I have a ranger 8, it has low hours and I am interested in getting tig on it so I can start educating myself. I know the guys at the welding store told me it did not have as fine control as an actual tig machine......but I don't have $2200 just to practice, figure they have'nt noticed the economy lately.
What is it that I need, specifically, to run tig on this? I thought I heard it could be done for about $300? I know I need a regulator, tig gun and foot pedal? Will it give a nice looking weld? Not "WOW" welds but a decent good looking weld? This of course will be after I actually learn how to do it, I know the weld will probably look like crap at first.
Any thoughts? Advise? I'm really interested in the tig, kinda like my moon landing mission if you will. If you have any suggested sites that would help.
Thanks for any info,
Shawn
According to Lincoln, to TIG welding with a Ranger 8 (Ranger GXT 225) you would need a TIG Module K930-2 $1200.00, Control cable for the TIG Module K936-4 $50.00, Arc Start Switch K814 $65.00, Contactor Kit $519.00. One of my local welding suppliers is selling this new model TIG welder from miller for around $1350.00.
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/diversion_165/
Hello Shawn, if you want to do basic scratch-start tig on steel/stainless steel you could get by with what they call a "scratch-start, dry rig". This is an air-cooled torch with a manual gas valve and is connected directly to the negative/- terminal on your machine and then you would connect the ground to the positive/+ terminal(in other words, straight polarity). You would also need an Argon bottle and regulator/flowmeter. You would need to set your heat with the controls on the machine panel and would not have the capability to vary it. To start the arc you could use a couple of different methods, yet they all include striking the arc with the tungsten itself as opposed to using high-frequency to initiate the start or an alternate starting circuit called lift-arc. This is as basic as it gets, yet it does allow you to tig weld. Total cost for equipment is probably between $250 to $500 depending upon whether you have a bottle or not and whether you purchase new equipment or used. If you use the search function on the forum you can probably find some threads that will describe in more detail how scratch-start tig works. Hope this helps to answer some of the other questions that you may have. Best regards, aevald
Along with Allan's excellent advice, you can also pick up a used HF starter box & can see them for as little as $200 in some cases. The Lincoln TIG module as was mentioned, or the Miller 250-1 or 251-D. As he said, you have no remote output on the machine you have, so you would have to set the controls & make any adjustments from the panel of the machine. Adding a foot pedal will allow you to turn the gas & HF on & off if you were using a setup like this. You can also build your own 115 VAC contactor for MUCH less than Lincoln or Miller want for theirs.
PM me if you want more info about it, I'll give you my number. Good luck! Steve.
Aas mentioned, You can do scratch start DC TIG without a large investment.
You can add the remote output kit to a Ranger 8 and get a contactor kit that fits on the Tig Module. This is the expensive rout, but it gives full function AC/AD TIG with HF and remote amperage and contactor control.
Lincoln cautions in the manual that any HF unit other than the Tig Module needs to be used with bypass capacitors to prevent damage to the welding machine from HF backfeeding to it.
Lincoln Tig Modules are few and far between on eBay, and usually bring $500-$600. They are the only ones that really "plug & play" with Lincoln machines, however You could probably get others to work.
The lincoln Ranger machines use a 10K ohm pot for amperage control, Miller gear is NOT compatible in this area.
If I was you I'd wait on the foot pedal, most places aren't going to supply them for you anyways. If you are working for yourself than I suppose you may have a need for it but most of the guys I've been around who like to use them have been involved in aerospace but you can get perfectly acceptable results by "feathering" the arc out at the end of the weld.
I didn't know you had to have bypass caps on a Lincoln machine with a competitive HF box on it. You always have something new to learn from every time I read one of your posts, Dave. I hope you're doing OK. :-)
I have never ran TIG off a Ranger machine myself. I suppose he could always hook up another brand HF box to it, with said caps as you mentioned. I wonder how much actual practical truth there is to Lincoln's statement. I know lots of guys who run those Miller boxes on SA 200's with no issues. They just plug them into an AC outlet.
I would just stick with scratch start, like you mentioned, unless he wants to run AC. I have always heard that the AC power those air cooled machines produce isn't real good anyways. At least the people I have talked to who have done it have said. The Miller manual doesn't rate the Bobcat, etc as excellent for AC TIG either.
Who knows? Probably someone besides me. :-)
Take care. S.W.
Steve, the Miller HF boxes MAY have the caps built in, but Lincoln wouldn't tell You that. The older Lincoln HF units DID require a bypas cap if used on a Ranger, it was an add on kit. Some older machines might not have anything that is sensitive to backfed HF, so perhaps a cap kit isn't always needed.
I thought that Miller's not rating the Bobcat as "Excelent" for AC tig had to do with it's lack of a built in contactor and remote current control, but as I don't have any experience with it I don't know.
In as much as I do finally have all the gear to use My Ranger 9 for AC/DC TIG I havn't actually tried it yet, so I can't say how well it will perform. There was a guy in New Jersey using one for aluminum tube work on boats [towers, railings, T tops, etc.] so I guess it is at least OK. This machine falls someplace in between a Bobcat and a Trailblazer in features.
It would be something I needed and had to have before I farted with it. Add the cost of operating the machine to it.
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