[PSUBS-MAILIST] Re: Welding machines for submersiles

I would recommend the smaw welding process for all your pressure boundry welds , tig for the stainless steel penetrations and the mig welding process for everything else.

A good used stick welding (smaw) machine with an amperage rating of 250 to 300 amps will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of one to two thousand dollars. It has to have a duty cycle of at least 60 percent. As a bonus you can also do your tig welding with the same machine, utilizing a scratch strart technique. To save money you can do without the mig machine and do everything with stick . Stick welding (coated electrodes) is the most versitile process for doing equipment repair too. Miller, Lincoln , Airco, Hobart and Esab are some of the more common brand names . Be sure to get one with an infinate type amperage adjustment versus one that only adjusts in 15 or 20amp "clicks" . I would not take a click type even if someone wanted to give it to me. Is not enough fine adjustment for the critical work that you will need to do.