Hi All, I was reading ed craig's weldreality last night and got to thinking about my own welding practices; specifically setting up. Most of my selding is done on site with a small Lincoln sp-170 and this has only two controls, a 5 setting switch for voltage and another for feed. Setting it up is pretty easy since I use it all the time, but I sometimes think there could be a better setting. We use .045" flux core for most of or galv work and mild steel and .035" solid core with gas for stainless. I set my voltage until I get the penetration I want on a test piece and then dial in the feed until it sounds/feels right.
In the workshop its a different story entirely. We have a bunch of welders there, and they're all different makes and models. Most have just been bought over the years depending on feelings at the time. All are large 3 phase models in the range of 300~500 amps. Setting the voltage source on these guys almost makes me dizzy, some of them have more switches and controls than my car. I dont get enough weld time on any one machine to get to know it's characteristics, so I spend too much time getting voltage right. Dialing in feed is pretty easy once I've got it set though. We use c02 in the shop, and I dont really adjust the flow often. It's either enough to shield the piece or it isnt.
Reading the welding quiz at weldreality made me think there must be a more systematic approach to this. How many of you guys can walk up to any welder, loot at your workpiece, dial in every setting you need to and just weld away without a test? Are most people setting up on a test piece or do you just know?
Do any of you actually carry a multimeter around to find out how much voltage you're really getting? Finally, I was thinking of buying ed craigs book and maybe the video with the hope that I would really get up to speed with set up times and remove that nagging doubt about whether I could have a more optimal setting. Does anyone have any other suggestions re: better books or videos, or a review of ed craigs materials? It's a fair ammount of money to shell out without any idea of what you're getting.....