Beginner Aluminium TIG Questions

[mcman56]

I'm trying to learn to TIG Aluminium but am struggling with most everything. Previous experience was just MIG on steel. In particular, when running a long bead, say 2 inches (50 mm), everything gets really hot such that even when adding filler rod, I can create a trench. I try backing off on the pedal but am not being very successful at keeping things in control. The weld puddle can get really wide and everything starts to happen very fast. Could this be normal or expected? I also wonder if I let the arc gap get larger or possible lean the torch too much but don't know how to gage these. Are there any tricks, guidelines or recommendations? I tried to video with a gopro but it looks like I would need some kind of filter to see what is going on.

The machine is an Eastwood AC/ DC 200 and besides amps, the only arc adjustment is ballance which is set at -3. Im practicing on 3/16 (4.7 mm) 5052 aluminium using 3/32" (2.4 mm) 4043 rod. I'm using blue 3/32 tungsten set around 180 amps.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Start simple...get some thickish scrap, 3-5mm...just sit there and practice lighting up, let the puddle build to 1/4" then cut it off. After you can do that without thinking about it, get the 1/4" puddle and travel with it, but focus on nothing else except maintaining the puddle width. If it gets wider you can either move faster or ease off...once you can run that and it stays the same all the way through, then start dabbing rod into it and again, focus more on weld width that anything else...once youve got that down you can worry about things like penetration, different angles and joints etc.

Aluminium gets hot quick and it will run away on you before you have time to blink. With steel you can sit there all day long really, the puddle won't get wider unless you melt through...aluminium on the other hand will do whatever it pleases...think of it like a toddler running down a hill for the first time...starts off nice and controlled and turns into chaos in an instant

 

[tom2207]

and of course , welcome to the forum

 

[Robert Weaver]

180 amp on 4.7mm flat sheet? The pedal will modulate the applied current between it's min and max - mine is 10% to 100%, yours may vary.
Aluminium is a very good conductor and it doesn't give much warning before it turns liquid and pours itself on the floor. It feels normal behaviour for that gauge at that current.
The arc length should be as small as you can manage to minimise heat spread.
Thin material needs pulse or very fast travel.

 

[Hood]

I never use a pedal, mainly because I am not sitting at a bench when Tig welding.
If the welder has a setting for lower current at a tap of the button I use 4T mode and when things are getting hot I tap to the lower current then when things get cold I tap to go back to the main current.
If the welder doesn't have that feature then I use 2T and set a 10 second slope down and when things get hot I release the trigger then re-press it before the 10 seconds is up, normally it only takes a second or two to cool down before I can press again.

 

[tom2207]

I never use a pedal, mainly because I am not sitting at a bench when Tig welding.
If the welder has a setting for lower current at a tap of the button I use 4T mode and when things are getting hot I tap to the lower current then when things get cold I tap to go back to the main current.
If the welder doesn't have that feature then I use 2T and set a 10 second slope down and when things get hot I release the trigger then re-press it before the 10 seconds is up, normally it only takes a second or two to cool down before I can press again.

how far below the high current do you set the low may help op

 

[Hood]

how far below the high current do you set the low may help op

10-15% normally

 

[addjunkie]

Try reading here

Thread 'Aluminium tig guide getting started.'

Jun 13, 2016

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 countless threads with lots of compromising opinions and info.

There are literally thousands of combinations as to what can be done to weld it I'm just going to talk about the meer basics and after that it's up to you.

I'll do it over time and generate a few posts and get some pics in it to help...

• Richard.
• Replies: 278
• forum: TIG Welding

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