MIG EQUIPMENT AND
MIG WELD CONSUMABLES.

2005: MILLER AND MORE PULSED MIG DILEMMA. In February 2005, I was asked to assist a Canadian, tier one auto supplier with it's automated steel weld issues. The welds were made with the latest Miller Accupulse MIG equipment. Each part required two simple yet critical welds that were only 20 to 25 mm in length. When I examined the small welds two things stood out.



[1] Over 70% of the Accupulse weld length was a concave smooth surface crater.

[2] In the middle of each weld crater was a large pore and with many of the crater pores you could see without magnification one or two cracks propagating into the crater.

The large weld crater and weld pore was strictly a result of the Accupulse equipment. Irrespective of what weld data I placed into the ridiculous Miller palm pilot weld control, the results were the same, "a large crater with a large pore". I worked for more than 10 hours to get rid of the crater and pore issues however it was hopeless. Also there was no control for the MIG wire burn back and this function was automatically controlled by the power source. At the end of the day, I believe that the Accupulse power source delivered an excessive high voltage for the wire burn back and this voltage resulted in the crater defects.

The Miller Accupulse crater defects had gone on for months. Miller's response to the engineers at the auto company was that the equipment was still in the "Beta phase" (they seem to provide the Beta excuse for just about most MIG electronic power source they had built between 1980 and 2000). The Miller solution to the serious weld defects was at the end of the weld re-strike the arc. However due to limitations in the automated equipment and PLC controls there was no way to re-strike the arc. For 4 years, this Canadian auto company produced parts in which the small length welds had more crater than weld and the majority of the welds had cracks. Many of the parts welded would eventually lead to failure, however as they were only American car parts, nobody seemed to give a dam.

There could have been grave liability cost consequences for the weld issues generated at the plant. The apathetic weld management at the plant could have readily sued Miller. However to sue a company over weld issues, you need management and engineers who understand and can prove the root cause for their daily weld issues, and lets face it, you won't find many managers or engineers in the auto / truck industry that have this fundamental weld process expertise.

2003 - 2004. Ford F-150 Truck Frames.

A Condensed Weld Report on Ford F 150 trucks from Ed Craig:

 

It's the intention of this report to deal with the root causes of the numerous robot / manual weld issues found on the Ford F-150 Frame truck robot line.

At this time your robot frame weld productivity is only 50% of your goal and your weld repair personnel report that the majority of the MIG welded robot frames require rework. Of the 140 robot welds on the frame typically 60 to 80 of these welds require manual weld rework. Of the sectioned critical welds that daily require macro examination of the weld fusion, an average of 20 to 30% of the welds revealed lack of weld fusion. As the photo below indicates, many of the robot / manual weld repairs are poor quality. The numerous manual weld repairs are providing a patched product which provide both poor weld integrity and a poor visual weld appearance.

The general Ford management / engineering lack of weld process control expertise at the plant along with the poor selection of the Miller Invision equipment and innapropriate size weld consumables are daily negatively impacting your robot weld productivity and quality potential. To find out the rest of the Frame Weld story click here

HOW PULSED MIG EQUIPMENT INFLUENCED MY CAREER:

IN DEALING WITH STEEL MIG WELD APPLICATIONS, I MUST HAVE SPENT ALMOST THREE DECADES GOING FROM ONE WELD SHOP TO ANOTHER, TURNING OFF THE USELESS, ERRATIC PULSED PARAMETERS THAT WERE IMPOSED ON THE STEEL WELDS AND SWITCHING THE EQUIPMENT BACK TO THE TRADITIONAL, CV, STABLE SHORT CIRCUIT OR SPRAY MODES.


Its 2010 and I am still switching Miller / Panasonic pulsed equipment and Lincoln Power Waves back to the CV modes to improve the customers weld performance

SO HOW IS THE MIG EQUIPMENT IN YOUR WELD SHOP?

[] Are your weld equipment purchases influenced by inexperienced purchasing managers, sales advice or by the unqualified weld shop personal preferences, rather than by weld application considerations and weld transfer mode and process logic?

[] Did you purchase Japanese MIG welding equipment on the belief that the Japanese can produce excellent electronic equipment. When the weld reality was the designers of the Japanese pulsed MIG equipment obviously knew little about weld requirements, arc characteristics, weld transfer modes and weld application requirements.

[] Is your weld shop immersed in a culture and weld shop myths that restrict the ability to make rational weld equipment decisions?

[] Do your weld decision makers look regulary to a biased weld salesmen and respond to glossy, weld equipment brochure promises that rarely deliver.

[] Does your weld shop have eight different MIG weld power sources, seven different MIG and flux cored wire types and and six different gas mixes. This is always an indication of lack of weld process expertise?

[] Are you still wondering why you paid three hundred percent more for that pulsed equipment and the weld improvements achieved are marginal?

 

MIG Welding equipment.
Why pay more than you have to?

I have been evaluating MIG equipment for approx. 40 years. I have established optimum MIG welds in more than a thousand companies in a dozen countries. I have never had a problem attaining optimum manual or automated weld quality and productivity with traditional low cost CV equipment on carbon steel and stainless

Before 1990, the best, traditional CV MIG welding equipment in the world was manufactured and built in the USA by three companies,
[1] Linde. (Union Carbide.
[2] Miller.
[3] Hobart.

For those of you that think I forgot Lincoln, some of the pre 1990 Lincoln MIG equipment that I evaluated, I believe was on par with the substandard MIG equipment you would typically find today, manufactured in some third world country.

Welding Steel Plate and
Rational Weld Equipment Selection:








THE Miller "PipePro"

WAS APPROX. $11000 WITH THE WIRE FEEDER.

LOOKING FOR THAT MIG EQUIPMENT SUITED TO PIPE WELDS?

If you weld pipe you know that sometimes you will want to weld with SMAW, MIG, FCAW, and GTAW. Miller states that when it comes to pipe welds, the PipePro does it all. The real question, is the PipePro necessary?.

MILLER PipePro Plus: The PipePro is a multi-purpose MIG power source that offers RMD (Regulated Metal Deposition). The RMD mode is the only unique transfer mode on this costly package. RMD is a modified short circuit process. The bottom line is the RMD process lowers the short circuit current (short circuits per second) available for a given short circuit wire feed rate, and RMD also offers dynamic puddle control which provides dubious real world weld benefits.

Note: If you rotate your pipe joints there are no advantages from the RMD process in contrast to traditional short circuit transfer attained from much lower cost CV MIG equipment. The RMD mode is primarily advantageous welding in the 5G position at the in the the 5 to 7 o'clock over head position.

MILLER PIPEPRO PLUS. The PipePro has a MIG pulsed program that is supposed to be suited to all position pipe fill passes, however be aware that the pulsed mode of weld transfer will provide lack of fusion and porosity and pulsed cannot compete with either TIP TIG or the gas shielded flux cored process (that also uses low cost CV equipment) on the majority of al position pipe applications.

2006-7: MILLER PIPEPRO NEGATIVE: ELECTRONIC INSTABILITY AND MILLER'S INABILITY TO TEST IT'S PRODUCTS BEFORE BRINGING THEM TO THE WELDING MARKET:

When testing the PIPEPRO I did see some pulsed arc instability and there were soft ware problems on the unit I tested. Miller has been consistent in bringing electronic equipment to weld shops without adequate, controlled field weld tests. Its now 2010 and there is still concern for lack of fusion in the pulsed mode and if you rotate your pipe you dont need RMD, regular short circuit if set correctly is just as effective.

2006 - 7: MILLER PIPEPRO NEGATIVE: RIDICULOUS PRICE: At approx. $11,000 per-unit, this weld equipment is I believe way overpriced and the bottom line is the weld transfer modes developed do not meet the needs of a weld shop that wants to produce optimum consistent weld quality.

Note: Most pipe fill weld passes can be made successfully with a $2000 MIG power source and all position flux cored wires that cost around $1.70 lb. I believe it's obscene to pay the price of a car for the price of a MIG weld power source package.

PIPEPRO NEGATIVE: PALM PILOT: The equipment I tested, had soft ware issues and we did not have a ridiculous palm pilot to view or change the weld data. When I did get to try the palm pilot I found it a complete waste of my time and I believe this type of useless electronics has no place in a weld shop.

PIPEPRO POSITIVE: SIMPLE TO SET: High marks to Miller for simple operation and actually focussing on the pipe weld applications. The PipePro also provided settings for both Argon - 15%CO2 gas mix and for the 0.040 steel MIG wires.

Note to Miller: I developed the 15% CO2 MIG gas mix for the USA market over 20 years ago. As for the 0.040 wire, I am the only person in north America that has AGGRESSIVELY promoted this wire size since the 1980s. Well done Miller management for using my suggestions, don't forget to send me a Hallmark card of thanks.

MIG WELD EQUIPMENT VERSUS
WELD CONSUMABLES:

2010: Please note: When welding with the gas shielded flux cored wires, a low cost CV MIG power source will always provide the best weld performance and optimum weld energy requirements.

CONSIDERING A "MULTI-PROCESS"
POWER SOURCE?

Is it logical to pay an unnecessary high price for CC/CV equipment, if the none MIG and flux cored processes are rarely used?

Are you considering a none pulsed, multi-process unit that enables MIG / SMAW / TIG / FCAW / ARC GOUGING.The majority of these power sources are used by companies who's MIG welders rarely utilize the multi-process capability. In contrast to traditional CV. MIG equipment you can pay approx. $1000 to $2500 extra for the multi-process equipment that typically provides mediocre MIG performance.

A logical approach for a weld shop that is looking to purchase a number of multi-process MIG CC/CV units is to purchase the lower cost, standard CV equipment. Then purchase a single CC unit capable of TIG / SMAW / Arc gouging. The CC unit can be mounted on wheels and readily transported around the shop. Remember when your welders are welding with the regular TIG and SMAW process, your company typically is not producing cost affective welds.

For those of you interested in MIG / FCAW weld process optimization, you may want to note that the typical slope output from a multi-process, CC/CV power source is typically steeper, (delivers less current less fusion) than the slope output of a traditional of a regular CV power source.

The bottom line with many CC/CV machines. For a given wire feed rate, you simply don't get the typical amount of weld current delivered by a good CV unit, and you can end up with LESS WELD FUSION and more porosity especially on steel applications > 5 mm thick.

A LOW COST, FAST SOLUTION TO YOUR ROBOT AND MANUAL WELD ISSUES.

PHONE HELP.... Ed has resolved over 1000 companies weld issues and many weld issues were resolved on the phone. The best time to get weld equipment advice is before you spend money on over priced equipment.

[] Are you having robot or manual weld issues that affect your weld quality productivity or down time?

[] Are you ready to purchase weld equipment, gases or consumables and would rather not waste your money?,

[] Do you want the best method or procedure for a specific MIG / FCAW / SAW / PLASMA / GTAW application?

Call Ed at 828 658 3574, (eastern standard time USA). The one day weld resolution fee is $375 paid
with Visa or MC.

ED'S MANUAL AND ROBOT WELD PROCESS CONTROL RESOURCES.

ED OPTIMIZED ROBOT WELDS FOR HUNDREDS OF COMPANIES. A FEW OF HIS PROJECTS,
FORD F 150 FRAME - VOLVO CAB - CORVETTE FRAME- HARLEY FRAME - NEW BEETLE SEATS
AND THE ROBOT WELDS ON THE WORLD'S LARGEST CATERPILLAR TRUCK.

 

 

 

2006: THE MILLERMATIC 350P:

Update Dec 2008: After comparing this power source with other pulsed equipment, this power source provides good pulsed for none pipe welds, and good short circuit and spray weld characteristics for carbon steels, stainless and MEDIOCRE pulsed MIG weld transfer characteristics for aluminum. Most of this power source pulsed weld benefits are derived on steel / stainless parts < 4 mm.

THE OTC-DAIHEN. PULSED MIG POWER SOURCE: ED'S FIRST CHOICE FOR ROBOT PULSED WELDS AND FOR ANY MANUAL MIG WELDS IN WHICH CONSISTENT PULSED WELD QUALITY IS ESSENTIAL. IDEAL FOR ANY ALLOY OR ANY THICKNESS :

IF PURCHASING A PULSED POWER SOURCE, AND MY CRITERIA WAS:

[a] "CONSISTENT" PULSED WELD QUALITY.

[b] EXCELLENT PRE-ESTABLISHED PULSED WELD SCHEDULES.

[c] THE NEED TO MAKE PULSED PARAMETER ADJUSTMENTS FOR UNIQUE WELD APPLICATIONS SUCH HEAT SENSITIVE PARTS AND CLADDING WITH HIGH ALLOY WELD WIRES SUCH STAINLESS OR INCONEL.

[d] THE NEED TO PURCHASE "DURABLE PULSED MIG EQUIPMENT".

[e] THE NEED TO HAVE A CUSTOMIZED PULSED PROGRAM MADE AND FOR YOU TO COMMUNICATE WITH A WELD EQUIPMENT COMPANY THAT ACTUALLY LISTENS TO IT'S CUSTOMERS.

OTC DAIHEN IN THE USA CALL 763 286 6420.

1986- 2008: UNDERSTANDING TWO DECADES:

2008: The worst MIG equipment found in the industrial world is typically found in Japan and Europe.

Thanks to companies like Miller, Linde, Hobart, for decades the USA could claim the world's best CV MIG equipment. However during the last decade, thanks to the common process ignorance found throughout the North American auto / truck industry, Japanese MIG equipment became common with Big Three and Tier suppliers.

While Japan can claim the world's best cars, from a welding perspective, Japan's claim to welding fame during the last two decades was that it produced most of the world's worst quality MIG welds.

<2005: JAPANESE BEST MANUFACTURING PRACTICES RARELY INCLUDED MIG WELDING, THAT WAS TRUE TEN YEARS AGO, IT'S STILL TRUE IN MOST JAPANESE AUTO / TRUCK PLANTS TODAY.

 

One reason for the bad welds in Japan. In contrast to North America, Japan had few industrial air separation plants. Without access to reasonably priced argon and argon mixes, Japan was stuck with CO2 as it's primary MIG welding gas.

The CO2 would of course not produce spray transfer. This weld gas also provides a limited short circuit weld parameter range. If you want to weld parts with traditional MIG equipment and those parts are > 1.8 mm, the 180 plus amps with straight CO2 produces erratic "globular transfer."

For decades in Japan you carried out this practice. First you MIG weld the parts, then you grind off the poor weld profiles and excessive weld spatter. Hopefully you are all aware of the negative aspects of the "globular weld transfer" from the highly reactive CO2 MIG process.

The CO2 weld transfer mode at weld currents above 180 amps produces erratic weld transfer, fusion concerns and extensive weld spatter. Globular transfer can also occur with argon mixes and poor weld parameters.

As MIG weld robots evolved in Japan in the 1980s and the British did development work on the pulsed process, the Japanese weld industry had minimal experience with the world's most popular spray transfer weld mode. Japan with it's domination in robotics addressed the lack of argon gas in it's country and it's poor CO2 MIG weld quality by developing sophisticated electronics for its manual and robot MIG welding equipment. The weld results from this equipment in the eighties and in 2007, were and still are rarely ideal.

The ironic logic. When the USA MIG equipment manufacturers saw the Japanese robots and erratic Japanese pulsed power sources selling well to the Japanese auto manufactures in North America, many US companies who lacked weld process expertise and believed that anything to do with manufacturing from Japan must be first class, quickly got on the weld train and purchased the erratic, poor performing, sensitive, costly Japanese MIG equipment.

Note: Many auto/ truck plants in North America daily weld with erratic globular weld transfer, the reason has nothing to do with the weld equipment, the reasons are the general management and engineering lack of weld process expertise, incorrect wire size selection, and inappropriate weld parameters.

 

Panasonic weld equipment issues
and common lack of weld process expertise:

 

Ed. The company I visited welds 6xxx series, extruded aluminum, thin gage parts. They had purchased a Panasonic VR OOGAL 11robot, with a Panasonic 350 amp Panastar RA 350 pulsed power source. For the welds they used an 0.046, 4043 wire and argon. The MIG wire spool was mounted on top of the robot, and they used a regular four-drive roll feeder with a water-cooled gun.

The problem robot welds were short lengths, 5/8 to ¾ long. The robot welds are made on aluminum square tubes 0.070 thick. The 6xxx tubes are welded to a thicker alum part 3/16 thick. Since they purchased the robot the completed welds never look consistent over their short lengths. All the thin tube welds were made with the same weld data, yet in the same locations on the parts, some welds look fluid while other welds look cold. Most of the welds ended up with a black and dirty appearance yet the push gun angle is correct. These welds caused so many issues the company was ready to give up the robot and go back to manual TIG. For the rest of the story, click here.

 

2007. Panasonic pulsed MIG equipment is in many plants across North America. I cringe every time I am asked to resolve Panasonic weld equipment issues and that request comes too often. I cringe because the problems are typically with the equipment rather than process issues and unless you change the equipment you don't solve the issues.

With some applications and < 2006 Panasonic welding equipment there are minimal issues and with other applications the people who purchased and use this equipment simply lack process expertise to make a judgment on the Panasonic weld equipment . It's my belief that the Panasonic MIG equipment was likely developed by electronic engineers who may have had more expertise in designing CD players than with the development of MIG welding equipment.

IN THE WELD INDUSTRY, THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS. OVER PRICED, MEDIOCRE PRODUCTS THAT PROVIDE LESS THAN OPTIMUM WELD PERFORMANCE WILL ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE WITH WELDING CONSUMERS THAT LACK WELD PROCESS AND APPLICATION EXPERTISE.

In the one hand, we have had North American manufacturing envy for DUBIOUS Japanese weld manufacturing practices and an unbridled admiration for any Japanese electronic equipment.

In the other hand, we have the North American weld equipment manufactures realization that the electronic chips, bells and whistles in MIG equipment create a gravy train in which they can charge ridiculous prices for pulsed MIG weld equipment. Combine both hands with an apathetic weld industry that is too frequently attached by an umbilical cord to a weld equipment supplier and you can understand why many companies end up with overpriced weld equipment that causes many weld issues

BEFORE YOU WASTE YOUR DOLLARS ON PULSED MIG EQUIPMENT FOR WELDING CARBON STEELS TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEXT PICTURE:

MIG welding 1/4 (6 mm) fillet welds at a weld deposition rate of 13 lb/hr. On the left we have a pulsed weld made with a $12.000 pulsed power source. On the right, a spray transfer weld made with $3000 traditional CV power source. Both welds were made with the same 0.045 1.2 mm wire feed rate, using an argon - 10% CO2 gas.

Carefully examine these two welds,
you know which is the best.

It's understandable that a global industry that lacks fundamental weld process control expertise could be influenced to purchase useless, costly, inconsistent pulsed MIG equipment for it's steel / stainless robot weld applications. What is difficult to understand is when you see companies like John Deere and Caterpillar buying into the same useless electronic bells and whistles.

After more than four decades of evaluating MIG equipment and more than two decades of watching failure after failure of Japanese and European E-proms, micro chips and circuit boards, I have come to the following conclusion which I am sure many of you will disagree with.

2007. When MIG welding carbon steel, none pipe applications
> 4 mm, I have yet to find a measurable, practical, cost effective weld benefit from the over priced Japanese, European or USA Lincoln / Miller Pulsed MIG equipment. In reality the pulsed arc plasma profile and stability is inferior to the traditional MIG spray transfer mode for many common MIG applications.



It seems that when it comes comes to MIG welding steels, weld shops from Michigan to Georgia, from Dakota to Louisiana, from California to Florida are prepared to pay up to $13,000 for a pulsed MIG power source to weld carbon steel applications. The weld reality is that the majority of the steel welds produced could be made at the same or superior quality and productivity with a CV power source you could purchase for $2,400.00.

This low cost, single phase, 250 amp, multipurpose (MIG - TIG - STICK) power supply made by ESAB can when welding steel applications outperform many sophisticated, electronic MIG power sources sold by ESAB and other weld equipment manufacturers.

 

E Mail to Ed 01/ 05.

Ed I have a 220 amp stick welder which I love and am looking for a a recommended MIG welder (either 220 or 110) to use in my home shop for steel frames trailers etc. There are so many products out there and a lot of crap too - but I want to invest in something durable that gives me good range to weld various thickness. I'm told that flux-core material allows me to penetrate a bit thicker but have an Argon tank and could go that way too.

Any direction you could provide would be appreciated.

Regards,
Chris Escobar.

 

Ed's Answer.

Chris, any traditional Lincoln. Miller or ESAB CV power source AS SHOWN IN THE PICTURE ABOVE will do the job. Consider either a single or three phase unit as they will surpass your needs. Try and get a power source that provides at least 250 amps at 60 % duty cycle. (Spray transfer with an 0.035 (1 mm) steel wire will come in around 180 to 200 amps and an 0.035 or 0.045 gas shielded flux cored wire can weld almost any application in the 120 to 250 amp range. Purchasing a power source with a built in wire feeder is logical.

QUESTION: Ed I believe you need different guide rolls for different MIG wire types what's recommended. JH. Manchester UK.?

 

Ed's Answer:
[] For solid hard wires use a "smooth VEE groove" built for the wire OD.

[] For flux core wires use a vee groove with at least on roll providing a serrated surface to improve the grip. Be careful you do not apply too much drive roll pressure to these wires.

[] For aluminum wires a U groove with smooth surface again don't use excess drive roll pressure. With aluminum ensure minimum gaps between the inlet, drive rolls and outlet guides to avoid buckling.

 

 

Have you met the cool weld dudes yet?,

The Pano Man. movie2

A WELD EQUIPMENT REALITY:

Irrespective of the weld quality or code requirements, irrespective of what the weld sales rep or equipment manufacturers tell the welding industry, ninety percent of all manual and robot, (none pipe) carbon steel / MIG welds "do not benefit" from costly, sophisticated, electronic pulsed MIG equipment.

However ninety percent of all welding equipment manufacturers and distributors do appreciate the additional revenue and profits generated from the sale of the pulsed or electronic MIG is equipment.

 

Dear Ed. I am welding engineer and I live and work in Bulgaria. I want congratulate on your WEB site. I found it 5 days ago and I can`t stop reading it, well done.

Krassimir PANAYOTOV
E-MAIL panaya@abv.bg

Practical MIG Gun Advice: Water cooled guns are used for many robot installations while the weld reality is lower cost, easier to maintain air cooled MIG guns would work just as well and reduce both maintenance and down time. If your robot weld application utilizes < 260 amps, and the weld lengths are short and the arc on time is moderate, consider a 400 to 600 amp air cooled gun.

Both Tregaskiss and Binzel make excellent robot / manual MIG guns. I try to avoid Bernard or Lincoln guns even when given one free with the purchase of a power source.


Weld Gun Contact Tips. I believe that many of the contact tips sold today in North America are made in countries that have very low labor costs and very little concern for maintaining the tip bore dimensions as provided by the original tip design.

During the last decade, I have seen a dramatic decrease in the quality of weld consumables. It's very common today to find 0.035 and 0.045 tips that have undersize bores, add this issue to the common, poor quality over size weld wire and you have found another reason why you are having erratic weld results, burn backs and bird nests at the drive rolls.

 

Spray / Pulsed Transfer and Contact Tips. With high weld current applications, ensure the spray contact tip is recessed 1/8 to 1/4 (3 - 6 mm) inside the gun nozzle. The higher the current get closer to the 1/4 recess.

Recessing the contact tip extends the contact tip life as less spatter and heat will get onto the tip. The recessed tip provides a longer MIG wire extension which can reduce the high weld current that will result from high wire feed rates. The weld current reduction can assist in weld puddle control and a longer wire stick out reduces wire burn back potential. Also with spray transfer consider the purchase of heavy duty, wider nozzles for your guns.

Short Circuit and Contact Tips. For applications that use less than 180 amps, stick the contact tip outside the nozzle about 3 mm. The tip outside the nozzle allows the use of the lowest possible voltages. Also the benefits of a short wire stick out adds to arc stability with low current applications. For short circuit or globular transfer have the contact tip flush with the nozzle.

 

CONTACT TIP SIZES:

08/07 E-mail: Hello Ed.

I recently purchased your "A Management and Engineers Guide to MIG Welding". The book is everything I had hoped it would be...and then some!

The company I work for has a handful of welding engineers scattered throughout North America. Over the past few months I have had a growing number express satisfaction with using 0.030 tips with 0.035 wire. My issue is this, no one has given me a specific engineering or scientific reason for the tip change. Simply, "So-and-so told me to try it. It works for him so I do it to." (I believe the original idea came from a suggestion from a weld sales rep.) This concerns me. I foresee a number of problems including increased uneven tip wear, restricted wire feed, spatter blockage issues, etc.,and I don't see where current flow would be influenced significantly.

Am I missing something?

Ps: Thank-you for having the motivation and courage to make this kind of information available. I have not yet come across an opinion that I did not share or a concept I did not admire.

Regards. Fraser Rock. Welding Eng:

Ed's Reply: Fraser: Thanks for kind words. I have found in many plants that a common issue like this is usually a distraction or crutch for plant people who frequently lack the ability to get to the real root cause of their daily weld issues. Most tip issues typically result from burn backs, poor start and end data, incorrect wire stick outs or wire helix issues.

A contact tip needs to be approx. 0.007 to 0.010 larger than the MAX wire diam. Keep in mind the wire will expand slightly during welding. When you purchase smaller tips than those recommended , remember that with today's inconsistent weld wire quality the weld wire OD is frequently on the plus side.

If robot operators or weld personnel manually run the wire through the tip and it snags, the wire is too large or the tip is too small. If the wire is manually fed through the tip and makes consistent contact its fine. If the tip bore is not the correct size, (check with drill gauge), change your tip manufacturer. If the wire OD is too big, change the wire manufacturer and for god's sake get rid of weld distributor that provides you with poor quality products and provides bad advice. There is the possibility is the tips you purchase are made in China or Timbuktu. There are many quality issues with off shore, substandard weld consumables.

Good luck. Ed:

 

2005: NORTH AMERICAN LAMENT.

MIG Wire Feeders and "Dual Weld Schedules".

Without question one of the greatest benefits derived on manual MIG wire feeder is the ability of the welder while welding to flick a switch or trigger on the MIG gun and go back and forth between two separate weld schedules.

Dual schedule wire feeders have been around for at least two decades, (Linde DigiMig was one of the first). As with many other practical weld products, the global weld industry has been slow to differentiate from the useless bells and whistles and purchase real world practical equipment such as dual schedule wire feeders.

Two great tools a welding company can use to optimize their manual steel or stainless MIG welds;

[1] Provide employees with effective "weld process control training".

[2] Provide the MIG bells and whistles on the "wire feed controls". such as "two preset, pre-approved" weld schedules.

Today in Ford, GM, Chrysler, Japanese auto plants and tier one suppliers, we will see manual weld repairs being made on the robot made welds with pulsed MIG equipment. The repair welders will typically use only one weld setting to fill weld burn-through holes or place welds on top of welds on parts from 1 to 6 mm. The correct equipment of choice for manual MIG weld repairs is a low cost 250 - 300 amp CV power source. Use an 0.035 (1mm) wire for the weld repairs and it's logical to use a dual schedule MIG wire feeder that with a flick of the switch would give the repair welder either a low current short circuit weld and higher current spray setting. Of course if your company was really on the ball, you would provide those repair welders with MIG process CONTROL training as found in my self teaching MIG process control books, click here.

The "dual weld schedule" MIG wire feed control, is one of the most practical pieces of MIG equipment that has been available for two decades, that's why the auto industry and most weld shops have shown little interest in it.

You can spend $8,000 to $12,000 and purchase the worlds most sophisticated pulsed MIG power source for your shop. You would then have to invest another $2000 - $4000 for a wire feed control. However if you really want to get consistent, optimum MIG quality and productivity, purchase a low cost, < $3000, 350 - 450 amp Miller, ESAB or Lincoln power source, then invest another $2500 on a dual schedule wire feed control.

WELD EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER MAY WISH TO PROMOTE THEIR COSTLY MIG POWER SOURCE WITH 90 WELD SCHEDULES. HOWEVER WHEN YOU USE THE WELD PROCESS INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN ED'S BOOKS, YOU WILL LEARN THAT ONLY FOUR SIMPLE WIRE FEED AND VOLT SETTINGS ARE REQUIRED FOR A GIVEN DIAMETER ELECTRODE TO WELD ANY STEEL / STAINLESS APPLICATION.



Once the weld decision maker has purchased that dual schedulewire feed control and decides on two optimum settings for the manual welders in his shop, all that is required is to dial the two settings into the dual schedule wire feed control, turn a key on the control and the two optimum set of weld parameters are locked in.

Both Lincoln and Miller offer dual schedule wire feed units priced $2,000 - $3000. Both these units are a good choice and are logical with a 300 - 450 amp, traditional CV power source. From my perspective the dual schedule feeder control and conventional CV equipment is a much more cost effective and , practical approach to MIG and flux cored welding, rather than purchasing a costly poor performing Inverter or a pulsed power source that offers limited benefits for most steel and stainless welds.


WARNING: Give careful consideration to the effectiveness, position and durability of the dual schedule MIG "gun switches" found on many MIG guns, it appears making a quality, durable, dual schedule MIG gun switch is a big deal to many MIG gun manufacturers.

That new, pulsed MIG power source may provide four million wave ~~forms~~, however please note, costly "artificial, electronic weld equipment intelligence" can never compete with human weld process intelligence. That's the process intelligence that is available in my MIG weld process control books and Training CDs. There are only four weld settings for any MIG or flux cored wire, if you work in the weld industry its beneficial if you know these settings. do you know those settings?


Weld Equipment Bells and Whistles are Really Getting
Ridiculous yet weld shops keep buying them.

I was staggered at the AWS weld show to find one MIG weld equipment manufacture providing a "remote control" for the MIG power source. The control is similar to the one you use for your TV.

I can imagine a situation where the weld supervisor asks the welder why he is hanging around and not welding? The welder replies,"he cannot find the remote".

For more than a decade, Japanese robot and MIG power source manufacturers get the first prize for;

[a] unnecessary robot weld program complexity,

[b] poor robot / MIG power source communications,

[c] ridiculous electronic options in weld equipment.
It's a pity North American MIG equipment manufacturers are working hard too keep up.

Spain 2008. Ed finds out what a waste of time it is to set
wave forms with the useless Miller Axcess palm pilot.

MIG Welding Wires.

BEST MIG WIRES FOR ALUMINUM WELDS. Alcoa.

BEST MIG WIRES FOR STAINLESS. Sanvik.

BEST STAINLESS FLUX CORED WIRES . Kobelco / Alloy Rods (ESAB)

BEST CARBON STEEL FLUX CORED WIRES, (ALL POSITION) ARGON / CO2 MIXES. For the best gas shielded, flux cored wires, I have always recommended Alloy Rods, "Ultra sold by ESAB" Tri Mark products sold by Hobart and Kobelco products. I have never recommended Lincoln Electric gas shielded flux cored products as I found the ones I tested had many issues.

In contrast to the Alloy rod or Tri Mark wires, the Lincoln E71T-1 gas shielded wires I tested provide a smaller optimum weld parameter range, instability with the arc, and too many worm tracks. The bottom line the Lincoln wires were provided less weld deposition rate potential and the last time I tried these wires, the vertical up welds had so much porosity and worm tracks in the weld it looked like a cheese grate.

BEST CARBON STEEL FLUX CORED WIRES (ALL POSITION) USING STRAIGHT CO2.
My first choice, Kobelco.

Self shielded flux cored wires. These products do not belong indoors and so far only the inexperienced auto / truck industry has pushed their use. Any company that uses these products for indoor weld applications is not concerned about weld quality, productivity or the health of their workers.

BEST STEEL MIG WIRE. My first choice of carbon steel MIG wire is still the Lincoln L- 50 wire manufactured in Cleveland. However it seems today that some Lincoln MIG wires are produced in strange places like China or Timbucktwo. If you purchase Lincoln products that are not Cleveland manufactured, for robot SPRAY OR PULSED applications and you find the arc sounds change every few seconds compare them with the Lincoln L50 wire. My second choice of MIG wire is ESAB 70S-3

THE WORST MIG WIRES: While providing process improvements across the USA and Canada, the carbon steel MIG wires I had the most robot weld issues with were made by Hobart, (inconsistent chemistry). I also had extensive problems with National Standard MIG wires which had too many cast or helix issues, and their E70S-6 wire provided too much weld fluidity (excess silicon) leading to undercut on some applications.

2004 AND THE PULSED WELD BOVINE FECAL MATTER WAS REALLY FLOWING. I was amazed to read an advertisement in the Nov. 2003 Weld Journal from National Standard for the new N-S Pulse PLUS steel weld wire. NS claims that with there MIG wire and the pulsed process you will get less spatter , less fumes and reduce the need for grinding. NS claims that there pulsed wire is supposed to have a wider operating range.

I guess that $12000, useless pulsed power source you just purchased that's loaded down with electronic bells and whistles to control the arc now has nothing to do with the pulsed weldability. This type of ridiculous product advertising is what adds to the mountains of Bovine fecal matter that has helped destroy the technical credibility of toady's welding industry. It's a shame a reputable magazine like the Weld Journal, a magazine that represents the American Weld Society allowed this form of advertising.

ED MADE THIS SPRAY 5/16 FILLET WELD WITH A E70S-3 MIG WIRE, A TWO PART GAS MIX, AND A MIG POWER SOURCE AND WIRE FEED UNIT THAT SOLD FOR LESS THAN $3000

E Mail Nov 04. Ed. I spent 33 years with Esab India Ltd, selling MIG, TIG and Plasma equipment. Your web site is a wonderful observation of the global weld industry and how the pulsed MIG weld equipment manufacturers have for decades fooled the so called weld industry experts.

T.K.Bandyopadhyay.

FroniusTwin Wire 2004:

 

The twin wire process offers unique real world benefits from pipe welding to high speed automotive. Keep in mind two torches and two robots can also do what the twin wire process can achieve.

The Fronius Twin process shown above is a "tandem" welding process. This is one of the most sophisticated twin wire systems available. With the Fronius equipment there are two digital pulsed power sources working together. The Fronius Twin Digital machines produces a separate arc. A synchronization unit regulates the interplay of the two arcs. Too see the Fronius Tandem process on pipe, click.

MANAGERS BEFORE YOU CONSIDER COMPLEX AND SOPHISTICATED WELD EQUIPMENT LIKE THE TWIN WIRE PROCESS, IT'S FIRST LOGICAL TO OPTIMIZE THE EXISTING PROCESSES YOU ALREADY OWN.

When using the "single wire" MIG process, how many managers encourage their weld team members to evaluate the robot weld program, the process, the consumables, the parts, the design or the weld fixture to ensure they have done everything possible to attained the highest potential weld efficiency and deposition rate from their existing robots?

Irrespective of the weld equipment purchased, you cannot optimize robot welds without weld process control expertise.

For those managers, engineers and technicians that are prepared to read and involve themselves in the MIG process, please note, there are many things that can be done to greatly increase the traditional, single MIG wire, robot weld travel rates. This unique information along with robot weld process control information is available in my "Management Engineers MIG Book".

 

 

ELECTRONIC, WELD DATA MONITORING EQUIPMENT
CAN ONLY REPORT WHAT IT READS.

THE FOLLOWING IS A WELD PARAMETER GRAPH TAKEN FROM A MONITORING DEVICE USED ON A PANASONIC PULSED POWER SOURCE WHILE WELDING. THE CURRENT LINE IS BLACK THE VOLTAGE LINE IS RED. THE WIRE FEED AND WIRE STICKOUT WAS CONSTANT. NOTE THE LARGE CURRENT HIGH AND LOW SPIKES. NOTE HOW THE VOLTAGE DROPS TO ALMOST ZERO NUMEROUS TIMES. THIS ERRATIC WELD RESULT WAS ALSO TYPICAL FROM THE PULSED MODES WITH THE LINCOLN POWER WAVE AND MILLER INVISION.

 

THE LOWER GRAPH SHOWS THE SAME WELD WIRE AND WIRE FEED RATE AS USED WITH THE PANASONIC EQUIPMENT SET AT THE SAME WIRE FEED RATE. THIS WELD PARAMETER GRAPH IS FROM AN "UNSOPHISTICATED" MILLER DELTA WELD WHICH COSTS CONSIDERABLY LESS.

NOTE THE FAR GREATER ARC STABILITY WITH BOTH THE WELD CURRENT (BLACK) AND VOLTAGE (RED). THIS STABILITY AND SUPERIOR OUT PUT FOR CONTROL OVER WELD FUSION COMES FROM THE MUCH LOWER COST, TRADITIONAL NORTH AMERICAN CV POWER SOURCE.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT GET FRUSTRATED WITH THE WELD PERFORMANCE FROM YOUR SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONIC MIG EQUIPMENT, ESPECIALLY ON HIGH WELD SPEED APPLICATIONS . NOW YOU KNOW WHY.

WELD REALITY: FOR MIG AND FLUX CORED WELD STEEL AND STAINLESS WELDS MADE IN THE FLAT AND HORIZONTAL POSITIONS, A MILLER OR LINCOLN TRADITIONAL, 300 - 450 AMP CV MIG POWER SOURCE CAN OUT PERFORM ANY ELECTRONIC POWER SOURCE TODAY SOLD IN NORTH AMERICA.

With the Lincoln power source I found that the best way to attain
stable, high speed steel welds was to switch the pulsed mode off.

The Weld Journal reports on Lincoln Electric F355i

Lincoln Electric's F355i pulsed power source communicates directly to the robot controller through an "ethernet system". This eliminates some of the intermediary hardware and software usually required between the power source and controller and according to Lincoln, makes the entire system operate faster.

What the Weld Journal does not report is when I used this equipment I found that the Lincoln pulsed power source provided high speed pulsed welds that were extremely arc length sensitive. This sensitivity made the equipment's pulsed mode unsuitable for many high speed weld applications.

A few years ago, you could purchase a Miller "electrical interface" for the robot and power source. With correct consumables and weld data communication speed was not an issue. When something went wrong with this electrical equipment any electrician could quickly identify where the problem was and then repair it. I could duplicate any weld made today by the state of the art, Lincoln "ethernet system" with equipment developed two decades ago. I know I cannot hold back the tide of fecal matter that is now flowing through weld shops however I can point out what is BS, and products that provide no real world weld benefits. If you have to ask a salesman or weld equipment rep about MIG equipment, be prepared for product bias and a great amount of exaggeration.

If you don't see through the bovine fecal matter that has surrounded the pulsed equipment, you may want to start to teach your weld personnel Latin so they can pronounce the marketing names that will be describing the future weld equipment bells and whistles.

 

The weld process fecal matter continues. The Weld Journal reports. "The Panasonic Factory Automation's soon-to-be introduced B1 power source features a "32-bit RISC microcomputer" that gives it a level of intelligence more sophisticated than most welding robots and its data will run 125 times faster. The result is the use of inverter technology for waveform control of short-circuit GMAW.

Ed's comments. The graph on the RIGHT is taken from a Panasonic power source made in 2003. This oscilloscope volt amp graph was taken by a frustrated engineer at a Canadian automotive weld facility. He wondered why his costly, electronic MIG equipment provided inconsistent weld results.

The electronic pulsed MIG equipment may be advertised as "intelligent", however someone needs to show the MIG equipment manufactures that weld parameter, (volt-amp) stability is one of the most important functions of a MIG power source. After evaluating the so called intelligent power sources for almost two decades, I have yet to see one that can provide practical, cost effective, measurable welding benefits.

One could ask why make a power source more intelligent than the robot? The robot pendant should clearly spell out the weld data and time commands and the power source should simply respond. We don't need MIG weld equipment that "thinks" we need equipment that responds.

The bottom line is weld equipment manufacturers have yet to figure out the necessary electronic communication relationship between a robot and a power source. The weld equipment manufacturers seem do their thing and the robots manufacturers do theirs. It often all adds up to unnecessary electronics in the robot cells.

 

Weld Journal reports. Thermal Arc is shifting from the use of teach pendants to controlling the power source using a personal computer as with the Power Master 500P. "We see this as something we'll be doing more of," Wiseman said. "You can do more with a PC than with a pendant." To make it easy for the customer to use, the company made sure there was "nothing unfamiliar about the software" he said. "It looks like a normal Windows screen."


Ed's comments. Are these people serious, for five decades this industry has struggled with two simple MIG controls, now they are talking about using a computer. Give a weld decision maker a conventional MIG power source and with three simple parameter settings per wire diameter, as shown in my books and training CDs, and that person will instantly set optimum MIG weld quality and productivity on any application in North America. The last thing any weld shop needs is a computer.

Weld Journal reports. ESAB has begun introducing machines with a special "switching technology" a technology that produces efficiencies similar to inverters but at a cost more like conventional power supplies, Fernicola said. In addition, the company's new Aristo MIG 400 model power source utilizes a "BUS system" that enables the power source and wire feeder to communicate in much the same way as an automobile's computer communicates with the rest of the car's systems.

Ed's comments. Does this mean we can drive it?

You hopefully are now getting the big BS picture. In the weld equipment game of one up-manship. Each of these weld equipment manufacturing companies looks like it's dedicated to adding unnecessary costs and complexity to the welding industry.

E Mail to Ed 02/ 05. Ed. I absolutely love the website, its fantastic and has a lot of advanced information that a professional welder like me loves to read. I have been working at Bobcat for the last seven years making the excavators and attachments for the skid steers. My plant in located in Bismark, North Dakota. This is a multi million dollar plant that invests heavily in fanuc robots, lasers, and anything else that is the latest craze. I really took note on your section about pulsed MIG.

Six years ago, I was working in the cab/canopy cell. We had three shifts, four jigs and could always stay ahead of the weld production schedule. There were approximately 10 people that worked in that cell on all shifts. For a few years we used the CV Miller Deltaweld 451 machines. One day I came in and found that half of our Miller power sources were replaced with small Panasonic Inverter pulsed machines.

The sales rep who bought in the Panasonic equipment told everybody just starting my shift that these were demo machines and go ahead and use them and tell him how they worked out a week later. The first problem was nobody knew how to set them up to weld. After playing around we figured them out. Even when set right they would spit and sputter during the welds, then they would go from a controllable weld to a weld that was way too hot.

My weld production went from one canopy per hour to 6 in 8 hrs. Try like hell I just could not get back up to the weld production I had attained with the CV miller equipment. At the end of the week we had 9 people out of 10 saying take these S.O.B.'s out. they SUCK! The sales rep response "we need to train you guys how to set them so we will all have a class". They never provided the class and we got stuck with equipment.


Six months later we get another visit from the Panasonic salesman, you would think this guy was running the weld shop. This time the sale rep was pushing the new Panasonic HM 500. At this time I started to get into the robot side of Bobcat. I was working in a cell that had a fanuc RJ2 and Miller 451 power source. It was nice MIG weld operation, STRAIGHTFORWARD AND LOGICAL with minimum weld issues, however but it wasn't meant to last.


The engineers in our plant replaced all the robot cell weld equipment with the Panasonic HM 500's. Because of the way our robot cells were setup, we had 1000 pound spools of wire on the outside of the cell and the wire would have to be fed through 60 feet of conduit to get to the wire feeder. With the miller equipment in the robot cells there was no problems, because of how their drive roll setup was designed. (four interlocking gear meshed rollers). The first thing that happened with the new Panasonic equipment was extensive burn back to the tips because of the how their feeder was designed. (one drive roller and then an idler). Again the problems generated was "our fault", yet we were told we need to learn how to use the Panasonic equipment. To get the Panasonic equipment feeding the wire in a more controlled manner, we had to reconfigure the cells so the weld wire was closer to the robots. Once closer to the robots the weld heat must have affected the Panasonic equipment as on average they seemed to burn up every 4 months! We actually had one power source that burnt up within 30 minutes after it was installed. About the time that Bobcat was ready to pull out, somebody leaked to our friendly sales rep that we were going testing both Lincoln and a new Miller model. The rep came back and told us that we should wait on changing over because Panasonic was releasing their HM 500 II machine and that they were much better machines. The salesroom gave the usual BS and demonstrate a machine to management that had more had more control than the cock pit in an airplane. There was of course an extra price to pay for the extra knobs but our gullible management again bought into the sales pitch.

Bobcat used to like to keep its weld equipment for at least 15 years before they changed them out. We had the Panasonic equipment for less than 48 months when the management decided it had to go. I am back to welding with the Miller 451 and making some pretty sweet weld beads. I absolutely love welding but when you get people that come in and they don't know what they are talking about, it makes a McD's job start to look pretty good. Ed your website is great and I look forward to soaking up more knowledge from it. Best regards and thanks for your time to read this novel.

Note from Ed. This e-mail had it all. Lack of process expertise from both management and engineers. Lack of equipment ownership from management. The consequences from weld sales influence. Frustrated weld personnel. Over priced pulsed MIG equipment and an industry that looks to useless bells and whistles as a crutch for it's lack of weld process expertise.

 

MIG Contact Tip MIG weld Question.

Ed MIG contact tip issues is a prime cause of robot down time at our plant. We make steel auto / truck shock components. I figure we are loosing over one hour of robot production per- robot due to the contact tip issues. I have read about special alloy tips and their influence on tip longevity and seen different tip profiles. My question is should we be doing more work on tip evaluation?

Signed. Frustrated robot weld tech.

Ed's reply.

Thanks to different alloy additions to copper of course some contact tips will offer different properties that can affect wear or conductivity. The shape of the tip is rarely relevant, thicker is typically just a little better than thinner. The real issue in most weld shops that utilize arc welding robots is to first recognize the process root cause of the contact tip failures. The vast majority of contact tips require replacement due to the following;

[a] Wire burn back due to poor robot weld start / end data.

[b] Use of oversized MIG wires causing the use of globular weld transfer. The large globular droplets quickly block the contact tip bore.

[c] Spatter caused by poor weld parameters.

[d] Wire cast or helix issues.

[e] Tip in wrong position or nozzle to close to weld.

[f] Pulsed or spray parameters that create a short wire stick out.

The resolutions to eliminating all major contact tip problems are spelled out in my robot process control training resources, click here

Contact Tip Facts. Copper has been the material of choice for many decades, primarily because, after silver, it displays the second best electrical conductivity amongst all metals. Due to it's face centered cube crystalline structure, pure copper is naturally ductile. Copper for contact tips is strengthened by a number of strengthening mechanisms including cold work, solid solution, precipitation hardening and dispersion strengthening.

The most popular and inexpensive copper alloy used in North America for contact tips is CDA C12200 P deoxidized copper). Precipitation hardening alloys such as C18100 (Cu-Cr-Zr), C18200 (Cu-Cr), C17510 (Cu-Be) have been common for high performing tips since generally they tend to have higher physical wear performance than C12200. Unfortunately, as most strengthening mechanisms, precipitation-hardening can compromise the electrical conductivity of copper. Plant experience with these alloys has been mixed; however keep in mind most plants do not correctly analyze the root cause of the tip problems and even fewer plants will take the logical process corrective actions. I found good tip data at www.finn-tips.com/copper-alloy-tips.htm. The bottom line if you are having contact tip problems the problems are typically not with the tips.

Dec 2009: E-Mail:

             
Dear Ed. I read your article on pulsed MIG and multi - process power sources about 12 months ago and agree with you entirely that they are far to complex and the advantages ( if any ) are minimal,

The sophisticated electronics with their inbuilt sensitivities have no place in a welding shop environment . The company I work for recently fell for the old sales trick and bought a Kempii Synergic Mig with all the bells and whistles to go with it ( tractor, tracks etc ) all costing about
Au $30,000.00.

The Kempii power source is rated at 100% at 400 amps with a water-cooled gun. As far as I'm concerned this weld equipment is the most cantankerous, unreliable bucket of crap that ever had electrons shovelled through it . Although the gun is water - cooled the tips are prone to overheat and jam . The only way I've been able to overcome this is to use a 1.2 mm tips with 1 mm wire . The pulse parameters are so useless they border on farcical
maybe they were designed by an electronic comittee at Kemmpi, certainly not by anybody with a bit of basic process knowledg about welding. This machine will do nothing that I cannot achieve with 400 amp CV machine and Standard Tweco gun and tips. I 've been the the game for 35 years and been doing coded welding for 30 of those years, but I have never seen such a complete waste of money or resources .

P.S    We have a minor political party over here called the Democrat ( no relation to the  US guys ) and their motto is " Keeping the bastards honest " . Ed I hope you continue to do so with the welding industry!

Craig Fourro Brisbane , Australia.

E-mail: MIG E equipment / Robot Question:
Ed we have synergic MIG equipment which has voltage sensing leads, (VSL). In our maintenance department there are several views as to where the leads should be attached in our mult-robot MIG weld cells.

Answer: The following sketch provides the VSL data you need.

Is your hunting dog trained to the NRA rules?

MORE WELD EQUIPMENT DATA AVAILABLE IN




"MIG EQUIPMENT EVALUATION PART 2

ED OPTIMIZED ROBOT WELDS FOR HUNDREDS OF COMPANIES.

A FEW OF ED'S PROCESS OPTIMIZATION PROJECTS,

FORD F 150 FRAMES - VOLVO CABS - CORVETTE FRAMES-
HARLEY FRAMES - NEW BEETLE SEATS AND ED ALSO ESTABLISHED
THE ROBOT WELD FOR THE WORLD'S LARGEST CATERPILLAR TRUCK.

click here for Ed's materials.

For MIG and Flux Cored process
expertise visit www.weldreality.com



For TIP TIG better quality than TIG and
up to 10 x as fasf visit www.tiptigusa.com