What type of tungsten?

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As many of you know from my other thread, I recently bought an Airco Heliwelder IV 300A Model. Now, I've done quite a bit of light-duty DCEN TIG welding with my Alternator-Scratch-Start setup and I've found that the 2% Lanthanated tungsten held up really good and I really liked the ease at which it struck an arc. My new(to me) Airco welder obviously has HF start for DCEN welding and continuous HF for AC welding. I plan to use the 2% Lanthanated tungsten for all my DCEN welding, but my question is this. What type of tungsten should I use for welding aluminum on AC. This is an old transformer machine, with NO balance control. I know that the 2% Lanthanated holds up great on the newer square-wave, inverter machines with balance control, but how does it hold up on a transformer with no balance control? The literature that I have read says that pure tungsten is usually used on AC with old transformers but it's current carrying capabilities aren't as much compared to the alloyed tungsten. Also, I know that some people here are running old transformers and are using 2% Thoriated. So basically, I just want to know if anyone has ever used the 2% Lanth on a similar machine to mine, or if 2% Lanth isn't a good choice for me, what type of tungsten should I be using on AC. Thanks in advance.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."
Reply:I would say use what you have.I was using 2% Thoriated for steel and Pure for Aluminum for a lot of years then started to buy one piece of each other kind to try and found that these work the best 2% Thoriated and 2% Lanthanated on most everything I weld.www.georgesplasmacuttershop.comPlasma Cutter and Welder Sales and Repairs--Ebay storeTec.Mo. Dealer Consumables for the PT and IPT torch's
Reply:Sweet deal. I have quite a few sticks of various sized 2% Lanthanated so I'll just give that a go and see how it works out. Thanks.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."
Reply:Originally Posted by blasphemy000Sweet deal. I have quite a few sticks of various sized 2% Lanthanated so I'll just give that a go and see how it works out. Thanks.
Reply:Generally speaking, for AC the older transformer based tig machines liked pure tungsten the best.  You may want to try a stick or two of zirconiated on that machine.  The zirconiated will still form a ball (like pure) but will handle a few more amps.Thoriated is probably going to be your best bet on DC.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Agreed.Pure tungsten for AC HF welding with transformer welder.2% thorium for DC welding.These are tried and trued on a machine like yours.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Ok cool. I'll pick up a couple sizes of Pure and Zirconiated when I pick up my gas bottle today so I'll have a few different to try. I've ran the 2% Lanthanated on a DCEN Transformer before and I liked it better than the 2% Thoriated so I'll stick to it for my DCEN welding. Thanks for the help guys. I'll let everyone know how it goes this evening when I get back from the shop.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."
Reply:Just got to give my machine a go on TIG finally and laid down my first bead on aluminum. I'm gonna need lots of practice though.The pure tungsten seems to be working out really well so far. The only Zirconiated that they had was 1/16" so I'm just going to wait until next week and they said they would have some larger sizes in by then and I'll give that a go. But I'm gonna go make supper than lay down some more beads.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."
Reply:Just for ****s and giggles I tried out a stick of 2% Lanthanated with a truncated point on AC and it held up even better than the pure electrodes do. It held the truncated tip and didn't ball up or nothing which I found quite surprising on this old machine w/o any balance control. Just a neat observation that I found out.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."
Reply:I usualy wanted a ball on the tip when ac tig welding aluminum.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:The truncated tip did round slightly so it wasn't flat, but it had a more stable arc than the pure tungsten did with a rounded tip. Like I said, this really surprised me on this old transformer machine.Brad GeorgeCurrent Equipment:AIRCO Heliwelder IV 300Amp Model - Total Awesomeness!Old 120v Hobart Handler MIGVarious grinders, cutting tools, hammers, clamps, ect..."I'm an amateur welder with lots left to learn..."