California Warrior Trike Build

Joined
Jul 6, 2021
Messages
20
I am about to start building a Warrior. I am 75 and live in the northern California mountains.

More questions to follow.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2021
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20
I've been practicing my welding using the flux core setup. I have a Lincoln electric wire feed 110V welder. My beads are terrible and I've tried several setting/techniques. I have the polarity switched to E- and the heat setting all the way down.My beads are just little globules and there is lots of spatter. Another problem I have is that I can't seem to see well enough to run a straight bead, even with my helmet turned down to the lightest setting.

I am wondering if anyone is using oxy/acetylene. Does it work OK in this application or are there reasons not to use it. I realize that there are lots of tack welds in the building process, and that might be easier using an arc welder.

Anyway, here are some of the reasons I might swing for a O/A setup.
  • I need to weld outside, so using shielding gas is not ideal.
  • I am on a farm, and could use the ability to weld other projects that are not near an electrical outlet.
  • I am off the grid, so it is important to economize on my power usage, especially in the winter when there is less sunshine.
  • I have done quite a bit of circuit board soldering, which is different in scale, but uses similar 2 handed motions. (heat the part, add the filler, etc.)
Any advice you can give this old newbie will be appreciated.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Has anyone used a NuVinci CVT hub instead of a rear derailleur?
Yup!
However I have an N380 + a rear derailleur which is uncabled and is only used to take up the slack when I change rings on the front mech.
I love it. Wonderfully smooth & stepless gear changing and 70% changedown available at a standstill. It is my preferred combo now.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
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3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Lincoln Welders are good machines. Fluxed wire and no-gas is fine for making these bikes, ask Brad. :)
As Popshot says you have the AMPS/WIRESPEED not quite right.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
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2,384
Location
Wakefield, UK
When you get it right you should hear a sound like frying bacon while welding with MIG. Your helmet may be more suited to heavy arc use rather than light MIG. ie the filter simply can't go low enough. Get a decent floodlight on the work. It can make all the difference in seeing the job.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2021
Messages
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Yup!
However I have an N380 + a rear derailleur which is uncabled and is only used to take up the slack when I change rings on the front mech.
I love it. Wonderfully smooth & stepless gear changing and 70% changedown available at a standstill. It is my preferred combo now.
I may use the rear cvt and no front derailleur so would not need to take up slack while on the go, only when I change pedal position or front sprocket size. I will probably experiment with sprocket size to fit my riding fitness. Since I have lots of hills I would want a very low ratio for climbing, but I don't expect to demand much flat out speed. So I think the rear cvt hub would fit my range ok. If I am wrong, I can still retrofit.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2021
Messages
20
Turn the amps up. It's beading because you're getting no penetration.
That makes sense, because I have yet to have a burn through, although I can see on the bottom where the bead is on top.

I got my settings from the inside cover. My heat settings are A, B, C, and D. For flux core 16 gauge it says to set it on A with 1.5 wire speed. Next time I will try it on B with a little fast feed rate. I am using .030 wire so maybe I need to feed it more than if I used .035.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
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3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
I may use the rear cvt and no front derailleur so would not need to take up slack while on the go, only when I change pedal position or front sprocket size. I will probably experiment with sprocket size to fit my riding fitness. Since I have lots of hills I would want a very low ratio for climbing, but I don't expect to demand much flat out speed. So I think the rear cvt hub would fit my range ok. If I am wrong, I can still retrofit.
The Sprockets provided or available with the hub only go up to 22T I think.
What I did was break apart a cassette and file out the index slot so the 32T from the cassette would fit on the Nuvinci. It makes a difference as I have a 24T as the small ring on the front.
Nuvinci warn not to go below a 2.0 to 1 ratio on front to rear sprockets, but I have not had a problem.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2021
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The Sprockets provided or available with the hub only go up to 22T I think.
What I did was break apart a cassette and file out the index slot so the 32T from the cassette would fit on the Nuvinci. It makes a difference as I have a 24T as the small ring on the front.
Nuvinci warn not to go below a 2.0 to 1 ratio on front to rear sprockets, but I have not had a problem.
Thanks. I don't plan on changing sprockets on the Nuvinci, only on the front. I expect the 2/1 ratio recommendation is to avoid applying excessive torque on the hub. I'm no athlete, so I might be able to cheat on that a little.
 
Joined
May 28, 2013
Messages
120
Location
Ottawa
I have a really low cost, was on sale for $100 Cdn, welder that absolutely sucked at laying beads, but made awesome BB's. Almost tossed it. Then I changed my wire to Blue Demon. I use .030 as well. I don't have as many settings as the Lincoln's - just min/max, and wire speed from 0 to 10, and the on/off switch. My gun is hot all the time, so I don't wave it about. That change in wire type was like I had swapped out for a totally new machine. I won't be starting any bike builds for a bit - there's some metal work on the property that needs to happen first, but after this change I'm itching to try building now (the bike trailer was my warm up project).

I started with O/A - still have the kit, but prefer it for brazing now. The problem for me, is gas supply. I have a small porta-torch type kit. It's luggable, but not fun to carry, but is only good for about a day of welding - and that's the cut, fit, tack, adjust, weld, think about next bit, repeat type of day. You'd think, in a city, you'd be able to get gas, but the suppliers here all shut down at 4 pm, and aren't open on weekends, when a hobbiest who tends to work Monday to Friday from 9 to 7 has free time to get supplies. The larger tanks for me are out of the question - rental cost alone, never mind the insurance implications. A generator and a FCAW machine will be much much better I think in a field - esp. if what you're welding is quite rusty/greasy or paint covered. FCAW really cuts through that crud. O/A makes a lot of startling pops and bangs, and sets it on fire.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2021
Messages
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It seems like no matter what I do with the wire feed (FCAW) welder, my welds look like I just threw molten metal somewhere in the vicinity of my joint. One of the big problems is that I have a very difficult time seeing the puddle, and can't stop wandering off the line. I've tried all sorts of combination of heat settings, wire speed, and travel speed, but still feel like a klutz.

Another problem is that I am noticing a significant draw down of my solar batteries. I am totally off-grid, and I don't really want to have my power die in the winter when there are only a few hours for the sun to charge the batteries.

So I went ahead and bought a O/A outfit and fired it up. With the lighter shade glasses, I could see much better. My very first bead looked better than the best one I had made with the arc welder, and it doesn't use electricity. I am using a #0 Victor tip and that seems about right for the 16 gauge steel. This weekend I am going to practice controlling the heat to limit the distortion. Once I am satisfied with that, I am ready to start the frame for real.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2021
Messages
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The current isn't a problem. I can push about 72 amps at 220 volts for a little while. I just can't keep it up very long if I want lights and water pressure later. This will be my first winter on the solar setup, so I don't even know what my usage is going to feel like.

I think the O/A setup will be very useful anyway, since I occasionally have repairs to make on the farm that are too far away from electricity to use an arc welder.
 
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
712
Location
Vilvoorde / Flanders / Belgium
As with stick or TIG, MIG does require some practice. Less, but still some.

Not seeing the puddle. Probably glass a shade or 2 to dark. Or the setting on the automatic on 12. For TIG and less than 120A, I set my helmet on 9. MIG, under 100A 9 as well. Only reason I go over 11 is for high amp TIG welding aluminium.

And recently, I started wearing reading glasses under the helmet... Annoying, but alas, age is progressing for the young ones too...
 
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