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Old 05-19-2016, 11:44 AM
31fords 31fords is offline
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Default any advantages of using Meco torch vs Tig

I'm considering the purchase of a Meco acetylene torch for welding 19 gauge steel and .050/.060 thin gauge aluminum. I already have a nice Tig which I'm getting better at using. I'm wondering if it would be a waste of money or are there any advantages over the Tig with the Meco torch
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Old 05-19-2016, 12:00 PM
toreadorxlt toreadorxlt is offline
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for steel id say its a waste of money.. and for aluminum too.. i'd argue i can get tig welds just as durable as i can get with meco with a few little ninja tricks.
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Old 05-19-2016, 02:02 PM
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Frank.de.Kleuver Frank.de.Kleuver is offline
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Hi Steve,

Can you share some of those ninja tricks because I can break my tig ali welds with just two hits on a sandbag. I'm new to tig welding and thou my welds look good they break easily. My OA welds can take much more beating. I bought tig for steel but I keep wondering because acetelene is harder to get in the future.

Greetings,

Frank
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Old 05-19-2016, 02:57 PM
RockHillWill RockHillWill is offline
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I, too, would like access to those 'ninja' tricks! other than using gas welding flux on the back side of a TIG joint, I have not had as near of good luck using TIG vs using the Mecco. I am under the best of conditions, I am a mediocre welder, but the Mecco torch sure goes a long way towards making it look like I can weld. After reviewing Kent Whites aluminum gas welding videos and the buying one of the Mecco torches from him, I have been a devout fan of the Mecco torch for BOTH steel and aluminum. I seem to always have much more ductile welds using the gas torch vs the TIG. I have had occasions where a TIG weld will look like a gas weld, smooth up and bend like as gas weld once, maybe twice, but I have ALWAYS been able to bend and rebend a gas welded joint many more times without cracking using the gas torch. As I said, at best I am a mediocre welder!!!! I have seen Pat Brubaker do 'goood sheeet' with the Meco torch, both in my shop and in Dan's.
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Old 05-19-2016, 03:46 PM
sblack sblack is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 31fords View Post
I'm considering the purchase of a Meco acetylene torch for welding 19 gauge steel and .050/.060 thin gauge aluminum. I already have a nice Tig which I'm getting better at using. I'm wondering if it would be a waste of money or are there any advantages over the Tig with the Meco torch
I think the question should be tig vs gas, not tig vs meco. The meco is not much different than any other torch except it is small, light and comfortable. Kent White shows his collection of torches in his video and he has used them all. Gas is different than Tig. The temperature is different, the size of the heat affected zone is different, the behaviour of the metal after welding in terms of hardness and pourosity is different. I am not enough of an expert to tell you what those differences are in detail. One other thing to consider is just how useful a gas torch is in the shop for heating stubborn bolts, annealing stugg, heat shrinking, bending a steel bar, the uses are infinite. You can't do that stuff easily with a tig torch.

Look up Kent's video on youtube where he toture tests a gas weld. I think it's called Try This with a Tig weld or something similar.
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Old 05-19-2016, 03:57 PM
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Is annealing a tig weld afterwards a solution? Or is it even not necessary?

Kind regards,

Frank
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Old 05-19-2016, 04:21 PM
31fords 31fords is offline
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I looked up Kents video on aluminum gas welding and also seen a list of advantages on his site about gas VS tig, however right now I do mostly 19 gauge steel. I plan on advancing to aluminum gas welding in a future project. Are there any videos on his site or other sites using the Meco on gas welding of this sheet steel such as 19 gauge. So far I'm leaning to Kent's Meco torch but hesitant on its capability on welding the steel. I have an oxy acetylene set-up with the bigger torches but its too big for whet I want. This site is awesome.
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Old 05-19-2016, 04:41 PM
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Hi Tom,

A lighter hose set is also a good start. I use a rather large tip 4 for 1.5mm ali. It's a soft flame that is hot enough but doesn't blow at the puddle too much. Tagging I do with the centre cone and a weld with the feather. Use a giod regulator to stable set the low pressure of 0.3 bar I think. Don't use small coupons to learn but instead use a larger panel that can cut over and over again. I flux mostly at the bottom only and the rod. Zero gap is the key. When doing tacks I circle the area to get zero gap in case it wasn't closed.

Kind regards,

Frank
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Old 05-19-2016, 05:50 PM
Essexmetal Essexmetal is offline
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There are advantages to both methods with TIG & O/A for aluminum. For panel seams, fluid tanks and any fabrication that is exposed to pressure pulses (turbocharger plenums) gas welding is the way to go. It is more about oxide management as it is annealing but obviously you tend to get a bigger HAZ with O/A. If you look at the underside of an O/A weld it is smooth with a nice transition to the parent metal. A TIG weld is crustier (less with a back purge) and has a defined grey line down the center. That line is the oxide layer from the panel edges. The oxide on the top is removed from by the the high freq and AC. That does not clean the edge. That oxide is still floated clear of the bead but ends up on the bottom surface.That is the visible grey line.

The fact that flux is required for O/A means that all oxide is "floated" away and does not cause any inclusions. The lack of undercut on the underside also removes all notch sensitivity to the joint. Since aluminum has a finite fatigue life you don't need to accelerate the failure mode by adding a zipper. Fuel tanks and other vessels that flex will fail these joints much quicker with a top side TIG weld. Less issues if you can do a TIG pass on the underside. More HAZ and a cleaner underside weld. Not always possible with TIG.

For all panel work you will never beat gas for a weld that you can work in a wheel or hammer. The biggest downside to gas is a marginally longer prep time and a a lengthy post weld clean up.
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Old 05-20-2016, 05:16 AM
Oldnek Oldnek is offline
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I'm thinking you would have to weight up the cost factor also.

Tig: Initial set-up cost, uses more gas, you have electricity cost, more to set up to do an actual job and their finicky in set-up (settings wise) and uses consumables.

Oxy: Cheap to purchase, gas use is lot less compared to Tig. Uses no power or consumables, so you can still use it in a Blackout

For what it's worth, I have a Tig........
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