Archive for the ‘Total Auto Blog Posts’ Category

Basics of Stick Welding and the Welding Process

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Stick welding is a process that uses a covered electrode that is also called a stick. The full name for Welding is Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) and is more widely used than many other methods of welding.

This works by melting the flux that covers the electrode as the welder welds a work-piece. As this process continues it forms gas and slag and these two things shield the arc and the weld pool of molten metal. What happens when the piece is finally all welded together, there is slag that the welder must chip off. The flux also adds scavengers, deoxidizers and other types of alloy elements to the metal during the weld.

There are many advantages of using this method. First of all this is one of the most inexpensive ways to weld because the equipment is easy to use, portable and inexpensive. You don’t have to worry about regulating the flux because the electrode does the regulating of the flux. This method is also less susceptible to wind and drafts than other methods, especially the welding processes that are gas shielded. No matter what position you find yourself in when welding, you can use this method in just about any position.

The Stick welding process overview shows that this process is used more than any other form of arc welding. It is also versatile, flexible and used by a wider variety of individual. As an example, you can use this method to make small repairs around your home, you can repair equipment and it is used in the erection of still and other commercial types of joining metal.

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Learn Welding and the Process of MIG Welding

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

This process is called by many names and it basically is a welding process that uses an arc to heat metal that needs to be joined. The welder uses a continuous feed filler metal (a consumable) electrode and this is used on the work-piece. Like a few other tyes of welding, there needs to be a shielding that is a certain type of gas or mixture of gases.

This type of welding is also called short circuit transfer. In the MIG process, when the wire actually touches the metal to be connected, it lets go of the metal that does the welding. What the purpose of this is to stop the metal transfering across an arc as to avoid puddling.

Also known as Welding , the MIG(GMAW) process uses a metal gun to provide this service instead of a torch so that you get a direct current going to the metal. You can use both constant current and alternating current systems to also produce this method of welding.

Welding uses four ways to transfer metal. These are:

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Welding Tips for TIG Welding

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

TSince TIG(GTAW) welding can be difficult there is all kinds of information that will help you understand it better and how to do it more effectively. In order to do the most effective welding using TIG you will need to prepare several things before you start.

What to prepare
The first thing you want to do is prepare the area where you are going to do your welding because you want it to be kept free of contamination. This means that you will have to really clean the area to make sure you have no grease, moisture or dust. You will also want to make sure there are no air drafts in this area because this could bring more problems.

The next thing to prepare is the metal that you are going to use for Welding . You will need to make sure that the joints are as clean as you can make them and you do this by using a stainless steel wire brush.  Many welders will dedicate one brush to whatever metal they have so they don’t have to worry about cross contamination.

If have slag on any of the metal you can remove it with a file. Next, you will want to clean the base metal. The reason you want everything to be so clean is that if contaminated, the metal can either break down or make a bad connection. Of course, it depends on the metal which it will do, so cleaning everything can stop this from happening.

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Types of Welding

Monday, November 17th, 2008

When you think about Welder you might think that there is only one type of welding. This is a common idea because most people only see the finished product. However, there are many different types of welding that you might find interesting.

Really in a very basic sense of the term, welding is a way of taking metals and joining them together and gain a tight bond in the process. There are a variety of bonds that are done depending on the types of welding you use.

Types of welding fit under categories as listed here:

Gas welding
This type of Learn Welding creates a flame from a burning gas and this creates the welding heat that is needed. You will see this in the following types of welding:

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TIG Welding and Everything you want to know about TIG Welding

Monday, November 17th, 2008

The acronym TIG stands for Tungsten Inert Gas Arc Welding and the acronym GTAW stands for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding this is the same process but it is referred to by these two different names.

In the situation you will be Welding using an electric arc that generates the heat. You then have a tungsten non-consumable electrode that then produces the weld you are attempting to make.

One of the things that have to happen in this type of welding is that the particular metal that you are welding has to be shielded from contamination in the atmosphere or you will get a poor weld. Due to the point that was just mentioned, you will find that the area is shielded with an inert gas that is used with a filler metal where necessary.

This type of welding only works when you have a constant flow across the arc with an ionized gas that is called plasma. Plasma also has metal vapours within it. You will usually use GTAW if you have to weld thin metals like stainless steel, aluminium, magnesium or copper allows. GTAW also gives the person who is operating the welding process more control of the weld.

The meaning of this or conclusion is that this is a stronger weld that when compared to other welds has a higher quality than other types of TIG Welding . Many experts say that it is harder to learn, is complex and can be slower than other welding techniques.

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Welding Glossary of Terms

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

If you are interesting in Welding there are many different terms that you will want to familiarize yourself with in order to read magazines or books on the topic. Here is a list of common terms that are important to know in Welder

ACETYLENE — this is a gas that you will be working with to do Learn Welding . It is a very flammable gas so you have to be careful with it. This gas is made up of carbon and hydrogen and it is used in the oxyacetylene type of welding process.

AIR-ACETYLENE — this is a flare that you can produce using low temperature. It is created when you burn acetylene with air and not oxygen.

AIR-CARBON ARC CUTTING (CAC-A) — this is a way of arc cutting where you melt metals through the heat of a carbon arc.

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Vauxhall Corsa - Vauxhall's Small Success Story By Jon Barlow

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

Vauxhall’s little Corsa started life way back in 1983. Back then it was known as the Nova in the UK and was a replacement for the ageing Vauxhall Chevette. I remember the Chevette well as my friend’s Mum owned one and we persuaded her to let us borrow it the day after my friend passed his driving test on the fourth attempt (you could tell he was a natural behind the wheel). The car was a pretty revolting shade of purple and showed a few battle scars as my friend’s Mum wasn’t exactly an expert driver either. We didn’t care though as it was the perfect opportunity to tear up the L-plates that had adorned the car for what felt like an eternity. We were then ready to hit the streets with our puny cassette radio blaring. What we did manage to hit within about ten minutes was a car full of rather large Rastafarian gentlemen who were none too pleased with the damage that we had caused to their bright orange Fiat Super Mirafiori. It took a considerable amount of diplomacy to resolve the situation but luckily we managed to escape with our dignity, and our front teeth intact. A few years later I got a job with a company that had a Vauxhall Nova “Club” as a pool car and I must admit I did not enjoy driving that thing around at all. It was not actually so bad to drive but the car was white with yellow trim and had a yellow and white checked interior that made you feel like you were driving a deck chair. This was finished off with some tasteful white windscreen wipers. It was truly hideous and I was glad the day when somebody stole it and set it on fire which was a very popular past time back in the late eighties. I’m not sure who left the keys in it making it easier to steal though. I’m sure it couldn’t have been me. Vauxhall dropped the Nova name in 1993 and adopted the Corsa title as everyone was getting confused, as indeed they always have been between Vauxhall and Opel names over the years. The more rounder Corsa B model was quite a departure from the previous squarer Nova but proved to be just as popular although the A model British Nova still has a loyal following although they are becoming rare these days. A spin-off from The Corsa B was the Tigra but this had limited market appeal and so was dropped. The new millennium heralded the appearance of the Corsa C model which was a more technologically advanced version of what had gone before. The new Gamma chassis developed by Vauxhall's parent company GM was also designed to be used for other models,a technique which has been widely utilised since. “Ecotec” engines were carried over from the previous model due to their proven reliability although a few alterations were made in particular to the old DI diesel engine which made way for the improved CDTI version. The Corsa C was a huge success in the UK consistently selling in large numbers and achieved best selling car status as well as best sales in its class of “Supermini” throughout the early part of the decade. As a result of this success Vauxhall even resurrected the Tigra again in 2004 although it is now known as the “Twin Top”. 2006 saw the arrival of the Corsa D which has a new Gamma platform that was co-developed with Fiat and also features on the Grande Punto. The latest Corsa looks and feels like a bigger car and is more refined than its predecessors. Sales have been good to date with the Corsa still ranking in the top five of best selling small cars. A clever option on the Corsa is the “Flexfix” integrated bike rack which can be pulled out from the car’s rear bumper and incorporates the number plate together with the lights; which are often obscured by traditional bike carriers.

Can You See Any Gas Mileage Improvement?

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

Now that gas is almost three dollars or more a gallon, people will do anything to see some gas mileage improvement when they drive long ways from home. However, it is starting to hurt just driving back and forth to work as well. When gas prices go up, people stay home more and that means a loss for the travel industry and hotels. Along the same lines, people have to pay more for services that rely on gas like air travel and bus travel. Until the prices go down, if they ever do, you have to do a few things to save money.

The problem with gas mileage improvement is that there is not much you can do to save money other than stay home or carpool. You can keep your engine in top shape, and make sure all filters are clean and clear, but the difference is not going to add up to much. Some suggest that turning off the air conditioning and rolling down the windows will help with gas mileage improvement, but some think that having the windows down creates more resistance to the wind, and that means more gas is needed to travel at the same speed as usual.

You might want to skip the small things you can do to see gas mileage improvement, and go for the larger things that will show and immediate affect in your wallet. This means that you have to find a new way to get to work. You should find someone to ride to work with, and you can take turns driving and/or paying for gas. If you can get more than two people in on the deal, you are going to save more money. You could also ride a bike to work, but that is not always possible or reasonable for everyone.

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Best Gas Mileage SUV

Friday, November 14th, 2008

SUV fuel economy is not exactly legendary. A matter of fact, SUVs are known far and wide as some of the biggest gas guzzlers that are.  So when one of my friends announced that he was looking for the best gas mileage SUV rating, I was a little bit surprised. It didn’t really make any sense. If you’re going to buy an SUV, you giving the world a certain message: luxury matters to me much more than efficiency. Of course there are certain SUV companies such as Subaru which specifically market to hippies and other supposedly environmentally conscious folks, but even these are not known for being tremendously energy-efficient. Still, I was intrigued. I wanted to find out more about the best gas mileage SUVs.

The real problem is that the category SUV is pretty flexible. Although they are supposed to be rugged vehicles equipped for off-road driving, the reality is much different. Many of them are simply status symbols for people who like to show off. They are roomy inside, high above the ground, and big enough so that if they get in crashes, the other car takes the worst of it. That isn’t to say that SUVs are safe. Even the best gas mileage SUV won’t save you from a rollover crash, and that can be fatal. Nowadays, many of the design flaws inherent in sport utility vehicles are being corrected, but I still wouldn’t trust one with my life without doing a lot of research.

The biggest problem with this project, of course, was coming up with a definition for what an SUV is. A car like the Saturn Outlook, for example, might be considered an SUV but might not. Would a crossover car qualify for the best gas mileage SUV? It is pretty hard to tell, and my friend couldn’t decide.

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Gas Mileage Improvement - Easy Ways To Get Better Gas Mileage

Friday, November 14th, 2008

In today’s world, the skyrocketing prices of gasoline makes a huge dent in your expenditures, and we are always looking for ways to improve this situation.

Who wants to spend a large amount of their hard-earned money on gasoline? 

Nobody of course!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you knew some tricks to help improve your current gas mileage so you can save some of your hard earned money?

In order to do this, you just need to keep in mind these simple solutions, realise their importance, and utilise them in your daily routine.

Here is a list of some of these important points:

Change the way you drive: this is the easiest way to save a lot of money as you don’t need to spend anything to make this method work all that is required is to bring a few changes in you and see it showing wonderful results.

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