TIP TIG Weld Comparisons and Videos. Page 3

TIP TIG provides a dramatic solution for a weld industry that's facing
increased labor and weld rework costs and a shortage of skilled welders.

For a comparison of these two similar pipe welds, start the regular TIG welder on the left, when this video commences move the cursor to the 1 minute 20 seconds mark which is the actual start of this regular TIG pipe weld, then start theTIP TIG video on the right. When the right side weld is complete start this weld again and compare the TIP TIG process with the regular TIG process.

The regular TIG welder on the left is walking that cup and working just as hard as the TIP TIG welder on the right. The regular TIG welder while aggressively working his torch nozzle is like most highly experienced TIG pipe welders working hard and depositing little weld.

2G - 5 G PIPE FILL PASS WELDS AND REGULAR TIG WELD COSTS: As you can see the highly skilled TIG welder on the left is using high current as evident by his TIG plasma intensity. If you use the clock on this video and examine the weld times shown. You will note with his weld start stops the regular TIG welder actually deposited 2 x 13 inch lengths of weld wire. The 26 inches of wire used on the pipe weld took approx. 3.5 minutes to deposit averaging 8 inch/min of 3/32 wire. Depending on the TIG welders skills and current utilized on the pipe the typical traitional manual deposition over an eight hour work shift would be 6 to 13 inch/min therefore using the regular TIG process we will work with an average 3/32 wire deposition 10 inch/min.


5G PIPE & REGULAR TIG WIRE WELD DEPOSITION: As we are comparing TIG with TIP TIG we will use a common TIG 3/32 (2.4mm) wire diameter utilized for pipe welding, the 3/32 (2.4 mm) wire versus the common 0.035 (0.9 mm) wire on a reel used with TIP TIG. The 10 inch/min of 3/32 TIG wire is the equivalent of approx. 70 inch/min of the 0.035 wire. The 70 inch of 0.035
wire is approx. 1 lb/hr or in a 20 minute duty cycle 0.33 lb/hr.

TIG AND WELD DUTY CYCLES: With regular TIG welding, each hour we have grinding time for the many arc start / stops. For our cost evaluation with regular TIG we will use an average hourly arc on time of 20 min/hr. As the TIP TIG process is a "semi-automatic process" which should not require the use of a grinder or numerous arc starts / stops, you can expect to double the arc on time however with TIP TIG we will use a conservative duty cycle of 30 min/hr arc on time.



5G PIPE & TIP TIG WELD DEPOSITION AND COSTS: In the video on the above right, the TIP TIG welder is using an 0.035 wire reel. A conservative manual TIP TIG continuous weld wire rate for the vertical up fill passes on pipe < 3/8 wall would be 120 inch/min or approx. 1.6 lb/hr. With a 30 minute arc on time the TIP TIG deposit would be approx 0.8 lb/hr, in contrast to regular TIG (0.33 lb/hr) with TIP TIG on thin wall and small diameter pipe you could expect approx. >140% more weld for most of your pipe fill passes. On 5G thicker wall pipe and large diameter pipe or on rotated pipe you can anticipate TIP TIG wire feed rate increases in the range of 200 - 400% more weld.


OTHER TIP TIG WELD QUALITY AND COST BENEFITS: Another cost benefit with TIP TIG is the improved weld surface tension and agitated weld pool may enable a reduction in the traditional pipe groove weld preps. The higher TIP TIG weld energy and unique weld pool also produces less weld defects such as lack of fusion and porosity.

TIP TIG WELD WIRE & WELD GAS COST REDUCTIONS: You may be surprised to know that your regular TIG wire costs may be approx. 25% more than the MIG wires you will purchase with TIP TIG wire spools. When you can weld faster than traditional TIG process, with TIP TIG you can easily reduce your gas costs by 25 - 50%. As TIP provides more weld energy and agitates the weld, argon - helium and argon - hydrogen mixes are typically not required.

TIP TIG AND WELD HEAT INFLUENCE ON MECHANICALS OR CORROSION:
In contrast to the SMAW and the traditional TIG processes, the higher weld speeds not only reduce labor cost they also dramatically reduce the weld heat input providing less weld oxidation and smaller heat affected zones. This is particually beneficial with heat sensitive applications.

With the increased TIP TIG weld current combined with the hot wire weld current, the increased TIP TIG weld energy and agitated welds, duplex, stainless and nickel alloys are no longer sluggish and the greater TIP TIG parameter range is especially beneficial for duplex as it provides greater control of the austenite / ferrite formation. Heat sensitive P91-92 applications thrive on the the higher TIP TIG weld speeds and the small TIP TIG HAZ. Inconel, Stellites, Stainless, Monel, Aluminum, Copper, Brass or Carbon steels, it does not matter what the alloys are, the real world TIP TIG weld benefits will be extensive.

TIP TIG AND LOWEST WELD FUMES: In contrast to all available manual welding processes, TIP TIG should produce the lowest possible weld fumes and most stainless applications should rarely require exhaust systems.


For more TIP TIG info call Ed Craig at 828 658 3574 or call his cell 828 337 2695...