PowerTig 185 Micro Initial Fire Up!!

[hooda]

Good Morning, Last night I was finally able to get up enough energy to go into my shop, if only to fire up the 185 Micro that's been sitting there, calling for me to get well and come out and use it. I would regard the experience as a 100% success. Below are pics of my first beads. Now, apparently the numbers that I tried to mark on the beads didn't take, but they're supposed to be, starting 6th from right as 1-6, and 7th from right is 7. (I got this all on video too, and I'm in the process of learning how to edit and post it on youtube, look for that coming up). First thing I did was pegged the pedal, thinking all I had was 150 amps max. I was under the mistaken impression that if I went into 2t mode, set the max amps at 150, than went back into 4t(pedal) mode that the max at the pedal would be 250. This assumption was incorrect. If you're in pedal mode, you got all tha machine (and pedal internal control rheostat) have to offer. So, I melted through, and at the same time melted the new stick of 3/32" 2% Lanth. into a GIANT ball. New tungsten, then the next 3 beads were all with the the freq and balanced knobs near 12 o'clock I turned the Argon up from 5 to 7 lpm, and just played to get a feel for the pedal and coax the tungsten from needle-sharp to the ball size I prefer, which is usually 1/2 way up the taper, and about 1/2 the diameter of the tungsten. A little melt through on the fourth bead, as I gave 'er too much gas (pedal) then backed off. The 5th and 6th were with the AC freq on max., Pedal was at the 1/2 way point or so.



Below, same beads, different pic, you can focus on the cleaning action here.





The bead to the left is AC balance 1 mark to the left of 12 o'clock, AC freq. maxed out, and a new piece of 3/32 Thoriated tungsten. This bead has NO evidence of burn through, and is evidence of the potential that this welder has. I'm impressed to say the least. I can guarantee that there's no other place in the US that you can spend $900.00, and get this kind of performance right out of the box. There will be extensive testing of this machine, along with side-by side testing and comparisons to the 250EX coming in the near future.



Below is a quick edge weld that I tried after I set the piece upright, just for giggles.



The bottom line is that I couldn't be more happy with the purchase or initial fire up of the machine. One thing I did learn that I'm not necessarily thrilled about is that you cannot set max amps at the panel for the pedal. I was under the impression that if I set the switch to 2t, set my amps to 150 max, then back to pedal mode, that 150 would be with the pedal floored. Not so. If you have the pedal floored, you get all 185 amps, and I'd guess that you'd have to set some kind of pedal stop to limit the amperage control. I'll be seeking some advice on this matter immediately. Otherwise, all systems GO!!