Welding Tips and Tricks

Ck worldwide has nice set they are kits by tungsten size #8 cup .040 - 1/8" run about $32 ea. That the best reputable product I found for the price. They also have a mixed set with alumina and glass cups from size 6 through 18 for about $200

I completely forgot to get a measurement of that pyrex cup...
I did get some alumina cups in for my small gas lenses.
It does seem better than the #10 pyrex cup. I think the pyrex being larger than the gas lens was part of the problem.
But i still feel like a regular collet body and #6 cup welds better than the little stubby gas lens and #6 cup.
I took some pics i will post later.
Also i got a flow meter that you put on the end of your torch to measure your argon flow at the torch.
With my flow regulator set half way between 15cfh and 20cfh I have about 11cfh as measured coming from the torch. Is this normal?
I was concerned that the gas lens wasn't putting out the right amount of gas but it measures exactly the same as the standard collet body. I tried 2 collet bodies and 2 gas lenses and they all measured 11cfh.

FireKracker50 wrote:I completely forgot to get a measurement of that pyrex cup...
I did get some alumina cups in for my small gas lenses.
It does seem better than the #10 pyrex cup. I think the pyrex being larger than the gas lens was part of the problem.
But i still feel like a regular collet body and #6 cup welds better than the little stubby gas lens and #6 cup.
I took some pics i will post later.
Also i got a flow meter that you put on the end of your torch to measure your argon flow at the torch.
With my flow regulator set half way between 15cfh and 20cfh I have about 11cfh as measured coming from the torch. Is this normal?
I was concerned that the gas lens wasn't putting out the right amount of gas but it measures exactly the same as the standard collet body. I tried 2 collet bodies and 2 gas lenses and they all measured 11cfh.

That simply means that your regulator is "off". Time to invest in another one.

Or just replace the gauges they go bad sometimes. The ones on my refrigerant gauges I replace about once a year when they start to read a little off.

Both the regulator and flow meter are new. I have used one 125cf argon tank take thru it.
Its the regulator that came with my Everlast 256SI.
Also when i first press the pedal i get a huge puff the blasts way up on the meter and pegs the ball against the stop pin. IT stays there for about 1sec maybe closer to two sec then drops down to its regular flow rate. i have the preflow on my machine set to about 1 sec maybe a little more because if i dont the gas will make the startup arc go crazy. Is there anything that can be done about this? seems like it wastes allot of gas.

Some regulators are adjustable for there pressure. Or you can buy different ones. Some give you 15cfm at 20 psi some give you 15 cfm at 50psi. You can get by with lower psi if you have short argon lines. I.e. Less than 100ft. If you are farther away from your tank than that then you need higher psi to overcome the friction of the gas traveling through the line, so that you get the same cfm.

I am having same problem with this set. Narrowed it down a bit though, only happens with "pyrex" cup. pink cup welds perfect. Therefore it must be o-ring related.

chillrich1 wrote:I am having same problem with this set. Narrowed it down a bit though, only happens with "pyrex" cup. pink cup welds perfect. Therefore it must be o-ring related.

Have you verified the condition of the collet/collet body and the metal mesh diffuser?

Only part I swap out is the glass cup for a thread on alumina cup and it works perfect. Has to be a problem with o-rings.

Got it working, had to jam 2 green o-rings up near the insulator and then tighten gas lens with cup installed. Seems ok now.

Interesting thread.

For what it's worth, I've been Tig welding almost 2 years now (steel, stainless, aluminium) and until recently I'd never used a gas lens that was anything but 'fine China'. My LWS doesn't even know what a gas lens is and with exchange rates and freight, the US/Europe brand name stuff is way too salty for a hobbyist like me.

(The Australian Peso is currently worth only about three quarters of a Freedom Dollar.)

Perhaps I've just been lucky, but I've never had a problem with what I've used thus far. I have various sized China gas lens setups for my #9 and #17 torches and it all works well. I recently purchased a Furick 14 cup and while it works a treat when I need mega coverage and long stickout, most of the time I use a China stubby rig on my #17 with a size 7 or 8 cup and it's sweet.

I must be due to run out of luck any time now, I guess.


K

chillrich1 wrote:Got it working, had to jam 2 green o-rings up near the insulator and then tighten gas lens with cup installed. Seems ok now.

I have the same one. Will definitely try it this way. How many CFS did you use with it?

Same as alumina cup ~15CFH

chillrich1 wrote:Got it working, had to jam 2 green o-rings up near the insulator and then tighten gas lens with cup installed. Seems ok now.

I know it's convenient to have one gas lens that accepts threaded cups or orings, but threads aren't designed to seal an oring. It's good you got it working, but if you really want to use pyrex a lot, I'd try to find a set of lenses that are made with a an oring groove instead of threads, and just use this set for threaded alumina cups.