Transformer tig aluminum

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Hi everyone i am having a lil trouble dialling in my aluminum tig welding i have read that i should be using pure tungsten for my old lincoln tig 300Now i have balled the end of the tungsten and also cleaned my material and i think i have been using too much amps. Is there any other tips out there by chance ? Or methods I am just practising on some diamond plate aluminum scraps Thanks everyone in advance Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:Picts, thickness, machine settings, tungsten type.... Sorry my crystal ball is still down this evening.Honestly I seldom see new guys using too many amps while doing alum. 95% of the time if the weld is too "hot" it's because the amps are too low and the pace is too slow.  Alum is a wonderful heat sink and the extra "heat" is coming from overheating the material as the piece soaks up too much energy while twiddling your thumbs. The only time I see guys where the amps may be too high is if they hit the pedal and instantly end up with a massive hole in the piece. I'm talking about being 100 amps over where they should be, not 20 or 30 amps.On 1/8" alum we set the Syncrowave 200's at 150 for students. That makes it easier for them to control the heat. Simply floor it and go. I regularly set the machine to 180-200 and do the same joints. Only I get a puddle faster and can back off quicker than they can. Even at 230 amps I can still do most joints though open gapped but joints are tough if I max the pedal. If I only hit it for what I need, say 200 the extra 30 really doesn't make any difference..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Ok cool thanks for the help i am working with 1/8" 3/32 pure tungsten gas at 20 and 4043 rod at 120 amps I will try this out thanks again  Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:Yeah set the machine for at least 150. Keep in mind a lot of times diamond plate has coatings on it to help it stay pretty. You may need to remove that to get started. Also alum oxide melts at higher temps than bare alum. A good hand held wire brush can make it easier to get puddles going.I often find students want to wave the brush over the surface like it's some magic wand. I take the piece and scrub the carp out of it with the brush, often clamping it to the big steel shop table so I have a good solid base to hold the material. What do you know, the students don't have all that much trouble running beads on the pieces I prep, but can't do the same thing on theirs. I wonder why..  You can blast thru the oxide layer given enough amps, but often students don't yet have enough control to do that and spot the signs the puddle is forming and they need to be backing down.Also tunsten choice can play a part. Big balled pure tungsten gives you a wider arc than with a small ball on say ceriated or lanthanated and I can get more control over a smaller area and thus get the puddle to go faster..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Nice thanks alot i will have some picks tonight and i have a rotary wirebrush  cheers  Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:I use 2% lanthanted in the 350, tried pure did not like it. 120 amps is way to low to start welding 1/8th alum set the machine to about 180 and pedal as needed. Also try another clean piece of aluminum wipe it down with acetone and set the balance of your machine to about 70%Millermatic 211Miller Syncrowave 350lx with cooler and tigrunner Thermal Dynamics cutmaster 811955 National Cylinder Gas O/A setup with original patina
Reply:A power wire brush tends to smear rather than remove the oxide. It might work on something where you can run the brush slow like a variable speed drill. Hand brushes while a bit of a pain, work the best unless you file or mill an edge..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:My welder doesnt have balance control or is that lincolns spark intensity ? And on that note i ran out of gas  Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:Thanks for the help everyone i will try tomorrow Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:Balance can be useful, but not vital. Balance is how much  DC+ and DC- the machine has. More DC+ and you increase your cleaning action, but ball the tungsten more, more DC- and you get more penetration and less heat in the tungsten. Older units like Zaps 330 have no balance control and the machine gives you 50/50. Newer transformer machines allow you to increase the cleaning ( more DC+) for "dirty" alum like castings or alum with a bit more oxides from air exposure, but at the expense of penetration. Turn up the balance and you get less cleaning, and more penetration, good for brand new alum that is very clean. Inverters are a whole different ball game allowing you to really control the arc. With some you can go as high as almost all DC- or change the amperage in the DC+ portion vs the DC- portion so you have maximum control over the puddle. However very few guys have the skill and knowledge to be able to fully use these advanced functions and most guys just make a mess of things when they fiddle with them because they have no clue what they are doing.http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...lance-Control/.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Everything Dsw said, although balance control, controls the amount of time the AC wave is positive or negative. I think DSW meant AC in his post.
Reply:most balance control is based on square wace AC, so that means a certain % of the time a positive DC and a certain % of the time a negative DC.Which changes at a set frequency (typical 50-200 Hz).that makes both of you correct :-) potato, potatoe type of thing.
Reply:Originally Posted by That Guy ThereEverything Dsw said, although balance control, controls the amount of time the AC wave is positive or negative. I think DSW meant AC in his post.
Reply:I woke up this morning thinking that i would inquire about this very question. Thanks for all this info i have been digging the web trying to find more info on the old transformer type but everyone is jumping ship and it seems like this is a dying art. I really appreciate the help everyone thanks. My manual also really doesnt  go over soft start and start spark what will this do my manual says put sift start to "on" for aluminum and the other controls the hf side of things whether its on constants or just to start  Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk
Reply:Originally Posted by waspjr123 i have been digging the web trying to find more info on the old transformer type but everyone is jumping ship and it seems like this is a dying art.
Reply:Ok sounds good thanks dsw  the reason i went this way was also reliability. Thanks for the time you took to help Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkUsing Tapatalk