"HELP" TIG Welding Aluminum

admin

I would like to take a second to introduce myself. My name is Keith and live in Tucson, AZ. I have many years of welding experience in gas, arc, stick, and mig welding. On Wednesday of this week I purchased a new Thermal Arc Pro-Wave® 185TSW Tig Welder. The main purpose of purchasing this welder is for repair of stainless steel kitchen equipment and repair of aluminum golf cart chassis. On Thursday I setup the new Tig welder and learned how to weld mild steel and stainless steel with very few problems. I am using the supplied RED electrodes, but I am concern with the use of these electrodes mainly due to the chemical properties that make up the electrodes and the dangers that are exposed to the welder. So this brings me to using alternate electrodes. During the last few evenings I have research the internet on alternate electrodes and have come up with, (1,5% Lanthanated Tungsten, 2 % Ceriated Tungsten) and although these appear to be great for stainless I am not sure if they are ok for aluminum, but I have read articles where the US Air Forces has used 1,5% Lanthanated Tungsten on aluminum with great success. Because I am new to Tig welding I know I will be challenged in welding aluminum as I tried it today with very bad results, mainly because I have no clue how to set up the Pro-Wave® 185TSW Tig Welder to weld aluminum. I have read the importance of cleaning the aluminum and the use of a dedicated stainless steel wire brush. I had the welder set for AC using a 3/32” (RED) electrode sharpen to a point with a flatten tip and using Argon, I am not sure if this is correct though. I have read to use the Pure Tungsten electrode (green) and not sharpen and to allow a ball to form on the end of the electrode, but this new welder has an invertor power supply and I beleive I can shapen the electrodes. Because the aluminum frames on the golf carts are of 1/8" - 1/4” aluminum I stopped today and purchased 1/8” Pure Tungsten electrodes, but again from what I have read the sharpen electrodes will use less amps and the need for 1/8" electrodes may not be needed. I wished I had a local mentor to steer me in the right direction on welding aluminum, but in all the years I have been involved in welding I do not recall anyone I know that has welded aluminum. I hope that someone can help me in getting the best out of the Pro-Wave® 185TSW Tig Welder in regards to welding aluminum or stainless metals. Any insight or knowledge of this product or metals will help. Thanks in advance...   Keith
Reply:ive got a miller dynasty and run 1.5%lanthated in that and it works awesome the 2%ceratied works goot but the lan works better.  i know in my machine i was told by the miller rep not to use pure in a inverter machine.  i have been sharpening mine to a point and make a very small flat spot on the point and it works great.  im runnin 3/32 on 1/8" al.   and pure argon.  i just learned al with tig recently so im pretty new to it also.  it definately takes some practice to get the hand of it.  get a bunch of scrap material and practice.  make sure you clean the al really really really good with a stainless brush that you use for al only.MILLER BWE SSMM 251DYNASTY 200DXSPECTRUM 625BLUE WELDERS AND BLUE OVAL TRUCKS......
Reply:I placed an email to Thermal Arc and received a reply today. As luck would have it, a division rep will be in Tucson next and will drop by my shop to show me all the ends and outs of my new Thermal Arc Wave 185. He said that welding aluminum was his specialty.2-Lincoln Power Mig 255CLincoln SP175 Plus MigLincoln Pro-Cut 55Lincoln AC/DC 225 Stick WelderThermal Arc Pro-Wave 185TSW Tig
Reply:Hello Im new to this site but ive been tig welding for about 5 years.  I always used pure tungsten (green end) for welding aluminum, 2% thoriated for steel and stainless.  I was always told not to use the 2% thoriated for aluminum because the thorium would blow out of the tungsten and contaminate the weld (and the many little balls that form at the end of the tungsten seems to affect the arc pattern its the thorium Im told).  Hope this helps.
Reply:Weldingman,For transformer machines you would use pure.  The TA185 in question is an inverter machine and if you use pure it causes problems with the internal electronics and can damage the machine.The Dynasty 200 and the TA185 work very well with the 1.5% Lanthanated on all metals.Bob SigmonDynasty 200DX and Coolmate 3Miller Passport  LMSW-52T Spot WelderO/A Setup with Meco MidgetMiller Big Window EliteQuincy QT-5HD
Reply:Once you get the machine adjusted right and see it done, you'll be fine.  Main things to have is AC+hifreq+argon, the rest is optional (but a badly adjusted set of options can make things much harder to catch on).The thing about green tungstens I have heard before.  Mine is not an inverter, so I don't know about the problems Bob mentions first hand, but you dont want to chance it on a new welder.I don't have that machine, but based on others' comments and testimonials, you got a good one for the job.  This might sound like a dumb idea, but you might want to video tape the visit (audio tape might be just as good), so you can review it for details later (if he is willing).  Tape has a way of catching things that you might otherwise miss.  That way you wont have to concentrate on learning, remembering and taking notes all at the same time.  Just a thought.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:thanks for the info about the inverter machines I never knew that about them.
Reply:Is the precision TIG 185 an inverter or transformer?
Reply:it's a nice inverter.  a couple of folks here have one of those and are very satisfied with its performance.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:SIR,put a ball on the tungsten. you can do thisby putting the machine in DC reverse. strikean arc on a copper sheet, and when the ballforms, shut down, and let it cool. i do this toseveral electrodes, and keep these in a rack,and if the one i am welding with getscontaminated, i quickly change it.good luck with your projects.wlbrown
Reply:wl,On inverter machines you don't ball the tungsten.  On transformer machines your techinque is spot on.For an inverter machine use a 20° to 30° angle when grinding the tungsten(depending on the max amperage) with a .020 to .030 flat on the tip.  The flat with give you very good arc control.Bob SigmonDynasty 200DX and Coolmate 3Miller Passport  LMSW-52T Spot WelderO/A Setup with Meco MidgetMiller Big Window EliteQuincy QT-5HD
Reply:The main reason for using a lanthanated or ceriated tungsten in an inverter is you can sharpen it and it will mantain the point, vs balling up with the green (pure) tungsten.  As far as I know, using a pure tungsten will not damage the machine, it will just ball up the tungsten and make the arc wander more.2% thoriated tungsten has a very low level radiation hazard - read very low level.  It the stuff was as dangerous as asbestos, I would like to think it would be banned.  It also works good in an inverter for both AC and DC.
Reply:Using pure tungsten with a inverter can cause damage to internal parts on the pbc's.  I can't remember the exact details but there was a thread on this when I bought mine and there were documented cases of problems caused by using pure tungsten.  I'll try to locate the post when I have a chance.Bob SigmonDynasty 200DX and Coolmate 3Miller Passport  LMSW-52T Spot WelderO/A Setup with Meco MidgetMiller Big Window EliteQuincy QT-5HD
Reply:Bob,  I look forward to receiving that information when you have the time.  Thanks,
Reply:Check out this thread on the Miller Ask Andy site - New to TIGBob SigmonDynasty 200DX and Coolmate 3Miller Passport  LMSW-52T Spot WelderO/A Setup with Meco MidgetMiller Big Window EliteQuincy QT-5HD
Reply:Bob,That is a really good thread.  Thanks for posting it.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.