So with too much to do Saturday in terms of actually getting proper industrial consumables for my MIG welder and working in the morning I managed to get bugger all done apart from figuring out that I need to weld in some packing plates to properly fit the body mounts to the sills, looks like some 2mm seam welded on will give me a nice tight gap to ensure 100% fully welded and good penetration
Went to Machine Mart with my welding torch in bits as I mutilated it trying to replace the shroud and found the spare tips that I was so certain were the right fit, weren't after all
Came away with a box of 0.6mm a box of 0.8mm and a single 0.9mm tip to suit some fluxcore wire I picked up a half dozen years ago
and then I had to replace the swan neck and fitting, managed to mangle mine up pretty good while attempting to pull the old shroud off and we were on a roll, got me a couple of male airline fittings to fit on my schutz gun so I can get the inner wing done as soon as it is welded up and the inner arch mud shield plate has been welded on, but yeah, I'm getting ahead of myself again
But oh what glorious weather we have been granted this fine and pleasant Sunday NOT!!!!!
I kid you not, howling winds and pizzing rain has pretty much seen me stay in the warm and dry today, took the puppies for a gallop on the beach and got soaked, gave up and spent the afternoon doing a few jobs indoors.
A few weeks ago I set about upgrading my stick welder, the poor decrepit thing that it is has served me well and I felt compelled to make it a bit more modern, these are the upgrades so far.
For those that are interested, all the parts arrived and as the weather was rubbish and I refuse to go out and get soaked to the skin, I decided to get it all sorted.
Take 1 stick welder.
Dismantle the casing and remove the old cables.
The new female fittings have a small lug on the insulator them to stop them turning when you fit the cables.
Fit the females and crimp some terminals on the solid ally cables off the transformer and connect them all up.
I cut the cables to give me 1X 2mtr for the earth and 1X 4mtr for the electrode holder and these are the new earth clamp and electrode holder.
I fitted a terminal on the earth lead first.
And snugged it up on the earth clamp stud.
Then fitted the male connector on the other end, this is the same for both the earth clamp and the electrode holder so won't bore you with two of the same piccies LOL
Measure the insulation that needs stripped back.
Fit the copper wrap around that will protect the cable as the allen bolt is tightened down.
Tighten it all snuggly.
Slide over the insulating rubber boot and job jobbed.
Then fit the cable on the new electrode holder.
Measure and cut back the insulation to fit inside the holder.
Slide in the copper clamping strip.
Tighten it all down, slide on the cover that doubles as the handle and job jobbed.
Fit the male spigot on the cable end and voila, all done.
I found the time to test it out and I'm now having to alter all my settings as the new heavier cables are much more efficient and giving the full power to the rod and a far superior earthing with the new clamp
So today with the pizzing rain and howling winds I decided I had time to get the axial fan fitted to give the little welder some cooling and prolong the duty cycles a little
Opened up the casing and decided that the back of the casing was the best place to fit it.
Drill three mounting holes.
Mount it on the casing, used a few washers to space the fan away from the casing a little just in case I get a bit too ham fisted when packing it away LOL
All that was left was to give it some juice and good to go.
Really happy with it and it should be much better when I am running 2.5mm and 3.2mm rods on heavier stuff
I will have to risk upsetting the neighbours and get out there in the drier evenings so I can crack on and get the sills done and the boot floor side panels, will keep it all posted as I get stuff done.