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Pulsed Mig?

Posted by hudson 
hudson
Andrew McNally
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Pulsed Mig?
February 06, 2011 10:33PM
Anyone here have any experience with Pulsed Mig?

IS it the cats pajamas for thin sheet metal?
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alkun
Albert Kun
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 07, 2011 02:04AM
The Lincoln mig machines with sst work like magic on thin sheet, as long as you remember to hook up the sensor lead...
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Sofa King
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 07, 2011 09:54AM
We have a Miller pulsed Mig machine here at work.
Have never used it for thin steel, but I've used it for Mn bronze, NiAl bronze, and stainless steel.
There are a lot of variables, and it's real easy to get way off track when making adjustments.
The phrase "tuning it to a standstill" comes to mind.

We keep a setup card with settings for various materials.
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hudson
Andrew McNally
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 07, 2011 04:52PM
I hear that you can lower the amount of heat input enough that it might just matter, it's nice for out of position work and improperly cleaned stuff.

I'm looking at plunking down on an Optima pulse mig control on a Miller XMT 350 CC CV.. which apparently isn't as good of a setup as the XMT 350 MPA.

Care to hazard a guess if I will what I did with myself before, or put it on Ebay in a week?
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hudson
Andrew McNally
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 08, 2011 06:59AM
This is the only relevant info I can really find.

"Pulsed MIG Improves Speed and Quality on Sheet Metal

Hollinger never had the need for an advanced Pulsed MIG welder until he began manufacturing oil and gas tanks out of 14- and 18-ga. sheet metal for another bike builder. Hollinger also supplied exhaust systems and c-pans, including some components up to 1/8-in. thick. To increase the speed of production without sacrificing quality, Hollinger turned to Pulsed MIG.

"We were dealing with a lot of light gauge steel and butt joints," he explains. "It was hard to use a standard MIG and control it without burning through the metal and have a bunch of ugly slag or poor sections in the vessel being welded. All of these parts are pressure tested. Using a welder with pulsing capabilities was the only way we were able to make it work."

Hollinger achieved the Pulsed MIG welds he was looking for with the Millermatic 350P. Pulsed MIG puts less heat into the work yet maintains good fusion, fast travel speeds and excellent bead appearance. While Hollinger was not an expert at Pulsed MIG, he quickly familiarized himself with the machine and achieved the results he was looking for.

"It became just like a fast TIG weld," he says. "It allows the metal to cool between the pulse so that we don't burn through, which not only improves the quality and strength but prevents us from having to spend time fixing it.""

Given that, I think I'll give it a go.
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starion887
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 08, 2011 07:15AM
I've used pulse mode on our TiG and it does the job for thin stuff that I couldn't do well otherwise. Makes it a lot smoother and very much more controllable.

Mark B.
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alkun
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 08, 2011 11:07AM
Quote
hudson

"We were dealing with a lot of light gauge steel and butt joints," he explains..

hee hee, he said butt.
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hudson
Andrew McNally
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 07:11AM
Hey Beavis,

I was off on a tangent with the Miller, but check this out

http://www.fan-austria.com/fileadmin/downloads/al2500_en.pdf

They basically claim the thing will do it for you winking smiley
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Sofa King
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 09:43AM
Good luck with the 400V input voltage.
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Tim Taylor
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 09:51AM
Demo a Lincoln with the new Constant Power, STT, and STT Open Root modes before you decide to buy. The pulsed cycles are better than normal CV MIG but not in the same league as STT and CP from my experience.
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hudson
Andrew McNally
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 11:24AM
Kevin, Transforming up from 200 is straight forward, the unit is probably 10k or so though, so it's moot.

Quote
Tim Taylor
Demo a Lincoln with the new Constant Power, STT, and STT Open Root modes before you decide to buy. The pulsed cycles are better than normal CV MIG but not in the same league as STT and CP from my experience.

I'll have to look at it.. ESAB also has some sanely priced pulsing migs.
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john vanlandingham
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 12:42PM
Can you just let up your finger on da trigger?
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hudson
Andrew McNally
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 12:55PM
Quote
john vanlandingham
Can you just let up your finger on da trigger?

I'm not very co-ordinated
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john vanlandingham
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 09, 2011 04:04PM
Quote
hudson
Quote
john vanlandingham
Can you just let up your finger on da trigger?

I'm not very co-ordinated

whelp if youse is un-co-nord-ninated-ed maybe youse shouldn't oughtter be welding.....

Can you pull the trigger?

Just assemble in reverse order!
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hudson
Andrew McNally
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Re: Pulsed Mig?
February 10, 2011 10:22AM
Quote
john vanlandingham
whelp if youse is un-co-nord-ninated-ed maybe youse shouldn't oughtter be welding.....

Can you pull the trigger?

Just assemble in reverse order!

That's a lot to remember John!

Well, since I'm on this wacky exercise, I'll point out this machine:

http://prospot.co.uk/sites/default/files/1266563943_5.pdf

3 mig torches standard for brazing, steel and aluminum.. plus more!
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