Alu TIG settings for dummies

[JOEPRO]

I have never TIG welded aluminium before and I am trying to learn myself.

One thing the youtube videos etc do not cover clear enough is the welder settings.

For starting off as a general baseline for thin aluminium sheet (1.2mm) what settings should I use first?



I am confused about the following:

Pulse frequency
Clean area width

Current settings although using a pedal for alu may make this machine setting obsolete

Having severe difficulty getting any sort of a alu puddle to form. Can never see it.

Grey tungsten
Only have a brass or mild steel wire brush. Reading up I think I need stainless?

The filler rod I bought are aluminium 5356 1mm from ebay

 

[Barking Mat]

Crank up the amps if no puddle, maybe turn off pulse frequency.

 

[optima21]

I've not tig welded aluminium yet, but think you might be struggling to learn on something so thin, this guide was written a few years ago for beginners in mind, and he also taught people too

Aluminium tig guide getting started.

As has been requested by a small number of members I'm happy to start a small guide as a starting point for newcomers into welding aluminium. The idea is to simply give you a starting point so your new toy can be taken from the box and dialed in without the grief of guess work or diving through...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[roblane65]

As said by barking , if youre learning leave the pulse off it's an added complication you don't need . there are vids on YT for basic set up and yes you might want to try with some thing a little thicker for getting started 2.5 - 3.0 would be better ime . And read the tuturials on here .

 

[Shox Dr]

Wasn't a member doing a tutorial for this site

 

[JOEPRO]

As said by barking , if youre learning leave the pulse off it's an added complication you don't need . there are vids on YT for basic set up and yes you might want to try with some thing a little thicker for getting started 2.5 - 3.0 would be better ime . And read the tuturials on here .

Thanks for replies all

Yes I am using thin alu soffit panel. It may not be proper alu though as it will not take the filler rod




I have ordered Some 3mm alu sheet from ebay so I'll wait until that turns up before trying again.

I can TIG mild steel well. But attempting aluminium for the first time is not going well at all so far

 

[Barking Mat]

Thanks for replies all

Yes I am using thin alu soffit panel. It may not be proper alu though as it will not take the filler rod

View attachment 391299


I have ordered Some 3mm alu sheet from ebay so I'll wait until that turns up before trying again.

I can TIG mild steel well. But attempting aluminium for the first time is not going well at all so far

Well that's puddling, maybe wrong filler ?

I find alu a nightmare personally, but it could be as I'm crap at alu.

 

[JOEPRO]

Well that's puddling, maybe wrong filler ?

I find alu a nightmare personally, but it could be as I'm crap at alu.

I can melt it but can never see a silver puddle in the middle. Maybe thicker material shows that up better.

I tried scotchpad to clean the filler rod followed by clean rag and rubbing alcohol no difference. It just melts before it hits the puddle I can't see and any globs produce black soot and spatter.

That same test above before wire brush


Pulling an arc across with no prep to speak of



Just cannot get rod to go on and create a typical stacked alu weld.

And as I said cannot see any forking puddle at all.

Maybe the 3mm aluminium sheet coming in post will allow me to see a puddle!

 

[dan.taylor.1]

I think the best bit of advice is choose some thicker material to start with. 3mm maybe.

 

[roblane65]

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it . I think most of our first ally was carp and in some cases still is on your machine I can't see a control for AC balance and can only presume it's the clean area width turn it up at least half way if not a tad over without enough cleaning action it will be hard to puddle , have a good scan on YT for AC Balance you'll get it the only other things I could add in general is more rod and you need to move quicker than you think , A good mask is essential if you can't see it you can't weld .

 

[Barking Mat]

I can melt it but can never see a silver puddle in the middle. Maybe thicker material shows that up better.

I tried scotchpad to clean the filler rod followed by clean rag and rubbing alcohol no difference. It just melts before it hits the puddle I can't see and any globs produce black soot and spatter.

That same test above before wire brush
View attachment 391305

Pulling an arc across with no prep to speak of

View attachment 391306

Just cannot get rod to go on and create a typical stacked alu weld.

And as I said cannot see any forking puddle at all.

Maybe the 3mm aluminium sheet coming in post will allow me to see a puddle!

I'll start of by saying I'm an absolute tig alu amateur.

But that's clearly getting a pool effect, as it's melting.

What helmet are you using, have you turned it right down ?

 

[Wozzaaah]

Wasn't a member doing a tutorial for this site

Yes, several years ago......

TIG Welding Tutorial

This tutorial is aimed at beginner and intermediate TIG welders and was developed by professionals. Videos show the techniques, and the advice explains what to look for and how to avoid common problems.

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[JOEPRO]

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it . I think most of our first ally was carp and in some cases still is on your machine I can't see a control for AC balance and can only presume it's the clean area width turn it up at least half way if not a tad over without enough cleaning action it will be hard to puddle , have a good scan on YT for AC Balance you'll get it the only other things I could add in general is more rod and you need to move quicker than you think , A good mask is essential if you can't see it you can't weld .

I have a good true colour mask now. And it's turned down. Can see all fine just no puddle to speak off which doesn't help. Can see the puddle clearly with mild steel same setup.

I'll get different alu filler rods too just to check. 4043 this time.

 

[Wozzaaah]

There's also Richard's guide which we made a "sticky".

 

[roblane65]

In my little expeirence the filler type has made little to no difference on practice stuff only the filler diameter .

 

[JOEPRO]

There's also Richard's guide which we made a "sticky".

Thank you I will read through that carefully

I also ordered small stainless wire brushes. I'll reserve a couple of them just for aluminium weld prep.

I will report back when I get these items in post later next week on how I get on.

I do want to figure this out it was one of the primary reasons I bought a TIG setup.

 

[Richiew]

Just to echo other people on here, 1.2mm is far too thin to start with. I'm only an occasional welder but I wouldn't attempt 1.2 on ally. I'm not sure that there's enough base material for the puddle before melting through unless you are really good.

It is so much easier to melt through on ally compared to steel. When I started to learn AC tig I bought a 6mm plate and worked down from there. It allows you to linger longer, see what you are doing and process it all in your head before the melt through occurs.

 

[addjunkie]

Start at 3 mm and follow Richards settings……set as described and off you go! They work

 

[Misterg]

I am confused about the following:

Pulse frequency
Clean area width

Another dabbler here - I just had a look at the manual (such as it is )

'Clean Area Width' *is* the balance control - no indication of which way is cleaning, and which is penetration though. Your issues *could* stem from this being set badly - there doesn't seem to be any indication of cleaning effect in your pictures - Have a read of the first few posts in Richard's guide & try somewhere around 30% and somewhere around 70% to figure out whether it reads %EP or %EN.

The pulse setting only works for DC TIG. It's possible that the pulse frequency control adjusts the AC frequency, but not clear from the manual - you will be able to hear whether it makes any difference very easily. If it's adjustable, then Richard's guide covers this too.

Another vote for getting something a bit thicker that you *know* is aluminium. IMHO it doesn't need to be super-duper clean to be able to make puddles and chase them around.

 

[Barking Mat]

Some vague memory of rtech cleaning function dial being wired the wrong way, anyone ?