Kevin is creating a sound sculpture and needs to change his Longevity ProMTS 200 Longevity welder from TIG welding to MIG welding to arc welding for different needs on the sculpture ….
First Kevin shows the front of the welder with all of its cables. It’s currently set up for TIG welding, with the TIG torch connected to the negative terminal and the ground cable hooked up to the positive terminal. To change the welder from TIG to MIG, he detaches the TIG torch, then moves the ground to negative. Next, Kevin turns on the machine and uses the function button on his Longevity ProMTS 200 Longevity multiprocess welder to change the setting from TIG to MIG. Then Kevin adjusts his controls for wire feed, amperage, wire diameter thickness, and sets the function button to “fe” for steel. Next he goes to the “back” of the machine to change over the gas. Because it’s a multifunction welder – TIG, MIG and arc (“stick”) – you have to have argon for TIG, and mixed gas, which is 75% argon and 25% CO2, for MIG. (You don’t need any welding gas for stick) . Because he’s switching to MIG, Kevin turns on the mixed gas bottle and opens the valve he has marked with an “M” for MIG. Now he’s ready to weld.
Kevin tacks a new piece on the sculpture – MIG is easy, one-handed, quick – then is able to easily change the machine back to TIG or to stick, which is something he likes about the multiprocess welder. In fact, after he tacks this piece of metal onto the gong stand, he’ll switch to stick so he can weld the stand’s 3/8″ wall metal uprights.
Changing from MIG to stick is basically the same process as switching from TIG to MIG. First, turn off your bottle and the gas Y-valve. Then just grab your stinger, insert it into the positive terminal, and twist it to lock it down. Next, go to your welder’s front panel and use the function button to choose stick welding. The rest of the controls are not functional in the stick setting except for amperage. For this project, because of the metal’s thickness, Kevin simply turns up the amperage all the way to maximum.
Now that he has the welder set up for stick welding – set to about 20 volts, 85 amps and with a 1/8″ 7018 rod – he runs a test weld to make sure the machine’s controls are set correctly. Then he can weld the 3/8″ wall metal. To see the finished product, click here.