Tig welding tips, questions, equipment, applications, instructions, techniques, tig welding machines, troubleshooting tig welding process
mikey9821
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    Tue Jan 02, 2018 11:50 pm

Hello gentlemen. I have on older Hobart Tigweld AC-DC machine and the amperage settings on the front panel are by dial and switch. The switch sets either a high or low range for the dial to be adjusted to. (see attached picture) I am hoping that someone might be able to tell me how I can go about measuring the output at several setting so I can get a better idea what kind of amperage I am really using. As you can see, I can make an educated guess but would like to be a little more accurate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Hobart Tigweld AC-DC
Hobart Tigweld AC-DC
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    Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:59 pm
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What you need is a tong tester or multimeter. You put it over the welding circuit (ground or stinger, doesn't matter) it will show your amps. This is how our welding inspector checks to see if we are welding within procedure. You may need a second person to read the numbers as I don't think the log data

https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/products ... lsrc=aw.ds
mikey9821
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    Tue Jan 02, 2018 11:50 pm

Thanks Mike. That’s what I was guessing. But figured I’d better ask the pros. Luckily I have a friend who is a certified electrician who has all the gear to test higher amperage.
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No problem mate. He'll absolutely know how to do it. Just a matter of measuring ac amps or dc amps.
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With a TIG torch you can even do it with one person. Just clamp the torch in a holder and position it over a large block of
steel or alu.

Light the arc at the lowest amp setting, position it close to the block, fixate it and put a cover over/around it so you can then take off your hemet safely (or if the leads are long enough postion it in another room). It's now happily running and puddling a little of the big block at a fixed distance so variations in amps should be minimal and reproducable.

Put the amp-clamp around one of the leads and measure, note down, bump up the dial, etc. etc.

Should end up with a nice 'numbers vs. amps' table.

Bye, Arno.
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