Author Topic: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners  (Read 1435949 times)

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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2730 on: March 22, 2017, 12:03:16 AM »
Bones, old folks talk about 110/220 volt current.  Now days it is 120/240 volt, except places far from the substation might get somewhere around 110 volts.  You should be OK for voltage.  Not sure when it about the frequency and whether or not the different one hertz your welder.

Offline Peter Jack

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2731 on: March 22, 2017, 12:08:40 AM »
Just a note for those contemplating building or revamping a shop. When I built mine I put all the wall outlets at 52" high, This makes them much more handy for plugging in and it means you can lay a four foot wide sheet against a wall and not block the outlets.

Oh yes, and you can never have enough outlets. Mine are placed every four feet along the walls and the two outlets are split so that each is on a separate breaker. There are several plug ins on each breaker, just not two from the same outlet box.

Pete
« Last Edit: March 22, 2017, 12:12:57 AM by Peter Jack »

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2732 on: March 22, 2017, 12:26:27 AM »
My post on a 240 volt appliance from overseas working on USA 240 volt 'lectricity is wrong.  Lots of the world wires up their 240 volt stuff different than ours.  It is best to check with the welder manufacturer, not wobblywalrus.

Pete, you are right.  These outlets are at the correct height for a house.  Unfortunately they are low enough to be in the spark and mayhem zone for a welding bay.  They would be installed much higher if I do this job again.

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2733 on: March 22, 2017, 07:03:32 AM »
Bo, your careful work to put the cement board in - and so many other things that you're doing - will let you enjoy a good feeling when you're working in the shop and sparks fly or whatever.  You'll reap the rewards of safety and a good-looking shop.  Lotsa work - lotsa benefits.  Good Job! :cheers:
Jon E. Wennerberg
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Offline tauruck

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2734 on: March 22, 2017, 12:56:58 PM »
Just a note for those contemplating building or revamping a shop. When I built mine I put all the wall outlets at 52" high, This makes them much more handy for plugging in and it means you can lay a four foot wide sheet against a wall and not block the outlets.

Oh yes, and you can never have enough outlets. Mine are placed every four feet along the walls and the two outlets are split so that each is on a separate breaker. There are several plug ins on each breaker, just not two from the same outlet box.

Pete

Pete, You know your stuff!!!!!!!. Excellent. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Offline manta22

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2735 on: March 22, 2017, 05:27:55 PM »
Amen to that! Now I wish I had put twice as many outlets in my shop.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ
Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2736 on: March 24, 2017, 09:48:38 AM »
Something I learned about wiring up outlets.  There was a fire recently at one of our daughter's friend's houses.  An outlet overheated and that is where the fire started.  Nothing was plugged into it.  This happens occasionally and decades ago someone told me why it happens.  It is possible to rig up a string of outlets where the hot wire goes from outlet to outlet.  The current for the entire string goes through at least one outlet and to a lesser degree, the subsequent ones.  Those connections between the outlets and wires can be problematic and they are in outlet boxes that are crammed pretty tight.

Another method is to run a main line for the circuit and to branch all of the outlets from it.  The connections to the outlet branches are more secure wire nut connections in roomier junction boxes.  Each outlet connection only has to deal with the current for its load.  Also, it is good to use roomier deep boxes so things are not crammed in so much.  This reduces the chances of overheating and fires.

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2737 on: March 24, 2017, 09:56:17 AM »
I've more than once - many times, in fact - thought I oughta take a course in basic household electrical stuff.  I've done it all for all my life - but I never got taught the RIGHT way to do stuff.  For the life of me - I'd pay good money to learn how to get all the wires terminated and into the box and the receptacle in place - on the first try.  Something manages to get loose - or whatever - dang near every time.  Wouldn't it be great to see how they do it so well they can make a living out of it?

Yes, I have wired most of the stuff around the house and we've never had any fires.  The nice glow (around the receptacles and switches) at night serves well as nightlights, too. :roll:

Back to you, Bo.
Jon E. Wennerberg
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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2738 on: March 31, 2017, 12:05:51 AM »
Back in my younger days I worked in a CETA program for the summer.  It was job training and we rewired a Forest Service engineering office.  That was my first exposure to engineering and I likes what I see.  Eventually I went back to school and made a career of it.  The lead guy showed us the basics, inspected our work, and hammered on us till we did it right.  Some formal training helps, like a course in community college.  It is hard to self-teach something like that when mistakes can be so costly.

The first attempts at MIG welding are FCAW on mild steel to make a welding table.  The puddle was visible when I gas welded so I could work the torch and rod to get good results.  The MIG welding moves fast and I cannot see the puddle.  It is sorta a trial and error process to get it right...with mostly error.

This is going to be difficult.  I do not do enough welding to memorize the correct speeds.  It would be nice to have a method where I could look at the puddle and adjust as needed based on visual observations.       

Offline Peter Jack

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2739 on: March 31, 2017, 05:35:43 AM »
The puddle should be visible. Sometimes a little weave or back and forth motion helps to get a satisfactory weld. I often use a combination of the two. Go into the website "Welding Tips and Tricks". Jody is a really good teacher and there's a huge amount of information on that site. Don't go chasing around on you tube trying to get advise from many of the other sites. While there is some good advise there's lots of really bad information. Oh, and welding requires a steady hand. Use both of them to support the mig gun properly and rest your forearms or elbows on some solid support so you can make the bead go where you want it.

If you continue to have problems seeing the puddle check the shade on your lens. As we age our eyes seem to lose a little sharpness. I find the recommendations for lens shade tend to be a little on the dark side. The recommendation is often an 11 but I find that a 10 usually works a little better for me. Going down that slight amount isn't going to have any adverse effect on the average person's eyes.

Don't start on your welding table until you've done a bit of practice. Get some scrap material, a piece of plate no thicker than a quarter inch works best, and practice running beads until you can see the puddle properly and watch the edges of the weld tie in. I usually find it's better to push the gun than pull it although both methods are acceptable. I find that using the presets on a welder usually result in a slightly cold weld.

If you continue to have problems shoot me a PM and we'll set a time where you can call me and we'll see if we can't sort out your issues. I've been fairly successful helping several members on this site get up and running successfully with both tig and mig.

Good luck.

Pete

PS - One more thing. If I remember you did get gas and bare wire with your machine. Use that for your welding table project. Flux core wire is smokey and dirty and makes it much more difficult to see the puddle. It's also way more expensive to use than bare wire with a gas shield. The place to use the flux core is when you need to do a repair or small fab job outside in the wind. In that case mig doesn't work because the gas shield gets blown away. The gas shielded welds are cleaner and way easier to see and they are way cheaper to make because the fluxed wire is very expensive.

P.J.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2017, 06:29:51 AM by Peter Jack »

Offline Peter Jack

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2740 on: March 31, 2017, 01:52:34 PM »
One more thing on the welding Bo. If you're welding hot rolled material the results will be much better if you remove the mill scale first. That's kind of a "do as I say, not as I do" sort of thing. The only times that I actually do it is if I'm going to be tig welding the material or if the quality has to be more or less ultimate.

Pete

Offline Koncretekid

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2741 on: March 31, 2017, 02:08:28 PM »
If you haven't already done so, go to the drugstore and look for the largest pair of glasses (not just readers) in a stronger strength than you normally use.  Bifocals or readers just don't cover enough area and you will constantly be moving you head to get the image in the best place.

Also, some of the old timers (Pete?) eschew the self darkening shields, but I simply can't get everything lined up with the non-self darkening shields.
We get too soon oldt, and too late schmart!
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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2742 on: April 01, 2017, 11:34:44 PM »
The gas was hooked up last night, the polarity reversed, and solid wire installed in the machine.  Tonight I used manual rather than auto settings so I would know what they are.  Some futzing around with voltage and wire speed settings shows me that the settings on the back of the lid work best. 

The plate is 3/16 thick and the channel under it is 1/8 inch thick. The welds that give good penetration are physically big and sorta industrial appearing like stick welds rather than small and petite like some TIG welds.  Is this a characteristic of MIG welds?

Offline Peter Jack

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2743 on: April 01, 2017, 11:47:56 PM »
The welds where you're just getting the upper and lower corners look really good. Once you're picking that up watch the center of your puddle and try to make sure you're getting right to the bottom of the vee.

It looks to me like you're making good progress Bo.  :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Pete

Offline wheelrdealer

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2744 on: April 02, 2017, 09:17:13 AM »
I have to second Peter Jack's recommendation of weldingtipsandtricks dot com site. Jody's arc videos showed me how to over come  a couple of bad habits that were impacting my weld strength and looks.

My experience, when I start welding with tig/mig my tendency was to try and weld too hot. Seems most beginners I work with do the same. What I learned was to use welding technique instead of cranking up the volts.wire speed. On a corner or any joint with dis-similar size metals sometimes it helps to add some motion to your weld technique in the photo example I would try a small in-cursive e motion with a slight pause on the thicker material. Jody has a bunch of videos on his sight in the mig welding section. The other technique it the upside down ^ movement, again with a slight pause over the thicker material. As you watch the leading edge of the puddle you should see the weld cut into the edge of each material. If the materials are the same then no need for a pause. The pause just lets the weld puddle burn into the thicker material. You will also note the beloved ridges that look good but do not do anything for the weld. 

Welding is like the definition of beauty there is not shortage of interpretations on what works or what is beautiful.

My 2 cents.
BR
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