- Messages
- 17,033
Ok folks, i finally got round to having a play with my Miller Dialarc AC/DC tig and thought I'd try some aluminium.
As you can see, very mixed results, welds towards the bottom of the pic were the first ones, working towards the top. They're short welds cos I haven't got the hang of feeding the rod properly yet. Bear in mind that the time from bottom to top ones is about 30 mins and that is the sum total of my alu tig experience since I did a small amount on chemically cleaned, perfectly pristine alu 15 years ago.
It's clean 3mm plate, about 120-145 amps, HF on continuous, 2.4mm white tipped tungsten and most were done with 1.6mm filler (some were also done with 2.4mm)
Machine was set to mid setting which is max 145A and I floored the pedal to get the pool started then backed off to about 3/4 pedal. Gas flow about 15 lpm, pure argon.
A few questions and observations;
1: as the arc starts it seems really 'scattered', you can see the marking round the start of each weld, is this normal?
2: it's difficult to get the weld pool started, even after a damned good clean with a new stainless brush.
3: The tungsten was ground to a point then rounded off
4: Sooty marks were due to me hitting the tungsten with the filler.
5: Crater big enough to hide Beagle One in, 3rd row up, was due to me stepping on the wah wah pedal a bit too fiercely by mistake.
All tips, hints and criticism appreciated, don't hold back!
As you can see, very mixed results, welds towards the bottom of the pic were the first ones, working towards the top. They're short welds cos I haven't got the hang of feeding the rod properly yet. Bear in mind that the time from bottom to top ones is about 30 mins and that is the sum total of my alu tig experience since I did a small amount on chemically cleaned, perfectly pristine alu 15 years ago.
It's clean 3mm plate, about 120-145 amps, HF on continuous, 2.4mm white tipped tungsten and most were done with 1.6mm filler (some were also done with 2.4mm)
Machine was set to mid setting which is max 145A and I floored the pedal to get the pool started then backed off to about 3/4 pedal. Gas flow about 15 lpm, pure argon.
A few questions and observations;
1: as the arc starts it seems really 'scattered', you can see the marking round the start of each weld, is this normal?
2: it's difficult to get the weld pool started, even after a damned good clean with a new stainless brush.
3: The tungsten was ground to a point then rounded off
4: Sooty marks were due to me hitting the tungsten with the filler.
5: Crater big enough to hide Beagle One in, 3rd row up, was due to me stepping on the wah wah pedal a bit too fiercely by mistake.
All tips, hints and criticism appreciated, don't hold back!