Years ago I had an old ESAB HF unit for tig welding. I took it apart to look inside and found that it was a Bosch ignition coil driven from a transformer with a spark plug and a capacitor, this produced the HF for tig ignition, just using the hf with the welding transformer turned of in the dark you could draw the spark out to nearly a meter and still see it. Got rid of it in the end as the HF would travel back up into the mains circuit and fry any electronics on the same meter, did two workshop fax machines in before I traded it in for a new tig machine which was less that half the power as the transformer unit was rated at 450 amps continuous at 95 volts.

Oh....Good job ! Nice Make ! Congratulation brother ! 😮😮😮 😊😊😊 ❤❤❤ 👍👍👍

This really is an excellent project. It might better be called "adding a HF start to an Arc Welder" but still, lots of GREAT information. Thanks for sharing your video!

For those of you talking about reversing the polarity, The polarity reverses at how ever many Hz the mains is at ( at lest where it enters the circuit. The frequency must be being driven up by the driver board to get the high frequency switching needed to generate that current. Being as he is using electromagnetic coils such as the fly-back and the home made transformer, the circuit is 100% AC, not DC. The alternating current passing through the blue coil is inducing an voltage in the black coil as it is the secondary in this transformer. The only place where DC may be found here is across his capacitor across the flyback transformer. It's important to note, that: 1. Transformers can NOT pass a DC. If he were to rectify the output of the secondary, then it would be DC. 2. Capacitors, such as the one he has here, or any for that matter, can NOT pass DC current. They only pass Alternating current. DC has no frequency ( as it's polarity never changes ). The Equation for this ( not for the math, but so if you are reading this, a little context to why) . Xc = 1 / 2πfC where : Xc = Capacitive Reactance. a "resistance" measurement of the capacitor. π = a tasty snack ( blueberry maybe? :)) f = Frequency C = capacitance The fact that f and C are both on the lower half of the equation on the right side, ( as in 1 / fc), indicates the the Capacitive reactance is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to the frequency and the capacitance, that means that as frequency lowers, the Capacitive Reactance (Xc) goes up. So at a Frequency of 0 (Direct current) the Xc would be infinite. infinite resistance means nothing gets through. Conversely, if we put an AC signal through the capacitor, AC current is allowed to flow, as it's frequency is not zero, so it's Xc would not be infinite. Also to note, a lot of the current generated in this setup comes from back EMF spikes (aka CEMF, Counter EMF, technical term is actually Counter EelectroMotive Force ) when the coil is turned off. Hence the higher the frequency, the more power. In a typical transformer circuit, you would have a flyback diode or freewheeling diode, reverse biased across the output to handle those spikes (shunting them to ground) in this scenario, we actively use them. They can be in the order of hundreds to thousands of volts. Now I have a HUGE pile of old drives here. I wonder how big of a capacitor I can make LOL! I've never seen that before with the platters. Physics never cease to amaze me.

@jacobyunderhill3999

11 ай бұрын

A transformer can only pass AC, but an inductor can pass both. You clearly have a solid understanding of theory but have misunderstood what's actually happening here. The current from the welder can ABSOLUTELY be DC, and only passes through one side of the diy transformer, effectively an inductor in that circuit. That DC can coexist perfectly happily with a HF AC signal induced from the flyback. This concept is used in nearly all vacuum tube circuits, for example, guitar amplifiers. You send +300 VDC through one side of an output transformer to charge the plate (anode) of the tube, the signal from the grid imparts an AC modulation on the DC which is coupled via the transformer of which the other side is connected directly to a speaker. The speaker never sees the DC and happily transduces the AC modulation as sound. The topology is very similar here, the signal path is just reversed. The isolated flyback circuit takes the place of the speaker, and instead of the AC-modulated-DC going to a tube plate, it's the TIG tip.

@jasonbarnes8047

11 ай бұрын

They're talking about reversing the electrodes that the handle and clamp are plugged into. As in the work piece needs to be swapped in polarity with the tig torch. Its needed to switch for certain welding methods or wire types

@TheDivergentDrummer

11 ай бұрын

@@jasonbarnes8047 yup. Am aware. You are referring to DCEN vs DCEP. Difference being one gives more penetration and the other more cleaning of the weld. Doesn’t change the fact that a transformer can not pass DC, and work on AC only. The Electrode and ground side are connected directly to the output of the secondary. If you take a multi meter across this leads measuring voltage, you’ll see, it’s ac voltage. A transformer, works on AC ONLY and CAN NOT PASS DC. There is NO rectifier after the winding the torch is connected to.

@jasonbarnes8047

11 ай бұрын

@@TheDivergentDrummer then you really wanna look into how dc flybacks work cause you're actually wrong they do work with DC, they have to be pulsed or zero volts switching ie zvs drivers.

@TheDivergentDrummer

11 ай бұрын

@@jasonbarnes8047 then please show me where the secondary, that is directly attached to the hot and neutral sides of the transformer ( not the fly back, the home built job it’s as that is the last coil in the circuit) is rectified into DC. Alternatively, I am open to your explanation of HOW the AC coming out of the transformer is DC. There is no diode to even half rectify the waveform on the output. "Does Tesla coil produce AC or DC? AC In coils that produce air discharges, such as those built for entertainment, electrical energy from the secondary and toroid is transferred to the surrounding air as electrical charge, heat, light, and sound. The process is similar to charging or discharging a capacitor, except that a Tesla coil uses AC instead of DC." The fact is, a transformer can NOT produce a DC voltage. It is AC that needs to be rectified. With a frequency of 0, there will be NO magnetic flux field change and therefor no current present. HOWEVER, pulsed DC can be used in a coupled induction scenario as he has here. That is, only if the driver is pulsing the DC on and off to generate the change in mag flux. As mentioned before, the back EMF caused in the secondary can be in the order of the hundreds to thousands of volts, and a regulated transformer will heat up , reducing it's efficiencies. The only way to 'reverse' the polarity, is to redesign the flyback driver so that it is pulsing the negative half cycle, not the positive.

coolest intro I have seen for a welding channel with the stop motion etc

Very excited to see the plasma cutter video. Awesome work!

That spark gap sure makes some interesting broadband radio interference...

@mb-3faze

11 ай бұрын

Wifi? What wifi? :)

@alexfaught8717

11 ай бұрын

I came here to make this comment, I feel sorry for any radio operators that may be nearby, or vital medical equipment for that matter.

@swicked86

10 ай бұрын

So does my tig welders high frequency start, even impacts the florescent lights.

I love this kind of content, it's right up my alley!

Absolutely fantastic!!!

4.17 the perfect level of crazy, awesome tutorial

በጣም አሪፍ አሳብ ነው ያካፈልከኝ ምርጥ ስራ ነው

You are great. You explain things in an easy and simple way. Thank you. I will try to make this modification on my machine, but after college 😅

@oddjobbob8742

2 ай бұрын

Become a welder and tell college to get effed.

Bro you using argon looks like compressed air to cause a flame like that .....good build i like 👍

@izzowm

3 ай бұрын

I didnt see any argon here. Its needed as an air shield.

Eres muy bueno si señor !!!!

This project is very good!

Excellent tutorial, very cool

you still need shielding gas like ARGON which would give you a much more stable arc. Everytime I use C02/argon mix the TIG goes nuts. Where as if you use 100% argon on a mig it will literally throw the weld.

Από μετάφραση στα Ελληνικά!! Γάμησε τα.

Enjoyed the video. Looking forward to seeing the plasma cutter.

great video but one thing the reason you are throwing so many sparks and burning holes so fas is that you need to us a 100% argon sheilding gas. great vid just wanted to help

This is really cool! I did think of something similar for my own welder. When Tig welding the handpiece must be the negative pole. Otherwise the tungsten burns up very fast. And with every other welding method it has to be positive. Thats because the positive side always gets hotter than the negative. When you are tig welding you dont want your tungsten to get too hot. With every other method you want to melt of wire or an electrode so you even want it to get very hot.

@franciscoferreira-eh1yu

11 ай бұрын

There os no positive nor negative in this machine. Also DC do not weld alumínium. You are confusing with some thing else

@Psyden5757

11 ай бұрын

@@franciscoferreira-eh1yu He didn't mention aluminum anywhere in his comment

@franciscoferreira-eh1yu

11 ай бұрын

@@Psyden5757 I Just added. I mean why would some one mod a Transformer to tig If there is no need tô weld alumínium ? Also good that you comment because after i post i remember that the hv/RF output IS in fact pulsed DC. But the Power source from where the current really comes is Ac. So there is DC in the machine but i highly doubt Ac in those levels affect the electrode consumption

and for the coil if you want to use the first method with the copper tube, you need to get a LCR meter, or measure LCR with a function generator and scope (at lower frequencies its cheap to make a LCR circuit with any old function generator) so you can get the inductance and the coupling right. A real coil from a welder has a bus bar wrapped like you did (similar size), but inside they have a ferrite rod that is wrapped in wire, then put in a teflon sleeve, then thats put in the coil. They do not wrap the wire in between the primary coil like you did. I think this leads to much higher *unwanted* capaictive coupling (its like a common mode vs differential mode thing). The ferrite rod I am not sure about the material. I hate rod inductors and I don't blame you at all for giving up on that, I don't know how critical the material is, but you got the size right. If you try again, try with a iron (rusty) nail, wrap it in wire loosely spaced like the coil, put a sleeve on it, then slide that into the tube. For high frequency I think you want a common zinc material (found in power supplies and such) 70 series or something.

Very Good, your workshop.

❤Good job man love you from India punjab Amritsar

I have. Seen some very interesting things welded in TIG, I have wanted to do somthing like your saying you want to do, but, its somthing which can change the industry once its seen, so. I hold back at this time to make comments on it. But keep up the good work, 👍

Enjoyed that pal. Now I just need to find an old TV, an old microwave oven and several old computers. 👍

excelente video. lo voy a intentar

Amazing bro👍🏾

for the HV insulation, get yourself a big piece of teflon heat shrink. You need alot of heat to shrink it, and get it close to the right size because it does not shrink as nicely as regular heat shrink, but this will be miller quality

you haircut looks excelente tho. congrats

Coming over from the other channel! Been a subscriber for many years. Keep it up!!

Eu gostei do projeto ! Mas a solda tig nao usa gáz também ou usou algum eletrodo que nao presisa do gáz ? Eu gostei do seu projeto ! Parabéns!

Good job I am trying the same thing right now but I am using a car coil instead of a fly back, I am experiencing with a air core transformer ,I don't know how to do the math for how many truns so it is one to one right now. Thank you for the video I will try to return the information with a video of my own.

Great video. I still have questions that I need to research though.

You need to provide argon to the tiger torch

There’s an old trick used back in the 50’s & 60’s we just connected a 12 V car battery into the welding circuit. There’s a great diagram in the Lincoln Welding Book

nice all made cheaply and easy very good

Wow this is awesome

14:11 you can easily make a foot pedal from (preferably) a non-conductive material like wood, a few screws, and one or two compression springs. Oh and the same pressure switch. Just make a housing that holds that switch with holes for wiring and two screws to function as pins. Make a pedal that slides easily in and out of the housing. The. Attach one end to the housing with some screws or bolts and loose enough to allow rotation on that axis. Put one or two compression springs slightly closer to keep the pedal slightly adjar. Mechanically attach the pressure switch inside and if necessary add a nipple to engage the switch if your sorings require too much compression before closing the switch. Make sure the springs are powerful enough to open the switch and functions as a Deadman switch.

Well done. Are you using argon gas? Your tungsten is burning up hence the flame.

Beautiful!

btw I highly recommend getting the flip vise with tube jaws or building a tube holder out of a lathe chuck that fits in the vise. It's soooo much better. I brazed a old lathe chuck to a block of steel for this purpose.

This is fascinating and just a little terrifying. I did learn the autotransformer method for getting the HV into the welding current, grazi for that. Doing it this way makes it possible to put a pressure switch for the argon in there so you don't forget to turn it on, not that I ever did that 37 times... 😅

@kde5fan737

11 ай бұрын

How did you use an autotransformer to get the HV welding current? I have a number of variac's (autotransformers) and would be interested in trying that. I think I have 1, 2.5, 3, 5, 10 & 15 amp units (all 120v). Which size would be appropriate?

@jimsvideos7201

11 ай бұрын

@@kde5fan737 He used the transformer to inject the HV into the welding current; I don't recall how he generated it in the first place.

@oddjobbob8742

2 ай бұрын

My wife’s favorite number to use for extreme indefinite is also 37. Interesting. Is that you dear?

Anche in inglese ! 😮 Grandeeeeee

Great Idea, im just questioning myself if i can use this also with a regular stick-welder. So you would always get a great spark without need to initial touch the material with the rod

Lots of work... There was no way the stainless steel core would work. Most of the time stainless is non-magnetic so a very poor choice for a magnetic core. The version with the transformer is not that much better given that the transformer core is intended for low-frequency currents. You either need no core at all (i.e. just air) like in Tesla coils, or a HF core made of ferrite. But your enthusiasm is contagious !

@hhkk6155

2 ай бұрын

Ideal? Absolutely no. Will work? Absolutely yes

@alexwang007

Ай бұрын

You want a core material with good permiability (higher than air) to guide the flux from one winding to the other. An air core also works, just makes your inductance really low meaning it would prefer a much higher frequency without having huge current consumption. (Hence why Tesla coils are usually loosely coupled transformers with 100s of kilohertz of resonant frequency). The impedance of an inductor is j*2*pi*f*L ohms, so a lower inductance would draw a lot more current at a given frequency than a higher inductance. This gets more complicated when you want to match the transformer's impedance to the discharge circuit to ensure maximum power transfer. So stainless steel isn't ideal.

@jihellechat1785

Ай бұрын

@@hhkk6155 even nothing (i.e. vacuum) would work...

@hhkk6155

Ай бұрын

@@jihellechat1785 yup

excelente proyecto. me imagino que podrá soldar aluminio porque debe ser corriente alterna, lo mismo quiero hacer yo , felicitaciones por su trabajo gracias por compartir sus experiencias.

Nice hair cut,,,,very handsome...and ur machine very good

Briliant ! ❤

Dude U need a BIG Diode chain for the output end of that circuit Thanks for Sharing your work…subbed !!

TIG = Tungsten Inert Gas welding process where an inert gas, typically Argon is used to shield the molten metal from Oxygen. You didn't have a gas cylinder or a hose connection to the gas inlet of the TIG torch. That may be why your results didn't look very good. Also the welding machine you are using is an AC machine. Typically AC is only used with TIG for aluminum. You need DC for steel and other ferrous metals. Overall, your "contactless start" HF adapter is pretty clever and demonstrates the inner workings of many TIG welding power supplies.

@raf6009

Ай бұрын

Correct on both points, no argon kiss the tungsten goodbye. Will need a bridge rectified output.

your capacitors burnt because they were shorting between their legs during your first tests, you should have insulated their pins as much as possible..

Awesome.

In my miller syncrowave, the coil is an aluminium bar about 25mm x 5mm wound on edge with an insulated coil core.

"You cannot make mistake" Me: Hold my beer

Love your project! It is very creative. I've never seen a TIG arc throw sparks like that. I'm curious if you actually used any shield gas. Pure argon would be best for what you are doing. About 15 cubic feet per hour for that small cup on your torch. More for a bigger cup; you want to maintain laminar flow. If it gets turbulent oxygen from the air mixes with your shield gas. Sorry I don't know the metric conversion but a guy like you won't have any trouble. Best wishes from USA!

@_FJB_

4 ай бұрын

All of the popping was the absence of shielding gas.

would this work with a more modern inverter welder? i would be nice to have high frequency start and not have to use the "lift tig"

Does this work with switching PSU IGBT MIG machines?

Could that doodad be used to make the tig welder useful for welding aluminum? As I understand it inexpensive tig welders are DC only which won’t weld aluminum because you need the alternating current if AC to keep breaking up the oxide layer on the surface to weld Aluminum. That “buzzzzz” sound I can hear sounds like alternating current.

Like project.

Does it weld ac aluminum?

Rulof what is your best advice to us beginners and no knowledge at all but willing to learn your teaching? Thanks!

And you can control the hf with an arduino with a timer very cool set up!!

@Ma_X64

11 ай бұрын

The MCU will go insane with that amount of EM-noise.

@Evilslayer73

11 ай бұрын

@@Ma_X64 You have to insulate the arduino from the rest like a faraday cage or just put longer cable away from hf with ferrite choke

great video

What gas do you use with tig welder?

Do you try a change the rod for ferretir with espiral. Do you use high frequency. Ferrite is better.

does it work on stick welder ? why not use electric gas stove lighetr unit ?

Guess I missed the need to use shelding gas. There is a comersial device that adds high frequency called a "TIG-PIG" granted it's more $$ but it will do AC which is prefered,if not needed for Aluminum (yes you can weld Al on DC but will eat up your Tungstan and not give good cleaning). With out hi frequency I've never been able to hold a TIG arc. AC Stick electrodes have something in the flux coating that maintains the arc. Your video did explain a lot of things that I never quite understood before. Tanks.

@astr0creep6x6x6

11 ай бұрын

The legendary Arc-pig!

If you have a smooth flow of argon already it may be possible you need to reverse the polarity. I am not an expert, but I know if the DC power flows the wrong way it will throw sparks like this. If that is ok maybe the argon is flowing too fast, blowing the puddle away. Could use a bigger ceramic cup as well.

@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498

11 ай бұрын

this is not a rectified but AC current, possibly good for Aluminium welding but, the duty cycle is fixed to 50% and frequency fixed to whatever you have in your mains supply (50Hz or 60Hz). The tungsten will ball like it does in Aluminium welding so use the same electrodes used for Al welding. You will not get much penetration but should be enough for non-critical hobby welding. It could also be used for stick welding cold starting.

@deepwinter77

7 ай бұрын

​@@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498 Idk it would be pretty tough AC Welders are biased towards the negative the 0 point is about 70 negative with adjustments up or down from there. I'd imagine it would be tough on the tungsten, It would be interesting to see how usable it is.

Bro I appreciate what you've done. But that TIG FLAME is so unstable, and veery LARGE!

@Deutz-fahr-fan

7 ай бұрын

What’s the solution? Lower gas pressure or lower current?

@avocadoarms358

6 ай бұрын

@@Deutz-fahr-fanI reckon an experiment video is in order

@tjswift3248

6 ай бұрын

The solution is to add a bridge rectifier and capacitors to the welding machine and that will fix the flame problem.

Did you use any gas?

wudent it work if you rectified the Ac corant to DC.

Need 20kv capacitors 3 series and all others in parallel.... I like hdd capacitor....quite awesome

Hey man awesome information! The gas pressure is really too high. There is a regulator we use i think a flowmeter. I like my c10 gas to be at like 30cfm if im MIG welding. I think tig is less, ill check on monday lol. It seems like your gas pressure was very high. Seriously man, dope channel. Wish you the best.

Very good ❤❤❤

Just switch the polarity and run your ground clamp on the tig torch terminal. Hook up argon and done....

weld aluminum ?

Bet you all he will make his era👌

I like the capacitor alot, just be sure to clean it very well before assembly *ultrasonic recommended) and deburr the edges o the sheets so they come together real nice, you don't want a bur preventing it from sitting beautifully. I also recommend brazing a copper sheet piece to the disks so you can solder it to a wire (I recommend a teflon wire or better yet a bus wire with a extra thick teflon tube put over it, it will be like a real component). You don't want arcing on the interface between the capacitor plate and the wire that leads to corrosive gas build up (nitrogen dioxide etc) that leads to a contamination failure.

@kde5fan737

11 ай бұрын

Is there any reason to use those old platters vs a thin piece of aluminum (if it is cut & prepped correctly)? I could get different thicknesses of Al if this matters & have it laser cut to shape (as well as the insulator - I have acrylic, polycarbonate, LDPE, HDPE, UHMEPE & PP). I'd like to build a nice HV cap and ideally make it as light as possible. So I'm just curious as to the reasoning for the plate selection (hard drive disc vs other material). also, wouldn't something other than the HD platter allow for more capacity/storage due to the differences in finish? With the super polish (sputter coated?) platter I would think there are not a lot of microscopic imperfections (peaks, valleys, etc) which would be present on rolled sheet aluminum - which I would think would give more surface area. I wonder if surfaces could be prepped to give a lot more surface area by using an acid or base to dissolve a little of it away.?

@cdrom1070

11 ай бұрын

@@kde5fan737 idk, the impedance is lower though with a smooth surface. But the wire is like a giant choke to that difference. Very high frequency microwave stuff is mirror polished to keep impedance lower and more stable. IDK about the capacitance, it would be interesting to see if you can pick up that difference But high frequency microwave PCB have surface roughness specs that are hard to meet. I bet the hard drive makes a more stable capacitor. Does it really matter for a welding machine though... idk probobly not. Maybe if its robotic and very precise. To test it though would be hard, you would need a pin fit capacitor that has identical plates of both materials (replicate hard drive plate with bad surface) and compare both of them on a precision LCR meter. I think the differnece would be so low that you would need a very stable mechanical setup to pick it up reliably.

@kde5fan737

11 ай бұрын

@@cdrom1070 Thank you very much for the reply! You cleared up a bunch of my questions!

@SheikhN-bible-syndrome

11 ай бұрын

​@@kde5fan737 you don't have to use those plates he just use those for the wow factor you can use regular aluminum in fact you could use copper heated to get the red oxide layer and that will increase your capacitance

Super!

and you should put a momentary contact switch for the trigger so it just has a starting arc and turns off immediately after starting the arc so you save your electrodes. I think it would work without any electronics 1 shot

Like the new channel!

Loved this video What size is black and blue wires used in transformer and said you used 2.5 mm of plexiglass for insulator on homemade capacitor but looks like 2.5 cm building a replica for myself so want to be sure

@whatevernamegoeshere3644

11 ай бұрын

The size of the blue wire doesn't matter the least bit, you can even use 0.14mm2 if the insulation is good enough, the black one looked like 16mm2 but look up an ampacity table to find one that works for your welding current. 16mm2 is good for about 80A max on the long run

Itu sangat mudah kawan,anda tinggal menambahkan modul high volt frekuensi pada output las lama anda untuk membuat seperti video tersebut

HI mate!!! please could you make a welding device similar to Multiplaz 3500? Thank you.

Bene, but why does the spark eventually ceases to be stable in the glass container after you started the welding process? Is this just initiating the "first" spark?

عمل جيد good😊❤

Please make a video about that I would like to evolve my welding machine into a similar Direction

Weird build, least there is nothing immediately dangerous on this one like the plasma video, there are questions like does it supply enough current to initiate the spark? did you even research the current required? will it just extinguish soon as the Argon is applied?

for a better spark gap, buy a teflon block and mill a slot in the middle. or cut a v into it, for people that want to make it slightly better

That plasma cutter will be cool

how about absorption circuit?? all h.v. goes back in to welding machine, it wont work for long...

😂😂eso es genial si funcionará por lo menos tienes mucha imajinacion

Good Job, you can give this plains to assemble this machine please ❤

Very nice😊😊😊

You can wear more flexible gloves for TIG. They are usually white. You should wear them and check flexibility.

If you're using a 12 o clock to start my couldn't use the fly back why you need to spark gap connected through the welder

Complimenti per come parli in inglese , ci sono KZreadr con una pronuncia tale da farmi venire l orticaria .

Exelente videos!!!! Por favor traduzca en español! Gracias saludos desde Argentina!

@leandrolucas4897

11 ай бұрын

hay un botón que dice subtitulos justo al lado del dibujito del engranaje -

@NelsonBarbero

11 ай бұрын

@@leandrolucas4897 si se amigo pero no me da la opción en español aquí en Argentina......

@NelsonBarbero

11 ай бұрын

@@leandrolucas4897 ahí recién carga la opción.....no se porqué pasá que avese te da sólo subtitulado en inglés....... Gracias lo mismo por tu buena predisposición!!!!!!!

@leandrolucas4897

11 ай бұрын

@@NelsonBarbero yo también soy de argentina. yo desmonté mi tig para cambiar los potenciometros y tiene flyback también el coilair

Were you trying to TIG with no gas ?