Testing TIG Function w/o Argon???

I purchased a used Linde/Union Carbide HDA-300 this spring and I am getting ready to evaluate it and make any repairs necessary.

The previous owner could not confirm the TIG worked as he only used the stick function in the 2 years he owned it. He did state he was told the TIG worked when he purchased it and I cannot claim I have any reason to think he misled me merely to sell the HDA-300 as I paid little to purchase it.

I'm wondering is there anything I can do to determine if the TIG function(s) work before investing in the shielding gas, regulator, etc. Obviously, if it does not work I lose the funds for the TIG supplies (until I purchase a replacement TIG).

Please advise.

Thanks,

Rick

You should still be able to start an arc and vary the amperage.

And burn up you tungsten in three seconds...

Put it in tig mode and hit the foot pedal. You should hear the HF make its noise. Should be a constant sizzle sound. Take a screwdriver and bring it towards the electrode terminal on the machine. You should get a 1/16 to 1/8" spark in normal air.

Should work though. Not much to go wrong.

I'd say there are a couple of good options.

One is simply to fry the tungsten. That isn't that much money and then just the end is ruined. It can be snapped off and the next piece used.

Next would be to find someone local where you could bring your welder there, and use a few seconds of their input power and shielding gas, plugged into your machine.

On the other hand, if this Tig is truly just an arc welder, if you still aspire to Tig weld, you'll still need a gas bottle and gas regulator, gas hose anyway.

Last, possibly find a servicing dealer for that machine and take the welder there (similar to above) and explain the situation. Generously, they might do the testing for you at no charge, in exchange you could expend the money there to buy the necessary hardware from their shop to complete the setup, should it prove itself in good condition. If not they might be able to quote on a repair for a flat "exploratory" fee. Sounds like a pretty fair trade to me.

I'm with Matt on this one. A local distributor should be happy to help since you are a potential future customer for all kinds of things he sells. In all likelihood, your only inconvenience would be hauling it to them.

Not likely.

Usually a min 1 hour charge to load test and check it out. Especially depends on how backed up they are. And their mood.

Maybe for someone buying a new machine.

I do think Matt makes some useful suggestions but I like macona's better as it puts the responsibility and knowledge in my hands. Had I knew the answer was this simple I would not have posted.

I know I will not be able to service this welder completely by myself but anything I can do to keep large repair bills for anything I own is how I have to operate.

Thanks everyone,

Rick

actually rick, if this is and old transformer unit like I think it is, they are actually pretty easy to work on. most of the designs are about the same, and there is really not a whole lot that seems to go wrong in them. The only thing I am really not interested in doing service-wise is a proper load test, as I am totally not equiped. all else can be checked with a schematic, some common sense, and a multimeter. also, if you are like me, your money needs to be more valuable than your time


jon

R Van Camp - If you want to try something before you load the welder up or go get tanks, try leaving the stick stinger hooked up and test the welder in TIG mode with the stick electrode. Just switch all the switches over to TIG mode, AC, high frequency on, crank the amps up to 160 or so, hold the electrode 1/8" away from a grounded piece of clean steel, depress the amptrol pedal and see if it will start and maintain an arc. If it will, than swith it to DCRP, HF on start only, and try the same thing.

This will test the basic operation of the welder except for the shielding gas solenoids and timers, and you can probably hear them click. If it passes this test, it's worth looking into it further and having it checked out by a supplier.

its 85 bucks well spent in my opinion, just make sure they check the gas solenoid, that was the only thing they forgot to check on mine, and it doesn't work, i haven't had time to bring it back, but its pretty humbling to run through tungstens because you keep forgetting to open the valve on the torch. kind of the same feeling you get when you trip over a crack in the sidewalk.