Add Pulse Functionality To TIG Welder

By Jattus Date 05-23-2015 21:26

Hey guys,
I have been reading around on the forums for a while and finally decided it was time to make a post. (hopefully in the right section! haha)
My wife and I are designing/building devices that add pulsing functionality to TIG welder machines (welders that don't come with pulse functionality, such as the Miller Diversion 165 and 180).
I am hoping that the community can benefit from it. I would greatly appreciate any feedback/advice/criticism that you guys have.
I'm hoping to be able to make these for people for a variety of different welders, and make sure it has all of the required functionality that people want. It has also been a fun project so far! And to put this out there, I am an engineer and am not the greatest welder... I'm still learning.
Here is what I am hoping to get some discussion going on about:
1. What are your thoughts on the settings/features that I have that are currently adjustable? (listed below) Is there anything that I am missing, or something that you would like to see?
2. What other welders are you guys using that I can build these devices for? Any inverter style TIG welder with an auxiliary input (pedal for example) should do.
3. What do you think of my project so far?
Thanks guys!

Specs:
* Square, Triangle, Sawtooth wave forms
* Pulse frequency is adjustable between 0.5 HZ and 50 HZ (1 pulse every 2 seconds to 50 pulses per second)
* Duty cycle and background amperage are both adjustable between 5% and 95%
* I have a delay before pulse start setting (gives time to get arc started before pulsing starts)
* 3 configurable profiles
* When device is turned off, welder reverts back to normal operation

Photos:

And a youtube video in case you want to see how this puppy works!

By 803056

Date 05-25-2015 02:37

Interesting. As usual, it will boil down to the cost of the "add on" versus purchasing a new power supply.

Best regards - Al

By Jattus Date 05-25-2015 16:20

I'm wanting to keep the cost down to under 350... I figured at that point its affordable and can save a significant amount of money. (Especially when compared to its counterpart that has pulsing functionality)

By pipewelder_1999 (****)

Date 05-25-2015 17:05

That looks nice. I had recently seen a few videos of someone designing a pulser utilizing the low cost Arduino microcontrollers. Not sure if he ever got it up and going but for a sub $100.00 set of components, it was pretty neat.

I would like to see this if you are taking suggestions.

Currently a voice recognition card can be added to the Arduino (and I am sure others) for < $100.00. A voice recognition remote control seems very possible. Even if it were wired to the machine it could be a great aid for welding.

I started piddling with the Arduno for the voice controlled remote idea but my learning curve has been pretty steep and I am still working on just getting the basics of electronics in my head.

Looks like a pretty neat add on.

Keep us posted.

Have a great day

Gerald
Greeneville Tn

By Blaster (***)

Date 05-25-2015 19:00

I like the delay feature... It would be nice if every pulse capable power source had this.

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 05-26-2015 15:08

The issue to me is this: The functionality of all this pulsation for DC GTAW is going to be a benefit to about 100th of 1% of things welded with GTAW and DC. The people who do need the higher functionality generally can afford to buy a Tig power supply that has pulsation from the factory. Things like pipe/tube etc. are not being joined with entry level Lincolns and Millers.

What you are doing is cool !

Besides bicycle frames, a few autogenous stainless food grade projects and not much more, I just don't see where pulsed DC GTAW is going to help.

What benefits can you actually quantify with "triangle" "sawtooth" etc. DC waveforms ?

By kcd616

Date 05-26-2015 20:31

Lawrence,
99% correct
I do see something for it
I will be wrong :eek:

but nothing new :red:

high school and small college welding programs
entry level equipment gives learning at entry level price
keep the budget low and more bang for the $$$$
then when the student goes to someone like Milton for a job interview
they can say yes I know this process, I know how to run the equipment
we all have start somewhere, and learn all we can
just my thoughts
sincerely,
Kent

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 05-28-2015 17:33

I have to agree with Lawrence on this doo-hickey of an add on... Your post above is attempting to demonstrate how far one can customize the wave forms and you already admitted, the duty cycle drops, or something else becomes deficient... The need for the other waveforms listed??? Give us an example for a triangle or sawtooth, and can you customize those waveforms in the manner that is achieved by Lincoln or Miller and let's not forget ESAB??? With answering anyone of the questions I included will result in generating many more queries...

This last one (For now) question is regarding the limit of which process this add on can be used with... Have you tried this with GMAW???

I would be able to see some use for this type of add on if more than one process could be used with it... But when it comes to people working to codes or standards are concerned... You'll only end up being totally disappointed because for one thing, the factory installed power sources that have better, and probably more reliable equipment have had such a hard time convincing the code and standards committees in accepting the factory versions mainly because of the variety of design, calibration, capability and host of other differences between Mfger. A and Mfger. B or C! There are other reasons beside these that I will not mention because I can no longer post walls of text without becoming totally exhausted so I'll just stop here...

Another thing to consider... Unless these units are being made in China and even if you have some sort of patent protection, these add-ons will be copied and sold in the USA or anywhere else in the world for that matter @ 1/10th the price of what you are already charging for your version... Finally, I'll end here by wishing you all the best and good fortune yet at the same time, please don't quit your day job without expanding the capabilities of what this can offer and does have in features already included.

Respectfully,
Henry

By Jattus Date 05-29-2015 15:24 Edited 05-29-2015 15:32

Triangle and sawtooth waves are just other pulse styles that give a slightly different welding profile. I wouldn't say they are common, but there is a lot of info about welding with these styles of waves vs. the standard square wave. I wanted to include all possible/useful waveforms that I could, so the user can use or experiment with as much as possible. I want the "toolbox" to be as full as possible you could say.

I have not experimented with something like this on GMAW... however, after a bit of research it looks like pulsed MIG is actually something that is practiced. That might be a good idea for these devices as well.

Not building something for fear of it being ripped off/copied is not a good excuse for not doing something. I take pride in my work and I enjoy building various devices, and if someone wants to rip it off then so be it. I would however try and protect my ideas as reasonably as I can (I am currently in patent pending), but I am not going to lose sleep over it.

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 05-29-2015 15:57

Not to be too picky but....

Triangular wave forms as applied to a "squarewave" scenario are absolutely limited to Alternating Current (AC) GTAW operations. If I understand what you have been saying, your equipment is limited to DC GTAW operations.

So you need to tell us more about what you have actually done and what each of these wave forms offer as far as impact on a weld profile.

I know what a triangular wave form can do with AC GTAW... I can't even make a mental picture of it with DC... Throw me a bone here.

By Jattus Date 05-29-2015 21:55

These wave forms are for AC or DC welding.... it interfaces to the machines auxiliary input... so for example if you are welding AC, and you have a 1 pulse per second, you will still get that 1 pulse per second... same with the triangle wave, etc. (you will still see the alternating current within the pulse specified).

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 05-30-2015 14:25

What is the maximum amount of Pulses per second can this device produce?

By Jattus Date 06-02-2015 18:48

I was able to experiment with different higher speed frequencies this weekend. I made a simple video below showing 10Hz, 20Hz, 30Hz, and 40Hz. At this time anything over 40Hz or so is not really feasible with this box and most auxiliary inputs on welders. I'm happy with it considering most people use pulse settings around 1Hz, or between 10Hz and 30Hz anyways (even though 500Hz and above would be cool... might be a future device).

I did this pulsing with 50% duty cycle, and 50% background amperage. Different weld profiles can be obtained by different combinations of settings... another popular one is to use 35% duty cycle with 35% background amps, and 30 Hz. I personally like 1.2Hz and 10Hz the best for general welding (especially on stainless exhaust manifolds).