2mm 1050 sheet minor cosmetic issues with welds?

[Chris Stevens]

Might be worth trying for sure, but I was thinking more of warming up to aid weld process, rather than getting rid of moisture.

 

[hotrodder]

Preheat will do both. More common on thicker stuff and/or when it's cold and damp to make sure the parts are above the dew point. Google 'dew point welding' for more indepth stuff

 

[Chris Stevens]

If customer wanted to cover the cost, I would guess pre-heat and or slower travel speed may well eliminate the problems, but in this case I am doubtful if any more money would be on offer.

 

[Brad93]

Mocked this joint with same filler the other day. It's the travel speed. It's too fast. 1050 filler may improve things but I haven't got any to try. By the way filler is esab sheet is from aalco.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Were you using mixed wave form or just AC? Be interested if mixed makes any difference?

 

[Brad93]

Only have standard square wave on my machine (Lorch Handy Tig). A transformer machine or pure sine wave may make some difference, but I am not sure.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Ok thanks...............the parts are currently being welded with a Syncrowave transformer, and was just curious as to whether mixed would be any better or not? Guess I will have to give it a try when I have a moment.

 

[Brad93]

I used to use a syncrowave. Not sure what grade sheet we used to use but I used 5356 filler most of the time. Never had any problems with porosity when grinding welds back.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Cant use 5356 filler on 1050 which has to be polished, as there is a colour difference. I have used 5356 when no polishing needed though, and seems to work well.

 

[Richard.]

Personally as said waaaaaaaaaaaay up the post. The machine has nothing to do with it. Especially when talking about one of the most respected pieces of tig welding equipment In industry. Your hitachi ain't gonna out perform that synchrowave on weld quality despite how much you mix up the wave. IMO the only thing that's going to make any difference on weld quality is going to be the person doing the driving.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Personally as said waaaaaaaaaaaay up the post. The machine has nothing to do with it. Especially when talking about one of the most respected pieces of tig welding equipment In industry. Your hitachi ain't gonna out perform that synchrowave on weld quality despite how much you mix up the wave. IMO the only thing that's going to make any difference on weld quality is going to be the person doing the driving.

Hugh F seems to think the GP2 is better than a Synchrowave? Not owned or used a Syncrowave much myself, but for £100 the GP2 suits me just fine. Person having issues with tiny pinholes has been Tig welding to very high standards for 30 years and not sure if operator error is a factor in this? Mixed wave might just sort it though, so i well worth a try.

 

[Richard.]

I'm sure the gp2 is very good and I know a sync is too from using one. Point wasn't to say which is better point was to say if the sync isn't capable of producing a clean weld then neither is a lot of machines. Sync is often used to weld to aviation standard so despite how long your mate has been welding yes there is more likely the issue with what he is doing rather than the machine. You certainly don't need gimmick features to weld 1050 clean.

 

[Chris Stevens]

I'm sure the gp2 is very good and I know a sync is too from using one. Point wasn't to say which is better point was to say if the sync isn't capable of producing a clean weld then neither is a lot of machines. Sync is often used to weld to aviation standard so despite how long your mate has been welding yes there is more likely the issue with what he is doing rather than the machine. You certainly don't need gimmick features to weld 1050 clean.

GP2's are still widely used in the aircraft industry as some of the highly skilled welders prefer them to modern machines. Wonder what you have found mixed wave form to help with? I have found very good for welding castings, as seems to put more concentrated heat into the weld area. Not tried on sheet yet, but is probably well worth a try.

 

[Brad93]

Why not just use 1050 filler?

 

[Brad93]

Nothing beats an miller aerowave on AC, they're just so god damn expensive when they break.

 

[Richard.]

GP2's are still widely used in the aircraft industry as some of the highly skilled welders prefer them to modern machines. Wonder what you have found mixed wave form to help with? I have found very good for welding castings, as seems to put more concentrated heat into the weld area. Not tried on sheet yet, but is probably well worth a try.

Not disputing they are good machines.
What I am disputing is you don't need a mixed AC feature to produce clean welds. But by all means try. Now logically I'd say it's gonna make it worse in my mind of thinking because mixed arc has a spike of DC- on its own then a spike of AC so less DC+ than just AC alone. (Less cleaning) more penetration.

 

[Richard.]

Now my Rehm has a feature called dual wave mode in the special functions which is quite possibly the same thing but having never used this I'm not sure. There is also very little info in the literature which suggests it's an on/off type thing. The Mls gave full control over the mix arc thing which kinda put me off trying it as the manual wasn't giving any clues for a starting point. One day I may try it out on a bit of scrap but it welds so nicely without it I've never had a reason to try it.

 

[Richard.]

Taken from the manual.
This is more appealing to me to try out as its complex settings appear to be pre set

Can't see it been any better than AC personally but hey I could try it.

 

[Chris Stevens]

You are 100% right, the mixed function on the MLS may well be quite useful, but as there is no clue in the manual as to how to set up, it would simply be a matter of fiddling with it till seems to be working. One on the GP2 is much much easier though, and I think Hugh as done a YT vid using his on mixed wave?

I think its something not likely to be used much, but might be a godsend for a few particularly fiddly jobs?

 

[Richard.]

Does the gp2 have any adjustment on how long your in and out of the DC-/AC or is it like my Rehm where it's pre set by the machine and you just turn it on?