Thread: welder question

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iirc ive heard before a stick welder can be converted to a TIG. is this true?

yep if a ac/dc box you need to add a hi frequency box and a gas valve i have a tig and i arc weld with it wear rod and use it to weld iron it has a drop out on the frequency .it may be cheaper to find a old tig welder

i think the stick ive got is a AC

I have cables to convert my TIG to stick. They came with the welder. They are still in the bag, but ......maybe someday........ I'll dig then out.

do you know whats all in there to convert? and will a AC welder work or no?

Watch the price on the freq box and stuff, Miller and Lincoln both have little TIGS on the market now at very reasonable prices!!!!

My first TIG was built the same way, it worked, but I sure do like all the neat features on the new ones compared with it!

Hello, The ac-dc works fine,the dc works for steel, ac for aluminum ,but if your doing aluminum be sure you have a good quality stick welder and a water cooled torch. The buzz box welders work ok for steel, but can't handle the power for aluminum.
Brian

It can be can be done but you have a huge mess of cables, multiple boxes that's not very movable .

I have a nice TIG that has provision for stick if I ever need or want. Hasn't happened since I started TIG welding 45 years ago.

I took a dc arc welder and put a tig torch on it with argon gas and it worked ok for scratch start tig welding nothing like my real tig. ED

I have used both setups and will say it depends on your level of experience. Tagging pieces together to get the job done works, but it doesn't compare to a real TIG machine.
When you start putting a welder together piece at a time (Hi Freq, cooling tower, welder, ect) the cost can escalate rather quick.
If welding mild steel or stainless is your goal, tagging a torch & acessories on a DC machine works fine. If aluminum is in your future go with the TIG maching.

my first mig / tig was a scratch start steel only machine for tig snap on it was 1/2 the machine of my other two tigs that i have owned. it is nice to have ac/dc machine for welding alum and i have thumb controll on the tig torch .you do not need a cooling tower but nice i had a 250 amp air cool torch .it did get abit warm when welding alum heads . i went to a smaller torch body that liquid cooled .i have no cooling tower i run tap water to the torch and collect it in a barrel

Pat, I have ran tap water on several torches here. Our water comes from the Ohio River and the added chemicals are murder on the torch heads. The deposites left from the heat & chemicals looks like petrified tooth paste.
Just finished a yearly service on my cooling tower today. Now I got to start the patch work.

are water must be good torch heads seams fine .but my shop water line time to time will freeze up so when i get some mad money i may buy a tower .seams its alot harder on the torch when someone turns off the water when i am welding or i forget to turn the water on

Just replaced a torch myself. Seems in my haste I forgot to turn on the cooling tower. (Note to self, tag that recepticle to the switch on the welding machine..)

One would think after 45+ years of welding I could remember a small detail like that..

Originally Posted by drsmtl

Just replaced a torch myself. Seems in my haste I forgot to turn on the cooling tower. (Note to self, tag that recepticle to the switch on the welding machine..)

One would think after 45+ years of welding I could remember a small detail like that..

i have a big red sticker .turn water on .. have it on the welder face plate. i have a note on my boring bar .air on ??