How do I make the arc quieter?

Hello,

I received a powertig 250ex in the mail this afternoon. I got it hooked it, it took me a while to understand how the flow meter works. When I first started welding I had the argon way too high, to the point where I was getting air in the weld, yucky mess.
When I opened the package, to my disappointment, and lifted the welder out of it's box, I just about dropped the box. It seems at some point the plastic that was holding the handle was damaged pretty badly, in fact most of the back plastic was wrecked. This caused the handle bar to slip from the broken plastic back and, blah blah, it wasn't joyful.
After a while of messing with the knobs, deciding that I'd rather use the foot pedal, I realized that the arc is incredibly loud. I am really surprised as to how loud the arc is. I don't think it's volume has anything to do with arc stability as the arc seems pretty stable to me. It's like someone is inside of my ear, beating on my ear drum at an insanely rapid rate.
An easy solution would be to put in ear plugs (I hate ear plugs), but I'd rather not. I haven't yet figured out how to wear ear muffs with a helmet on, if anyone knows how, I would love to HEAR about it (ba dum tsh). I have a pair of fantastic ear muffs that I have placed some headphone drivers into so I can hear my music while I do things like cut, grind and sand.

I have another question, how do I adjust the arc gaps? Are there even arc gaps? Honestly, I am pretty amazed at how well the arc starts up. 100% of the time, so far, the arc has started up for me without any sort of trouble and even when I've been a bit further away from the metal than I thought I could have been.
But I'd still really like to know.

This part is a bit of a complaint. I am pretty disappointed in some of the designed layout of the welder in general. The power switch is on the back, there are screws on the bottom of the case, I know the thing doesn't weigh a ton but it's still pretty aggravating. When I first got the welder, I went to do what I have done with all the other welders I have ever owned. I was going install the electrical wires that power the welder on terminals in the welder. I learned that this task seems difficult to impossible. I looked inside and saw some sort of white goo all over the terminals along with some other wires coming from them. It looked like a complicated mess, it certainly wasn't engineered to be done the way I planned to do it. I am puzzled as to why it wouldn't be the way the other welders were.

I think if I would have opened the box and seen damage, the FIRST thing I would have done is called Everlast. Not start taking the covers off to mess with wiring inside the welder. :confused:

Nanaf,
You need to call in and get a replacement for the panel.

The arc being loud? Welcome to welding. It is noisy, if you are in AC mode. The only reason to weld in AC is for aluminum, and that is what I am assuming you are doing, since a DC arc is quite, unless you have it set on a rapid pulse or something. You can quiten the AC down by reducing the frequency. Go to weldingtipsandtricks.com and watch the videos on our "pulse tig" settings to see how to set the units for Aluminum.

The white silicone glue is there to seal and prevent tampering as well as act as a glue to hold things in place. It ISN'T uncommon at all. Other companies use it. I believe this is the first complaint I have heard in the regard. As far as the switch being on the back, that is obvious and not hidden by any view of the welder we have on the site, as well as the online manual. And this is far from what I would consider a poor design or layout. People typically are thrilled with the units simple layout and design. It is NOT an unusual place to put it. I am not quite sure what you are talking changing the wires. We allow our customers a good bit of leeway in opening up the machines and making adjustments. But changing out the wire IS one thing that is strongly discouraged. The units have the right wires in them to start, and we typically have generous cable so that it could be wired directly into a subpanel box if it is desired. But changing out the wires internally WILL void your warranty unless directed to do so by one of us.

I've been welding for over a year. All of my welding experience comes from the use of transformer welders. When welding on aluminum, the noise I heard wasn't anywhere near that loud. I guess you are saying this is typical of inverter style welders in AC.
I wasn't opening the box to mess around with wires, I was doing what I've done with all other welders I've ever used. Some might call it hard wiring. Either way, plugging electrical cables directly into welding lugs inside of a welder, and many electrical devices, doesn't seem like a horrible thing or idea.
Some people like to have plugs, I'd rather just wire it straight in, skip the expensive plug and outlet setup, in my opinion they serve no purpose.

Welding with AC squarewave (inverter machine) will be a fair bit louder than AC sinewave (transformer machine). But squarewave is the way to go.

Chris
Brisbane Australia.

The length and gauge of your "hard wiring" is what makes it critical. Our unit is set up so you can hard wire the flexible cord directly into a subpanel if needed and is gauged and sized correctly. There is no need to mess with changing out the wires. We give a generous amount of wire so that you can wire it in as such. We do not have the machines designed for that type tampering for sure...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AussieChris

Welding with AC squarewave (inverter machine) will be a fair bit louder than AC sinewave (transformer machine). But squarewave is the way to go.

Chris
Brisbane Australia.

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Chris is 100% correct. There is quite a difference in sound and loudness/harshness between a sine wave machine and an inverter or square wave machine. Its more of a sharper type buzz with the inverter, some may find it more annoying than the transformer machines but the inverter is the only way to fly!
:cool:

A few things I've found that can influence the arc sound level / noise in AC mode -

1. Arc length. Holding a tighter (closer) arc will make the sound levels lower than a longer arc at the same amperage and all other maching settings. A tighter arc will also focus the heat more, and make the machine not work as hard to welding at a given current level (reducing the voltage across the arc.)

2. Gas flow rate. Excessive gas flow rate will make the sound level too high. Try reducing the flow rate. If you are using the Everlast flow meter, remember it reads in liters per minute, not cubic feet per hour. If its set too high you could be drafting air into the shielding gas and getting oxidation in your welds too. So definitely look into this one.

3. Machine settings, such as AC Balance, AC frequency, pulsing. When I tried 50% AC Balance, I noticed the higher frequency AC noises were gone compared to say, 20% EP AC Balance setting. But of course you get a *LOT* more heat on your tungsten that way, and probably aren't going to get away with keeping a sharp tungsten tip at 50% AC Balance. It would be a big sacrifice to make just to quiet the arc.

In AC or DC welding mode, high frequency pulsing (say, ~300Hz) can make a "hum" sound. The "humming" will be louder the more dramatic the difference is between peak and base current levels. If you turn pulsing off in DC mode, the arc should get really, really quiet, almost silent.