Xlaserlab X1 Pro, The Experience Pt. 2, The Basics

When last we saw our intrepid hero, he was stymied by the power plug that came with the unit. It took me longer than I am proud of to get that issue resolved. With help from my Dad and from Carl, I finally just removed the plug it came with and installed a 220V plug.

I did get a response from the Xlaserlab folks advising me that "The plug we offer is a standard US plug." Well, yes and no. It is a standard plug for 120V 20 Amp circuits, but most homes and shops in the US do not have such a service. Standard service is 120 V 15 Amp. I could have had an electrician come out and install a 20 amp circuit with the appropriate socket, but it was easier to just go with a 220V plug. According to the manufacturer, the unit will work on anything from 100-240V.

There are a lot of videos on YouTube of people reviewing this welder and showing how to use it. I only found one that actually talked about setting it up and connecting things. In that video he talks about replacing the plug that it comes with with a 220V plug. There are many out there, but I went with this one.

Finally having the power problem solved it was now time to figure out how to pass gas to the welder. I stopped by Airgas in Arlington and got a 125 Argon bottle, they were out of 80s which probably would have been adequate.

Thanks to Carl sending me an online calculator for converting various types of measurements, I was able to take the gobbledygook from the manual and convert it something I recognize. From this I learned that the 15-20 L/Min for the gas flow translates to 31.78 - 42.38 ft3/hr (cubic feet per hour), which is what my regulator is set to measure.

The unit has a 6mm connector for gas in. The video referenced above mentioned using a 10mm to 6mm reducer to hook it up to his argon bottle. I don't know much about gas bottles and regulators thereof, but I ended up buying this regulator.

Betooll Argon/CO2 Flow Meter Regulator.

I found a 4 pack of 10mm to 6mm reducers on Amazon and bought them. I took one out of the package and was on my way to Lowe's to get some tubing when I noticed that the tubing kit that came with the ultimate package included a reducer. Mistake number 1,233,235, I assumed it was the same as the ones I bought so I put the one I bought away and grabbed the one from the kit. Big mistake. The big end on that one was too small, so I bought the wrong tubing. The adapter that came with the kit takes tubing with a 1/4" OD. The hose barb on the regulator is for 1/4" ID diameter tubing. What I needed was tubing that was 1/4" ID with 3/8" OD and designed for a working pressure of at least 100 psi. I found some, but of course, the only pack they had was a 25 foot roll. I need about 6".

The manual that comes with the unit, and is available online, is less than completely useful. For instance, when it comes to hooking up electrical power it says basically not to plug into a power strip. Right, OK, that wasn't even going to be an issue. I have never yet seen a power strip with that type of socket.

Actual screenshot from the manual.

The schematic they provide for hooking up the various components also leaves out a bit of detail.

From the manual.

It seems to me that this manual presumes a certain level of welding experience, a level that I do not possess. I do not know if I would be able to get this working solely from the manual it came with. What did we ever do before YouTube?

While all of that was going on I got a roll of welding wire form Amazon and a few other odds and ends and it appears that I have everything that I need to make sparks. Stay tuned.