TIG Welder at Worlds

[Type]

We noticed some welds starting to crack after out last competition. We are thinking of quick fixes to get by through state, but if we continue to world's, is there any teams that are bringing a TIG welder for aluminum that we could use? It wouldn't take long, just about 6 short welds.

[Jon Stratis]

I would have serious safety concerns about operating any kind of welder in a team's pit. The on site machine shop may be able to do some welding for you, though.

[pilleya]

The machine shop run by NASA at champs is really good, they have TIG welding equipment among a lot of other things. They won't let you do the welding yourself, but you can just show the guys what you want done and they do it. The welds we got by them last year, were really really good, they TIG welded a piece of broken 10mmx20mm thin wall Aluminium tube back together for us for our can burglar had no more problems with it.

I'm sure they'll be able to help you with whatever you need welding.

[TikiTech]

We had to have some welding done on our aluminum frame a few years back at the championships. They have all the equipment and knowledge to fix you right up.

Warning. Welding while you still have electronics installed can be catastrophic to them. The machine shop folks will warn you of this and in addition will not be held responsible if said electronics are damaged..

If you are able to, remove what electronics you can. We were not able to remove our electronics board due to time constraints, had to rush to the field as it was after the fix. Luckily we keep a majority of our electronics on Lexan sheets and we didn't have any damage.

Just be aware it certainly could.

Good luck at Champs!

Aloha!

[Type]

Thank you all! If we found a welder to use, it wouldn't be used in the pits, we would try to take the part outside.

[pilleya]

Originally Posted by Type

Thank you all! If we found a welder to use, it wouldn't be used in the pits, we would try to take the part outside.

The trouble is that at Champs there aren't exactly a lot of outside areas which would be suitable for welding in. Because of the amount of people inside and outside the venue, I don't think it would be at all possible to do this. The venue staff would definitely say no to this. Nobody wants kids who may not have been exposed to the dangers of welding to get Arc Eye (I have had Arc Eye, it is not fun).

But the machine shop can do this, and yes as TikiTech said, be careful with your electronics

[daliberator]

Originally Posted by FIRST 2016 Admin Manual

Please adhere to the following safety rules regarding Pit safety and tool use:
■ Tools that throw sparks are prohibited.
Examples: Electric welders, bench grinders and angle grinders.

According to the admin manual, the only TIG welding you could do would be in the machine shop. Luckily, they only ban electric and torch welding, so you can still safely cold weld your chassis back together

[FrankJ]

Since you cannot fabricate outside the pits the machine shop is the only option.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Type

Thank you all! If we found a welder to use, it wouldn't be used in the pits, we would try to take the part outside.

I'm not sure why you'd want to use anyone other than the NASA shop. They have the right equipment and experience to get the job done for you quickly and with high quality.

[Kyler Hagler]

Originally Posted by TikiTech

We had to have some welding done on our aluminum frame a few years back at the championships. They have all the equipment and knowledge to fix you right up.

Warning. Welding while you still have electronics installed can be catastrophic to them. The machine shop folks will warn you of this and in addition will not be held responsible if said electronics are damaged..

If you are able to, remove what electronics you can. We were not able to remove our electronics board due to time constraints, had to rush to the field as it was after the fix. Luckily we keep a majority of our electronics on Lexan sheets and we didn't have any damage.

Just be aware it certainly could.

Good luck at Champs!

Aloha!

In the past we have been in a crunch we wrapped all of our electronics in aluminum foil... Not sure if it did much but it definitely didn't mess our electronics up!

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by Type

Thank you all! If we found a welder to use, it wouldn't be used in the pits, we would try to take the part outside.

Ignoring T17, how would you find enough power for an arc welder outside?

[pilleya]

Originally Posted by cgmv123

Ignoring T17, how would you find enough power for an arc welder outside?

It's isn't too uncommon to find power sockets in outside areas, in Sydney anyway. Long extension cable?

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by pilleya

It's isn't too uncommon to find power sockets in outside areas, in Sydney anyway. Long extension cable?

Welders need more than a standard NEMA 5-15 receptacle.

[pilleya]

Originally Posted by cgmv123

Welders need more than a standard NEMA 5-15 receptacle.

ARC/MIG/TIG welders run just fine off the standard household powerpoint (240v@10amp) in Australia. Maybe there wouldn't be able to get enough current to do larger jobs, but I've never had any problems with ARC Welding at home again(240v)

What's the standard max current output for US powerpoints?

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by pilleya

What's the standard max current output for US powerpoints?

110~120 VAC @ 15 A.