Longevity Welding - MIG TIG Stick Multi Process Welders and Plasma Cutters

[longevity]

Not sure I'd call that absolutely amazing. Interesting, creative, useless, but not amazing.

Ian

Hi Ian,

I think one of the girls in the office must have felt it was extra special maybe because it was Friday! Ill say its amazing because I have a good scotch in my hand while i reply to this!:thumbsup:

There are a lot of useful projects as well on our forum!

Cheers!

 

[deereman75]

Well here is the first part of my stickweld 250 review. I have been testing how well it works with 6011, and I have to say I love it. Here is a picture of the stack of dimes look I managed to get with it. This was after only 2 rods to find the settings, rod angle, and travel speed. I have never been able to get the stack of dimes look this good with the lincoln. For 6011, I give the longevity stickweld 250 an A+. I will hopefully start the 7018 testing later today.

 

[sparc]

Home depot has a dewalt 20v max compact drill and impact combo for $175. I hope to get it today or tomorrow. Less then a milwaukee m18 drill alone.

If you're gonna buy from HD then consider the RIDGID line. The X4 5 pc set is $499 but until the end of Feb 2012 you can get a free battery ($99 value) plus there is RIDGIDs Lifetime Service Agreement which also covers the batteries.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec8cpGO6jHI&feature=related[/ame]

 

[deereman75]

If you're gonna buy from HD then consider the RIDGID line. The X4 5 pc set is $499 but until the end of Feb 2012 you can get a free battery ($99 value) plus there is RIDGIDs Lifetime Service Agreement which also covers the batteries.

RIDGID X4 Series 18v Lithium Ion Cordless Power Tools - YouTube

I got the dewalt a while ago, and I love it. The impact is atleast 3x as fast as a 12v makita. Due to an error on the HD website, I got it for less then any good 18v drill alone.

 

[Shield Arc]

Well here is the first part of my stickweld 250 review. I have been testing how well it works with 6011, and I have to say I love it. Here is a picture of the stack of dimes look I managed to get with it. This was after only 2 rods to find the settings, rod angle, and travel speed. I have never been able to get the stack of dimes look this good with the lincoln. For 6011, I give the longevity stickweld 250 an A+. I will hopefully start the 7018 testing later today.
View attachment 252219

WOW! That looks great!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: What brand of 6011 are you using?

 

[deereman75]

WOW! That looks great!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: What brand of 6011 are you using?

Thanks! Air liquide blueshield brand 3/32 6011 at 70 amps. Arc force set at 1 or 2, hot start about 6. Both the lincoln and the longevity love these rods.

 

[Shield Arc]

That top weld, after the first inch or so looks real good. Now remember to watch your arc length! When you do find the correct arc length, you'll see each ripple form, as you lay it over. Do it enough times and it will become second nature. But that might take a box or two.

 

[deereman75]

That top weld, after the first inch or so looks real good. Now remember to watch your arc length! When you do find the correct arc length, you'll see each ripple form, as you lay it over. Do it enough times and it will become second nature. But that might take a box or two.

I think the first part of that one, I was in a bad position, and couldnt gove right. The bottom one looked almost as good, but the welds beside it made it look worse due to spatter and smoke. I hope to burn the last pound of these this week, that should help me some.

 

[Furu]

Well I finally am at home for a couple of days and got my Stickweld 250 up and running.
As I have previously said I started O/A Welding 40 years ago but this is my first attempt at arc welding.

Couple of questions
I seem to get a lot of reflections from the arc from things behind me and can see the reflections of the arc inside the helmet on the view window from behind. Did not like that and did not make me comfortable at all because of concern of how much bad wavelength was still present. I ended up using an old shirt over the back of the helmet to block the sides where the reflections were coming in. That unfortunately cause fogging of the window due to low circulation of air.

I have an Elite helmet from Longevity and I think the long delay on opening the filter, post arc, is what I would want for the short delay as it was opening up much too early on short and medium setting.
Problem is I do not know how to properly block the rear reflections. What do you professional folks do about that. Is there some kind of helmet cover that covers the rear sides to prevent that? Hopefully I explained the problem so you can understand what I am saying.

I was able to get a marginally decent weld on 1/8" , 3/16" and 1/4" steel with a LOT of splatter that I am not used to with O/A.
Problem was I found that even at 60 amps I was burning through 1" x .062 square tubing like I was using a cutter. (1/8" 6011 rod) Less than 60 amps had problem with maintaining/starting the arc. Above 60 amps no problems with arc as long as arc force was off.
Is the problem that I should use 3/32" on that thickness? All I have right now is the 1/8" 6011 rod. Using the 1/8" rod I have when I turned up the surge current the problem was reduced to a large degree and I was able to stop the burn through.
When I turned the arc force up at low amps I had problems maintaining the arc. I would have thought that would make it easier, not harder. Surge current made the arc very easy to control and I liked it at low amp settings, seemed to soften the arc sound almost like a light muffling at higher frequency. It also stopped the burn through on 0.062 (1/16") thickness tubing.

Anyone with suggestions on the reflections coming in from the back would really be helpful. I stopped early because I did not want to have an eye problem.

 

[Gary Fowler]

As far as reflections, you got the right idea with the cloth behind you. Other than that, you have to position your body (head) right to block the reflected light or sometimes just adjust your hood up of down a bit helps. I try to always weld with my back to the dark side rather than the light side if possible to reduce the glare, other than that sometimes you just have to look beyond it and focus on the weld puddle. Try not to weld in area with white or shiny back ground; this will reduce the reflected light.