Wallace
Member
- Messages
- 7,706
- Location
- Staines, Middlesex, England.
Last Thursday I joined the ranks of satisfied customers in Weldequips Army as I took delivery of a TecArc 206i AC/DC Tig welder and TecArc 46i Plasma cutter. I am very pleased with Weldequip's service and the equipment supplied, I would not hesitate to recommend either. Thanks again Steve.
I have used the search facility on this forum to answer most of my questions since Thursday afternoon Tig welding aluminium and steel, the quality of my welds has improved and the Tungstens are now lasting longer!
Whilst welding 3mm aluminium today I have been inconsistently getting craters at the end of the weld runs despite using various down slope settings, I am wondering if this is due to me not moving fast enough with the weldpool and hesitating causing excess heat build up. Does this sound feasible? With hindsight I was using a 1.6mm Tungsten up to 160A.
I am also struggling with tacking up, it is 28 years since I was taught basic gas welding and I cannot remember if we were taught the technique for tacking as I have slept since then! I am too used to tacking up with the Mig and using it like a mastic gun! Does anyone have a good tip or technique they can pass on?
One other thing I have noticed is the gas consumption, the regulator is set around 10-12lpm, 0.5s pre flow and varying post flow, I have used half a Y size bottle of Alushield so far (2 days) and the pile of scrap I have produced doesn't look that big! Does this seem excessive?
Here's a few photo's of today and yesterday's welds, quite an improvement as I have learnt a lot in a short space of time.
Fiddling around with the controls and seeing how easy it is to blow holes and ball the tungsten on 0.9mm steel
No filler rod on 1.2mm steel. (Please ignore the Mig weld!)
1.2mm aluminium sheet with & without filler rod, 40 to 60 Amps
3mm aluminium sheet using footpedal up to 160A, 1.6mm balled Tungsten, 2.4mm filler rod, varying post gas and down slope.
Double end lap on 3mm aluminium no filler rod
Regards, Mike
I have used the search facility on this forum to answer most of my questions since Thursday afternoon Tig welding aluminium and steel, the quality of my welds has improved and the Tungstens are now lasting longer!
Whilst welding 3mm aluminium today I have been inconsistently getting craters at the end of the weld runs despite using various down slope settings, I am wondering if this is due to me not moving fast enough with the weldpool and hesitating causing excess heat build up. Does this sound feasible? With hindsight I was using a 1.6mm Tungsten up to 160A.
I am also struggling with tacking up, it is 28 years since I was taught basic gas welding and I cannot remember if we were taught the technique for tacking as I have slept since then! I am too used to tacking up with the Mig and using it like a mastic gun! Does anyone have a good tip or technique they can pass on?
One other thing I have noticed is the gas consumption, the regulator is set around 10-12lpm, 0.5s pre flow and varying post flow, I have used half a Y size bottle of Alushield so far (2 days) and the pile of scrap I have produced doesn't look that big! Does this seem excessive?
Here's a few photo's of today and yesterday's welds, quite an improvement as I have learnt a lot in a short space of time.
Fiddling around with the controls and seeing how easy it is to blow holes and ball the tungsten on 0.9mm steel
No filler rod on 1.2mm steel. (Please ignore the Mig weld!)
1.2mm aluminium sheet with & without filler rod, 40 to 60 Amps
3mm aluminium sheet using footpedal up to 160A, 1.6mm balled Tungsten, 2.4mm filler rod, varying post gas and down slope.
Double end lap on 3mm aluminium no filler rod
Regards, Mike