- Thread starter KingMT
- Start date
That would suck.
This isn't my idea. I seen Jody's in the background when watching his YouTube videos.
Picture was taken before I moved the labels from the boxes to the tubes.
I thought 1&1/4in would be enough for 10 lbs which it is but it's very tight. If I was to do it again I'd get 1&1/2in.
I'll keep the 10 lb tubes in the house & the little 1/2in tubes are to keep at my welder it to take with me if I travel.
The tin tank I've been practicing on is pitted & has some oxidation below the surface. I can see it swimming in top of the puddle but it is small specks & the beads look good. However outside the weld area has a soot almost looking like rust. It wipes away easily.
Is this the oxidation being pushed out of the weld? Does it mean I need more argon? Or is this something else?
Is this the oxidation being pushed out of the weld? Does it mean I need more argon? Or is this something else?
The point was to maybe get another year out of the gas tank on my truck & get some practice welding on thin stuff. It actually welded pretty well. It was fun building the holes back up & running beads across the thin spots. The tank passed a pressure test after I was finished.
Now I need to find a new set of leaf springs for it. Wish I could just weld them back up also. It'll probably cost me $400+ for the one side.
Now I need to find a new set of leaf springs for it. Wish I could just weld them back up also. It'll probably cost me $400+ for the one side.
DennisCA
Member
- Messages
- 2,014
- Location
- Finland
Update on this. I ordered a new LCD, took a chance on a bog standard 3.5LCD that was compatible with the driver and installed it. Bang, works perfectly. And so many things make sense now... I think the potentiometer is logarithmic or something or it's the software, but the scale is not linear. Setting 5, what I assumed was 150A is actually 100A. So I've been running at very low amps! So many things make sense in retrospect now. I did suspect this...
I have another question for you guys. I just started on aluminum. On my first bead it looked good at the start by I want getting any penetration. About half way across the part I started getting penetration but at the last third everything went to crap & a big puddle fall out. This was on 3/16" plate (about 5mm). I was running 200 amps. Second bead went pretty good but when I turned the plate over there was some pretty big hangers on the other side. This was a piece raised of the table. I switched to pulse & found 30 on pulse frequency 30% pulse amps 30% pulse time at 40 AC frequency Hz worked OK.
Thee question is how do I know where to set these knobs?
I started my welding project & found it takes a long time to get a puddle going & the filler wants to favor one side or the other. It is hard to get them to flow together. Most of the puddle is flowing to the side closest to the ground. I'm welding 1/8" (about 3mm) angle. I'm welding both outside & lap joints. Both joints have basically the same problem it just more so on the lap joint. I'm sure I'm not getting enough heat into the weld. I don't know how to set these knobs.
The work isn't going to be supporting much weight but it is going to be subjected to a bunch of vibration. So I'm welding from both sides & don't want to drip a large puddle out. So deep penetration isn't what I'm going for.
I haven't welded aluminum in about 20 years & I want very good at it then. What I remember is I was using a spool gun & about the time every thing got welding good I dripped I big puddle out & had a bigger hole then I started filling. I also remember the book time didn't pay but a quarter of the time it took me if the hole was over 10mm big.
Thee question is how do I know where to set these knobs?
I started my welding project & found it takes a long time to get a puddle going & the filler wants to favor one side or the other. It is hard to get them to flow together. Most of the puddle is flowing to the side closest to the ground. I'm welding 1/8" (about 3mm) angle. I'm welding both outside & lap joints. Both joints have basically the same problem it just more so on the lap joint. I'm sure I'm not getting enough heat into the weld. I don't know how to set these knobs.
The work isn't going to be supporting much weight but it is going to be subjected to a bunch of vibration. So I'm welding from both sides & don't want to drip a large puddle out. So deep penetration isn't what I'm going for.
I haven't welded aluminum in about 20 years & I want very good at it then. What I remember is I was using a spool gun & about the time every thing got welding good I dripped I big puddle out & had a bigger hole then I started filling. I also remember the book time didn't pay but a quarter of the time it took me if the hole was over 10mm big.
Another question is how close to empty do you run your tank before swapping it in for a full one. I'm getting close to empty. I don't like to be wasteful. I did forget to turn the tank on today & the only thing I noticed was where I struck the arc up was really hard to clean up so it would take weld. Is it doing anything else to cost money that I shouldn't run it till it is dry. Took me a few second to figure out why it wasn't welding.
Brad93
Member
- Messages
- 19,012
- Location
- Essex, United Kingdom
No need to use pulse on aluminium. Your amperage is too high in my opinion. 40A per mm thickness is a rough guide, but I'm betting your test piece isn't very large. 200A will head a small piece of 5mm up so quick. Drop it down to 180, pause at the start a bit longer to get the heat into the piece then move sharpish to control the puddle and heat input.
Brad93
Member
- Messages
- 19,012
- Location
- Essex, United Kingdom
If I'm welding steel I run my tank until I get porosity then I stop. On aluminium I find it will not tolerate low pressure in the tank or a falling gas flow so Ibswap it out a bit sooner.
Richard.
Member
- Messages
- 18,344
- Location
- Cambridgeshire
Arc will always favour a side because like most things in life it wants to take the easiest path
If you have a joint set up where one piece is easier to generate a pool than the other (thinner material on one side, heat sinks, exposed plate edges are all things to cause this)
Ways around it are all about arc focus.
AC frequency up nice and high if you have adjustment and a narrower prep on the tungsten makes a big difference. On DC the tungsten prep again but you can also use a fast pulse to tighten the arc.
Pulse on AC is useless Imo. Tried it many times yet to see a benefit.
If you have a joint set up where one piece is easier to generate a pool than the other (thinner material on one side, heat sinks, exposed plate edges are all things to cause this)
Ways around it are all about arc focus.
AC frequency up nice and high if you have adjustment and a narrower prep on the tungsten makes a big difference. On DC the tungsten prep again but you can also use a fast pulse to tighten the arc.
Pulse on AC is useless Imo. Tried it many times yet to see a benefit.
Mine is adjustable from 40-200Hz. It was on 40Hz when I got it & I haven't moved it. So is that adjustable with pulse off & how do I know where to adjust it. How does it relate to the weld.
Richard.
Member
- Messages
- 18,344
- Location
- Cambridgeshire
40-200hz is an awesome range.
Check out post 5 here for some rough guidlines.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/aluminium-tig-guide-getting-started.64695/
Check out post 5 here for some rough guidlines.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/aluminium-tig-guide-getting-started.64695/
Thanks
Richard.
Member
- Messages
- 18,344
- Location
- Cambridgeshire
Anything that's not clear give us a shout and I'll clarify.
Once you find your feet you'll no doubt make your own changes to suit yourself and your welding style. That was just a quick guide to get you somewhere near. In reality one mans conditions and settings can be way out from another.
I turned it up to 120 Hz for some fillet welds but was still having a hard time getting a puddle to start & the filler was balling up instead of going into the puddle. I increased the amps & this made it easier to get a puddle but the filler would go to one side or the other but I couldn't get them to flow together.
Last night when I was using pulse it was making the puddle dance & seemed to flow together easier so I switched back to pulse. It is much easier to get the puddle to flow together with pulse on but I'm still not welding worth crap.
Welding aluminum is giving me a really hard time.
If you can explain the Hz setting better so I know what to look for & understand how to adjust it.
Last night when I was using pulse it was making the puddle dance & seemed to flow together easier so I switched back to pulse. It is much easier to get the puddle to flow together with pulse on but I'm still not welding worth crap.
Welding aluminum is giving me a really hard time.
If you can explain the Hz setting better so I know what to look for & understand how to adjust it.
I just ran 6 more beads at the same settings & everything went much better. 4 inside corner welds & 2 lap welds.
Looks like crap but my project is done. I'll probably spend some time grinding some surfaces back where I over melted & pushed some metal out the back of the work.
Looks like crap but my project is done. I'll probably spend some time grinding some surfaces back where I over melted & pushed some metal out the back of the work.
Ideally I would have or had someone that knew what they were doing do it for me. However I don't know anyone that welds aluminium that was close enough. I needed to get this project finished & I'm really limited on play time. Kinda had to do practice & productivity at the same time. I did take 6 passes about 5" long first. I think my tank is getting to low. I had to increase the gas flow to keep the soot out.
