Electrodes for 255 EXT

I don't have my welder or manual yet and I'm new to tig and my question is will any electrode work in any torch my 255 has a 9 flex head torch and a 20 standard water cooled torch ?. Before I order I thought I would ask here about what to get. I'm looking at 2% Lanthanated electrodes from Midwest tungsten how does this sound so far, and while I'm being a bother how about filler rod? When I finally get geared up to try this welder out when its a little warmer I will be welding some old dirty aluminum on my dump bed is there a rod suited for this type of welding? Thank you for your imput.

Mark

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by oleblu72

I don't have my welder or manual yet and I'm new to tig and my question is will any electrode work in any torch my 255 has a 9 flex head torch and a 20 standard water cooled torch ?. Before I order I thought I would ask here about what to get. I'm looking at 2% Lanthanated electrodes from Midwest tungsten how does this sound so far, and while I'm being a bother how about filler rod? When I finally get geared up to try this welder out when its a little warmer I will be welding some old dirty aluminum on my dump bed is there a rod suited for this type of welding? Thank you for your imput.

---

Mark,

I don't know if it's good for someone like me to give a recommendation, but think those will be fine.

I would suggest you do as I did and try to find a decent welding store in your area, and go there and buy some tungsten. I got some CK 2% Lanthianated tungsten in packs of 3. I think it was like $10 for 1/6" and $15 for 3/32".

The reason I mention this is that it's good to know your LWS in case you have a problem that they can help you with. I am fortunate to still have a small family owned welding shop near me, but my fear is that one day if they are gone, I will only have Airgas and Praxair. In the meantime I'm trying to patronize them, and the owner's Dad had helped me a couple times with my ox-acetylene tanks in the past. His wife and son still run the shop, and his son is not too old, so it seems their business is healthy. Unfortunately Dad passed away...:(

After the small shops are gone we will be forced more and more to the inet, and even today most of us all buy the bulk of our product on the inet, so it's a loosing proposition for brick and mortar.

My LWS has some reasonable deals on grinding disks, little sanding disks, wire wheels, stuff like that...and they have a reasonable price on argon, you're gonna need that...;) I bought a 125cfm tank off craigslist and took it to them, they swapped it for a full tank. They charge $68 to fill it. Has a fresh cert on it from Nov. which is good for 10 years. I just swap 'em out with them for $68.

And here's the thing...there might be a time when you need something for work you're in the middle of, be it electrodes, stick, gloves, clamps, consumables in general...and you will pay a bit more but your LWS could have that solution and save you waiting for it to ship...hug your LWS so they stay there in the future! :)

Alan

Good advice Alan I just bought some electrodes on Ebay. I had some Ebay bucks to get rid of so I thought I might as well buy some electrodes. I'll have to get in the phone book and see what I have close to me. I have an Airgas that I bought a couple of tanks off of but I can't think of any Mom & Pop stores around here. I have to bone up on alloys and get to know the numbers so I can choose the right filler rods. I have a Miller 251 that has a spool gun for aluminum and I've done some welding on my aluminum dump bed boy I'll tell you old aluminum is a real chore to weld. The old pores on that aluminum is all filled up with all kind of contaminants and you just can't get it clean enough, I've heard Easy Off oven cleaner works but I've never tried it yet. Thanks for your response Alan I appreciate it.

Mark

Mark,

I also like to visit any big box stores in my area, like OSH, HD and Lowes...I will end up at some of those over time and like to pop in and look to see what type of consumables they have in the tool section.

I'm pretty new to welding with an inverter, so that is why I prefaced whether I am qualified to say those electrodes were ok. My local welding shop sells Midwest as I recall, or OSH sells them. My big box stores carry some mig wire, and that is good to know cause the LWS is not open the same hours and in a pinch, some could be better than none. :)

My LWS has a great supply of wire of course...but they are not always open either. Big box is often open til 10:00pm. Isn't 9:30pm on a Saturday night when you might run out of something? Hopefully not argon. LOL

And I do hear you on that paypal, I sold a lathe chuck recently which I diverted to welding supplies through paypal, worked out ok. We all face this same issue, and this goes for buying American product also, less and less of it...even the big vendors. Lincoln helmets are made in China, their lower end machines are made in Mexico with China parts I have heard...eventually we're doomed. And in that regard is Everlast any worse than some of the low end machines from Lincoln or Miller...probably not too much...

Alan

Old hardware and auto parts stores are good places to find some dusty discounted items...other than that you covered it.

None of the Ebay stores were saying where their products were made Midwest led you to believe that they made their electrodes but who knows. Is there a big difference between domestic and foreign made consumables, I would imagine there is but is it enough to make inferior welds?

Another question I have about welding old aluminum is it possible to reweld a cracked weld without using filler rod by just using the torch itself or is this just not possible to make a decent weld? The reason I bought a spool gun for my Miller was because the fab shop I used to go to for aluminum repair started doing inferior welding. I had them reweld some cracked welds on my tailgate and the only thing the welder did for prep work was he hit the weld with a wire brush didn't grind out the crack he just ran a bead right on top of the old weld. I thought for what they charge for this crappy work I could buy a spool gun and do as well myself and the spool gun has already paid for itself many times after I finally figured out the reason I was burning off the wire and fusing it to the gun was because you need to run an oversize tip or the wire will burn off every time, I ruined a lot of tips before I found this out.


Mark

Mark

Gee, Mark/oleblu72,

You apparently have a 255EXT to arrive to you soon. Congradulations, as the EXT line is brilliant.

The short answer is, yes, the included sample pack of collets and collet bodies that come with the welder will probably be enough to match whatever size tungsten that you purchase to use, initially.

But, a size 9 TIG torch is up to the task of aluminum repair of a trailer, even if you could fit it with 1/8" tungstens. And a sized 20 is like a 9, but water-cooler, which would be pretty good for around 200 amps or a bit more, if you've also bought water cooler. Otherwise, a water-cooled 18 TIG torch might be better for heavier amperage aluminum repairs in the upper range of the 255EXT output.

You can easily put a 17 torch on the hose assembly that the 9 torch is on, which would give better duty-cycle than the 9 torch, enabling a 100% duty cycle at 150 amps and short periods at or around 200 or more amps. That would be a quick, easy, cheap solution to get one of those torch assemblies to have more duty-cycle without buying a water cooler. Or, if you don't want to buy a water cooler, an air-cooler 26 torch, along with a heavier 26 hose assembly will do 200 amp and more stuff at nearly 100% duty cycle. Of course, a water-cooled torch assembly will alway keep a cooler-torch-in-hand.

So, if you do get a 17 torch, it will fit onto the included hose assembly, but the collets and collet bodies from the included 9 torch will not work with the 17 torch, so you'd need some 17 torch consumables to go with an individual 17 torch. And, if you get a 26 torch, the 17 and 26 torch consumables (collets/collet bodies) are interchangable, even though torches themselves can't be swapped onto the other's hose assembly.

Here's a couple of suggestions, for an inexpensive 17 Flex torch and a set of stubby gas lens collet bodies, collets, and cups that go with about four different tungsten sizes. Now, the stubby gas lens kits are a little different/better than the standard stuff, but they still work on both a 17 and a 26 torch.

https://www.amazon.com/WP-17F-Weldin...s=17+TIG+torch

https://www.amazon.com/Weldflame-Stu...IG+torch&psc=1

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by oleblu72

I don't have my welder or manual yet and I'm new to tig and my question is will any electrode work in any torch my 255 has a 9 flex head torch and a 20 standard water cooled torch ?. Before I order I thought I would ask here about what to get. I'm looking at 2% Lanthanated electrodes from Midwest tungsten how does this sound so far, and while I'm being a bother how about filler rod? When I finally get geared up to try this welder out when its a little warmer I will be welding some old dirty aluminum on my dump bed is there a rod suited for this type of welding? Thank you for your imput.

Mark

---

I meant to say that a 9 TIG torch is probably NOT up to the task of aluminum trailer repairs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by christian

Gee, Mark/oleblu72,

But, a size 9 TIG torch is up to the task of aluminum repair of a trailer...

---

Thanks for your expertise Christian I appreciate it very much. I do plan to get a water cooler at some point but right now I need to learn how to tig so that will keep me busy for a while also its a little to cold to do any welding because my garage is not heated and it would cost a fortune to heat with its size 40x60 with a 17 ft. ceiling. And thanks for the info on the torch's that's very helpful as I will be buying a couple more torch's, thanks again Christian.

Mark

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by oleblu72

Another question I have about welding old aluminum is it possible to reweld a cracked weld without using filler rod by just using the torch itself or is this just not possible to make a decent weld?

---

Not really. You can, but it will usually crack right down the middle. Best is to vee out the old weld and if it is a high stress area that might not have been welded very good in the first place, or has been repaired a few times, grind out all the old weld to get down to the base metal and start over. Choose the right alloy for your application. 4043 is a little more ductile, while 5356 is slightly stronger. Those are the two most common alloys, but there a boatload of others for special applications. I think you mentioned Easy-Off as a cleaner, and while that does work pretty good to get out oils and grease, it leaves a black coating that you need to clean off. It really helps on things like cylinder heads that have been oil soaked. Acetone will also get a lot of crud off, but getting down into a deep crack is tough. As you weld the cleaning action will help to cook out some crud, too. Dial up a little extra cleaning and slow your travel speed to give it time to work. You can see it happening as you weld.

Thanks for your reply Rambozo. I kind of thought that it might not be a good thing to try with an old weld and old aluminum. I was at a Harbor Freak today and picked up a pair of tig gloves and took a look at their aluminum filler rod at $ 9.99 a lb. I figured I would stop at a local weld store and pick some up, thanks again Rambozo.

Mark

Just to follow up on this thread, DO NOT run a water cooled torch without a cooler, or tap water running through it! You can run a total coolant loss system with tap water. If you try and run a water cooled torch without any coolant, you will quickly burn up the torch. You need to decide if the cost of a 17 or 26 torch is worth it to handle higher amperage, or break down and but the cooler. A 17 should go up to about 150 amps, and a 26 will go up to about 200 amps, but they will get hot if your duty cycle is very long. Since you got the 255EXT, the cooler will be a wise investment. You can also build a cooler, lots of info on the internet on how to do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dgapilot

Just to follow up on this thread, DO NOT run a water cooled torch without a cooler, or tap water running through it! You can run a total coolant loss system with tap water. If you try and run a water cooled torch without any coolant, you will quickly burn up the torch. You need to decide if the cost of a 17 or 26 torch is worth it to handle higher amperage, or break down and but the cooler. A 17 should go up to about 150 amps, and a 26 will go up to about 200 amps, but they will get hot if your duty cycle is very long. Since you got the 255EXT, the cooler will be a wise investment. You can also build a cooler, lots of info on the internet on how to do it.

---

Well for right now I found a CK 26 torch for a decent price that I'll use for heavier welding probably get a cooler for down the road.

Mark