contortionist, in some cases or have an assistant operate it for you.

[shaky]

Many thanks for the replies..... this is fantastic, a bunch of guys that share my obsession with welding.

I do gas weld on the floor. When I haven't done any for a while, it hurts a bit (I'm 50 yrs) but it soon feels natural and keeps me agile.

I don't know now whether to save a few more quid and buy a more flexible machine. The one I'm loking at only has adjustment on the machine with a constant flow of gas.

regards

shaky

[Dan]

Originally posted by shaky
Many thanks for the replies..... this is fantastic, a bunch of guys that share my obsession with welding.

I do gas weld on the floor. When I haven't done any for a while, it hurts a bit (I'm 50 yrs) but it soon feels natural and keeps me agile.

I don't know now whether to save a few more quid and buy a more flexible machine. The one I'm loking at only has adjustment on the machine with a constant flow of gas.

regards

shaky

Shaky

I highly recommend that you save until you get the extra quid, and buy a machine that gives you a remote current control. Trying to TIG sheetmetal without the ability to vary the welding current as you progress along makes it very difficult to achieve quality welds. Also, without the remote finding a good current setting is a guessing game that you seldomly win.

Operating the foot pedal lying on the floor isnt as difficult as you would think. Rocky D and I both work in industrial maintenance which teaches you that the foot pedal isn t just a foot pedal, but a pedal for whatever body part you can use to operate it. When lying on my back I can operate the pedal with my foot , the back of my calf, or sqeeze it between my thighs. If it is a welding job that requires you to weld on your knees, you can use one of your knees for pressing the pedal.

Besides the foot pedal remote there are also hand operated remotes available. I personally don t like them though. I m not a very big guy so I have a difficult time trying to operate one. The slide version is the most difficult for me.