New (realy Old) Welder

Charley Davidson

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I haven't actually taken possession of it yet but I have bought an Airco 300 Squarewave tig/stick welder complete wit pedal/torch/leads it is a 3 phase but setup for single phase. Got it for less than 2 tanks of gas in a Ford Ranger. Can't wait to get it to my shop and play with it. I already have a like new water cooler and torch. Any of you have any experience with these welders? Good or Bad? Tips on it's useage? I'm assuming it's scratch start and I have no experience with that at all on tig
 
TIG is push the pedal and draw off an arc, feed (by hand) the filler rod. It is similar to torch welding, but easy. I haven't used a TIG welder for 35 years, and wish now I could rationalize one, but no, its not to be.
 
Airco welders are generally solid, i have not had the pleasure of tiggin on that powerplant, but i'm sure you'll be just fine with it.
Does it have high frequency???
 
G day Charlie,
If you can oxy weld with filler wire,you will be able to tig.

It is the basically the hand manipulation same, except you swop the gas heat source for an electric one. Keep in mind that the molten pool is what melts the wire filler and you are off to the races.

The wire filler should be kept within the cover gas envelope to avoid oxidising the tip.

I would be surprised if it did not have an HF start. from the few I have seen Airco stuff was built like a brick dunny and you can expect longevity from it.

Enjoy your new toy mate!

Ozwelder
 
G day Charlie,
If you can oxy weld with filler wire,you will be able to tig.

It is the basically the hand manipulation same, except you swop the gas heat source for an electric one. Keep in mind that the molten pool is what melts the wire filler and you are off to the races.

The wire filler should be kept within the cover gas envelope to avoid oxidising the tip.

I would be surprised if it did not have an HF start. from the few I have seen Airco stuff was built like a brick dunny and you can expect longevity from it.

Enjoy your new toy mate!

Ozwelder

I can tig weld (somewhat) I've never used a tig that I had to scratch start. I haven't checked into whether or not it high feq or not.
 
Charley, be sure and check amperage requirements when using your new machine on single phase. I suspect it could be high and cause more toasted wires/breakers in your shop.


Benny
 
Looks like you will need 100-120 amp breaker to get full output on that machine. If it is like the one in the pic it HF capable. I have a Linde HF 250 that is very similar and is rated for 100 amps in, but works fine for most things I do on a 50 amp circuit. Mike
IMG_0907-vi.jpg
 
Nice score, Charlie. I used to do a lot of TIG welding, working on stainless steel process equipment. I would love to have one of my own, but cannot justify the cost, unless of course I can stumble on a deal like yours. So, I'll just stick with my Miller Thunderbolt for stick work and my Hobart Handler for MIG work.
 
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