Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Saskia]

update from the belly-up-bank:
received reimbursement today.
Hubby probably did, as well (can't look, no access to his account)

[med6753]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

Oh that sucks. What's broken on it? It's not obvious from your pix. Anyway to repair it?

[bd139]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382841428546

[0culus]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

Try Sphere. They have lots of hard to find stuff. https://www.sphere.bc.ca/

[Cerebus]

I think you have older tech in mind; pretty sure the newer stuff runs higher frequency because square wave.  There's a difference between "best" and "can't". Worst case I can only TIG sheet/tube aluminum; I've done that with DC.

mnem
 

Bluntly, you're wrong.  You can weld Al with aggressive flux and shielding gas with DC, but if you want to TIG it using standard TIG filler rod and techniques, you're gonna need AC. If you TIG weld Aluminium DCEP you'll get oxide cleaning, molten tungsten, and no penetration - if you can carry on for more than about 10 seconds you'll get some liquid tungsten added to your weld, if you weld DCEN you'll get no penetration and a gummy weld with oxide inclusions. You'll only get a good weld if you use AC.

Screenshot of a DCEN TIG weld of Aluminium, incidently -  made as a deliberate "how not to" by Justin who made the review video you posted:



What that weld would look like if done with AC (also Justin):

Use the Right Polarity

Many operators, especially those new to aluminum welding, may not realize the material generates an oxide layer. Oxidation on aluminum tends to be a dull silver color and is harder to see than red oxidation, or rust, on steel. In addition, the melting point of aluminum oxide is about three times the melting temperature of the base material.

Aluminum is conductive, so the heat of the weld puddle can be pulled away quickly. This characteristic requires putting in a lot of heat to establish the weld puddle, but controlling that heat is key to preventing a runaway puddle or burn-through.

Cleaning the oxide layer with a dedicated stainless steel wire brush or carbide cutter before welding is important. However, even with proper cleaning, the oxide layer begins re-forming immediately, which can obstruct your view of the weld puddle.

This makes it critical to use alternating current (AC) polarity with the GTAW process on aluminum. With AC, the direction of current flow continuously changes throughout the weld. AC polarity provides a cleaning action that helps remove the oxide layer on aluminum, allowing you to see the molten weld pool.

And no, I'm not thinking older tech. Find me a TIG welder with an AC frequency control that runs significantly above 200Hz, I can wait.

[bd139]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

Try Sphere. They have lots of hard to find stuff. https://www.sphere.bc.ca/

Sphere is ridiculously expensive to order from over here.

$5 knob? $50 insured delivery min 

[0culus]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

Try Sphere. They have lots of hard to find stuff. https://www.sphere.bc.ca/

Sphere is ridiculously expensive to order from over here.

$5 knob? $50 insured delivery min 

That's why you browse and find OTHER stuff you want and get a bigger order!! 

In all seriousness, that blows though. I didn't know it was that bad.

[Specmaster]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382841428546

Thats bloody brilliant, order placed already, now I've just got to wait for the slow boat from China.

Strange, I couldn't find it, but then I did use the term "latching" rather than "stay put" on eBay 

[Cerebus]

update from the belly-up-bank:
received reimbursement today.
Hubby probably did, as well (can't look, no access to his account)

Excellent!

If that happened here we'd still be waiting three months later.

[Specmaster]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

Oh that sucks. What's broken on it? It's not obvious from your pix. Anyway to repair it?

Its the square plastic flange that retains the spring, 2 corners have become brittle over the years and snapped off, can't even find them to glue back on either.

Edit: In fact you can just spot one of them in the photo.

[Specmaster]

update from the belly-up-bank:
received reimbursement today.
Hubby probably did, as well (can't look, no access to his account)

Brilliant news, I'm so pleased for you.

[bd139]

Bloody Murphy gets yah everytime when your not paying enough attention  There I was modifying the input jacks on my Solarton 7150 Plus to be of the shrouded type (something I previously thought was not possible until TorinoFermic posted a link in last weeks Discord session). Done all the replacement of the jacks, just in the process of refitting the changeover switch for the jacks from front to rear sockets when the switch fell apart. Now I need a replacement 8 pole pushbutton latching changeover switch and the biggest one I can find is a 6 pole

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate on from?

I've tried all of the more obvious ones like RS, Mouser, Rapid, CPC, Digikey and Bitsbox etc, even eBay and 6 pole is the highest 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382841428546

Thats bloody brilliant, order placed already, now I've just got to wait for the slow boat from China.

Strange, I couldn't find it, but then I did use the term "latching" rather than "stay put" on eBay 

8PDT is the winning search phrase. Been there before 

[Robert763]

Do you really need to switch the front/rear inputs? I'd just link it to the fronts.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I really wish you didn't post that pic.  Now I want one.  It's not MY FAULT!  I want one!

In this case, you could see more of it here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/show-your-multimeter!/msg3152724/#msg3152724

[mnementh]

I think you have older tech in mind; pretty sure the newer stuff runs higher frequency because square wave.  There's a difference between "best" and "can't". Worst case I can only TIG sheet/tube aluminum; I've done that with DC.

mnem
 

Bluntly, you're wrong.  You can weld Al with aggressive flux and shielding gas with DC, but if you want to TIG it using standard TIG filler rod and techniques, you're gonna need AC. If you TIG weld Aluminium DCEP you'll get oxide cleaning, molten tungsten, and no penetration - if you can carry on for more than about 10 seconds you'll get some liquid tungsten added to your weld, if you weld DCEN you'll get no penetration and a gummy weld with oxide inclusions. You'll only get a good weld if you use AC.

Screenshot of a DCEN TIG weld of Aluminium, incidently -  made as a deliberate "how not to" by Justin who made the review video you posted:

(Attachment Link)

What that weld would look like if done with AC (also Justin):

(Attachment Link)

Use the Right Polarity

Many operators, especially those new to aluminum welding, may not realize the material generates an oxide layer. Oxidation on aluminum tends to be a dull silver color and is harder to see than red oxidation, or rust, on steel. In addition, the melting point of aluminum oxide is about three times the melting temperature of the base material.

Aluminum is conductive, so the heat of the weld puddle can be pulled away quickly. This characteristic requires putting in a lot of heat to establish the weld puddle, but controlling that heat is key to preventing a runaway puddle or burn-through.

Cleaning the oxide layer with a dedicated stainless steel wire brush or carbide cutter before welding is important. However, even with proper cleaning, the oxide layer begins re-forming immediately, which can obstruct your view of the weld puddle.

This makes it critical to use alternating current (AC) polarity with the GTAW process on aluminum. With AC, the direction of current flow continuously changes throughout the weld. AC polarity provides a cleaning action that helps remove the oxide layer on aluminum, allowing you to see the molten weld pool.

And no, I'm not thinking older tech. Find me a TIG welder with an AC frequency control that runs significantly above 200Hz, I can wait.

Whatever dude. You can armchair QB this one all you want. I know about aluminum and the speed with which it oxidizes; and that you need to use a SS brush. Even between changing work angles on the work. And you really wanna store that brush so it doesn't get contaminated by other crap in the shop, too. They make rod for stick welding aluminum, and you can also use it as filler for DC TIG as long as the metal is thin enough.  I know it's the wrong way to do it, and gets no penetration; hence sheet metal and tube. Again... you're talking CAN'T vs best practice.

I don't like to stick weld with a coathanger either but I assure you it CAN be done, as I've done it when I had to. Not pretty, but welded nonetheless.

For fuck's SAKE man.

None of this REALLY matters... even if I CAN'T do aluminum with that little buzzbox I can still do ferrous; both stick and TIG. I could even do AL MIG with it if I wanted to spend the money on a spoolgun. There are plenty of applications here; $50 is nothing to throw at it. I spent more than that on pizza & wings for lunch.

mnem
 

[med6753]

If the welds don't hold use this. 

[bd139]

As a software guy I approve of the use of glue when only a weld will suffice 

Edit: talking of which I have the need to buy this old crate. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303631205532

[med6753]

I've got a huge parts order arriving today and then I will be busy ripping into stuff and re-capping. 

The parts have arrived and have been sorted by intended victim. I will not reveal who those victims are until after the evil deed is done. 

[Specmaster]

As a software guy I approve of the use of glue when only a weld will suffice 

Edit: talking of which I have the need to buy this old crate. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303631205532

Don't buy it, its never a good idea trying to relive past events, it's never as rosy as you thought it was IMO. 

[bd139]

Yeah given up on that idea already and bought a TTi TG320 function generator. 

Edit: paid slightly over three going rate but I need one next week and I don’t want to pay 2.5-3x for something for casual analogue use and some TTL stuff. Has built in counter and digital readout though so I’m good.

Just need another decent DMM and I’m good to go on next project 

[Cerebus]

Whatever dude. You can armchair QB this one all you want. I know about aluminum and the speed with which it oxidizes; and that you need to use a SS brush. Even between changing work angles on the work. And you really wanna store that brush so it doesn't get contaminated by other crap in the shop, too. They make rod for stick welding aluminum, and you can also use it as filler for DC TIG as long as the metal is thin enough.  I know it's the wrong way to do it, and gets no penetration; hence sheet metal and tube. Again... you're talking CAN'T vs best practice.

I don't like to stick weld with a coathanger either but I assure you it CAN be done, as I've done it when I had to. Not pretty, but welded nonetheless.

For fuck's SAKE man.

None of this REALLY matters... even if I CAN'T do aluminum with that little buzzbox I can still do ferrous; both stick and TIG. I could even do AL MIG with it if I wanted to spend the money on a spoolgun. There are plenty of applications here; $50 is nothing to throw at it. I spent more than that on pizza & wings for lunch.

mnem
 

Y'know Mnem. It would be nice if just once in a while you admitted that you don't know everything about all things mechanical and admit that sometimes you've got it wrong. All this flows from me pointing out that it was a DC only box, and that's not suitable for TIG welding Aluminium. Anyone who knew their way around TIG would have gone "Good catch, thanks".

You however, seem to blow up like this every time someone brings up something that points out the limits of your knowledge and you start getting squirrelly and argumentative. On this one, everything I have ever learned about this from the guys who do it for a living, and from the guys who do it for a hobby, and from my welding textbooks says you're wrong. Nothing says it with as much clarity as much as that screen grab of a DCEN weld in Aluminium. That one could bodge it, or even weld with a coathanger is just distraction. It's not a question of "best practice" versus "the possible", it wasn't even a question until you made it one because all the rest of the world says "AC for TIG welding on Aluminium" and for some reason you choose to disagree with the rest of the world.

That you have held a welding torch and used it a few times does not make you the expert who's competent to disagree with all the acknowledged expertise from the field, and does not excuse you from accusing someone of being an "armchair QB" because they disagree with you based on that pool of knowledge. Not that it counts for anything, but I suspect that I made my first weld before you were born (MMA on angle iron, frame for the two Villiers 2 stroke motors from two scrapped 'invalid carriages*' for a hovercraft that I was building with my father, circa 1970).

* Yes, the Ministry of Health really did hand out these deathtraps to disabled people right up until some time in the 1970s:



That is a superior specimen. They were a common sight in my youth and were much rattier looking than that.

[Cerebus]

As a software guy I approve of the use of glue when only a weld will suffice 

What, when you could use string from 15 different sources, all tied end to end into a cat's cradle and then use that to make the fixture? That's what I've learned from modern IT practice.

[bd139]

As a software guy I approve of the use of glue when only a weld will suffice 

What, when you could use string from 15 different sources, all tied end to end into a cat's cradle and then use that to make the fixture? That's what I've learned from modern IT practice.

Actually in modern software practices we tell some guy in India to knit it together while we go to conferences (fashion shows) to find out what sort of string and poo to send to India.

[med6753]

[Cerebus]

As a software guy I approve of the use of glue when only a weld will suffice 

What, when you could use string from 15 different sources, all tied end to end into a cat's cradle and then use that to make the fixture? That's what I've learned from modern IT practice.

Actually in modern software practices we tell some guy in India to knit it together while we go to conferences (fashion shows) to find out what sort of string and poo to send to India.

And he subcontracts it to his Auntie.

(Anyone who knows Indian culture, particularly British Indian culture knows why Auntie is capitalized. I had an Indian co-worker, who describing a typical weekend in his household, said "And then the Aunties come over..." with a fear and awe in his voice that I've not heard before or since.  )