Arc Pig

A friend of mine gave me his old Sears Craftsman AC-DC stick welder. He had a nice Miller TIG rig and didn't use it any more. He told me that as a DC rig I could use a TIG torch with it if I added shielding gas setup. Downside is that you have to scratch start the arc which isn't the best option when doing TIG. It works but generally you'd rather not risk ANY contamination of the TIG electrode with the base metal. It had been 30 years since I had first learned to weld in school. Hadn't done any ARC welding since then as I only had a gas welding rig. So I got some scrap metal and some fresh rods of various types to get back in the game. Starting the arc is always the tricky part of stick welding. That hadn't changed in 30 years. I knew there were "add on" high frequency arc starting attachments that you could get so I started looking at what was available and discovered the ARC PIG. The technical description seemed sound and you can't beat the humor in the operating manual so I decided to bite. Man am I glad I did. Now I no longer have ANY issues starting my rods right were I want them to start and I truly can TIG weld starting the arc without having to contact the work with the Tungsten electrode. This device is a DREAM for a welder with low cost equipment. Even if you aren't interested in TIG and only do rod work, you WANT this add on. Installation is a breeze. You just need to buy four copper lugs that fit your cable gauge and the lugs on the ARC PIG. I just cut the existing cables about two feet from the plug ends, stripped back about half inch of insulation on the four ends and installed the crimp copper lugs I bought in Home Depot (squeezed them on with vise) and just bolted them to the studs of the ARC PIG per the installation instructions. Ty-wrapped the included torch switch to the torch handle with the supplied Ty-wraps and I was ready to burn metal. You just set the amps, don your helmet, turn on the welder and place the end of the rod/Tungsten about 1/8 inch or so above where you want to start the arc. Press the ignition button and the arc lights instantly and you just lay down your bead. You keep the button pressed as the PIG will try to maintain your arc if you get sloppy. Laying down rod for me has gone from being a "pain" to "painting" with metal. I see these are currently unavailable on Amazon. I hope that's temporary. I suspect it's because of overwhelming response to the pre-Christmas sale (I was one of the lucky ones that got mine that way.) I called the manufacturer before I bought mine with a question and they were most helpful. This device delivers what it promises. If you don't do anything else, visit the manufacturer's web site and read all of the prose and installation instructions. It's a hoot. These guys have the right attitude about things. There aren't many things I'd recommend without any reservation or caveat. This is one of them. If you weld, even casually, this will turn your frustrations into fun.

I've been welding for several years with a stick welder with mediocre results. The Arc Pig has dramatically improved my results. It starts the arc without touching the work and I'm much happier with my results; no more rods getting stuck in my work. I recommend the Arc Pig - it is expensive but well worth it. UPDATE A year later. My husband has been using the ARC PIG for a year now and he doesn't swear anymore when he's welding. I watched him using it to build some dock legs recently and it looked like he was frosting a cake. We bought another one to give our nephew for his birthday.

Easy installation and works better than advertised. I made a foot switch to turn it on and off and that works great

If you want to mix electrodes and sheet metal this is the trick.I still havent done much TIG aluminum but it's on the list

Great item. Very cost effective Hi Freq unit. Changes I would recommend, 1. a better cover than a cardboard tube. 2. extend the lugs so it is easier to bolt on the cables. Possibly change the shape to a square and or put clips to bolt it in place.

Did not function properly it seemed to be touchy on its frequency which it’s sapose to be 60 hertz if it really worked mr tig would have made more than 1 video on it

The no touch start works great to start and weld with mild steel without contaminating your tungsten. But it wont weld aluminum. It needs a foot pedal working in tandem with it to adjust amperage during welding. When I found an amperage good enough to weld aluminum I had to hold it at my start position to get it hot enough for fusion then I could only weld a couple inches before the weld got too hot and started blowing out the back. If I had a pedal I could adjust the amperage on the fly and start hot, then cool it down enough to keep good fusion without melting through my work piece. We called the company about this issue. The customer service representative that we talked to said he couldn't help us because he wasn't a welder and therefore, couldn't understand the issue. We bought this as a one and done accessory to be able to weld aluminum and it didn't work for that. But if your only looking for a no scratch start for steel, this will work for you.

Everything about the pig works awesome 👍 did have to change out the toggle . But awesome piece of equipment .