m R g S r

So at my school we have a miller gold star 400ss power source. And in the closet we have some tig filler rods, a foot pedal and some random stuff like tungsten etc. I think that someone who didn't know what they were doing ordered all that stuff to try and make the machine TIG. Or someone stole something that allowed it to TIG lol. I want to help TIG the frame for the SAE baja team, but we don't have a TIG welder. The goldstar can be converted to a TIG, with the addition of a TIG rig, correct? Anything else needed besides the torch? There is a regulator and big argon bottle as well, we are using that for our millermatic 135 mig now.



School is tight with the budget, so a new (or even used, but whole new unit) is out of the question.


And does anyone know where this kind of unit can be found? Thanks guys

spiceisler

Check the manual maybe: http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o221aa_mil.pdf

m R g S r

I looked through it, it says for GTAW welding in the sequence of steps on how to GTAW something about set high frequency unit.

So is an HF unit the same thing as a TIG rig? Will just the seperate high freq. attachment allow a torch/gas input? Right now there is no input for gas, and nowhere to put the torch, only the positive and negative terminal posts.

kmt63

yea you can covert it to tig.you will only have dc.you will need a torch with a gas valve on it to turn on the gas before you weld.you will need to scratch start it too.well thats if you dont buy a high freq unit.they are not cheap.you will need to set your amps on the machine that you will be welding with because you will not have a foot pedal.

kmt63

your gas will go strait to the torch from the bottle regulator.your torch will hook up to the positive and neg on the machine.you may need some adapters for that.

m R g S r

hmmm wait so no foot pedal? but there is a place for a remote on the machine as it sits now.

So by purchasing a high frequency box, that will not allow it to operate as a normal TIG welder? (besides AC)

kmt63

well if there is a remote pedal hook up then your in luck.i thought all you had was a miller power source for like stick welding or mig welding with remote feeder.my suggestions where for a stick only power source.this is a common set up from the old school.i dont know what your machine has.

m R g S r

Basically does the high frequency box control stuff like post flow and what not?
And does the Gas go into the high frequency box?

Like I said, right now there is no input for gas anywhere on the machine.

ROTARY

the gas hose does go through the HF box but it only has a fixed 15sec post-flow.

like kmt63 mentioned in post#5 older machines don't have a gas solenoid so you need a torch with a valve.. sucks because you manually have to turn the gas on and off before and after each weld. with the HF box you can use a regular tig torch without a valve but you will still need a two piece lead assembly.

spiceisler

Hmmm.........I have a machine with a similar hook up, the Lincoln Power Mig 300. kmt365 is right. It uses a "T" shaped gas pass-thru adapter(from tank to torch) with a "eye" to attach it to the terminal for the torch lead. There is no gas solenoid (for TIG use) so I use the torch with the valve and there is no AC on it either.

Pics of the adapter are on page 5. K1893-1/-2

http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...ure/e12150.pdf

shortyz21

do you not read what people post?

m R g S r

Huh? I did. You obviously didn't read well. If you did you will see two different answers here.

m R g S r

But thank you for that reply, I actually just picked up that piece this afternoon before I saw your post.
BTW I hate dealing with retards that work at the welding stores who only know how to take orders and have no idea what they're selling and what they do/don't stock. I wasted the ENTIRE day (5 hours of my time) between two welding stores. just to pick up that fitting basically.

ROTARY

are answers are the same. no HF-box - valved torch, with HF-box - regular torch

check this out http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=260369358359

kmt63

my answer was to give you the cheapest way to tig weld with what you have.i dont know much about the hf boxes.i do understand the lack of the welding stores knowing anything about special adapters.i tried to get a gas through dinse adapter to covert my miller 180sd to water cooled torch.a very simple thing that is very common.it took a few hours at one of the biggest miller distrubuters on the west coast and they could not find it.so i looked on arc zones web site and there it was.shipped to my door the next day.good luck with your conversion.

m R g S r

i appreciate your help too. i was just responding to shorty who was being a dick lol

m R g S r

Well I have everything needed to TIG now, just gotta get straight argon instead of the argon/co2 mix we have.

And scratch start sucks, but it was the cheapest quickest solution to what I had to work with for the time being.

Hopefully by next year we can get the Manhattan College work shop together, right now it is terrible. my home shop is 100x better

spiceisler

I know what you mean. Usually I'll research it first then go to them with literature and part numbers in hand. I deal with Awisco, in Maspeth or Liberty in Bk.

kmt63

good to hear you got it sorted out.yea scratch start is a pita but you get used to it.i worked for a shop that did some field repairs.they had a little thermal arc dragster.its a 110 tig dc only.scratch start and gas valve on the torch.i got the hang of it pretty fast.one reminder.dont exceed your torch amp rating.if you have an air cooled torch dont go over 180 to 200 amps.

m R g S r

Thanks I wouldn't dare go over 150 with the torch at school. At home even welding with my sync and wp17, anything over 100 amps the torch starts to heat up fairly quickly, gets hard to hold at times even with the TIG gloves. Besides, It's not like I'll be welding plate, mostly tube for the baja.

kmt63

yea you shouldnt need to go over 100 amps for anything your doing on that sae car.i know what you mean about the mp17.i have a 180sd and would weld with it turned up all the way.it would get hot really fast.i just converted it to water cooled.that was well worth the efoort.