asking for tig advice

admin

OK... I fired up the suncrowave 250 today... I have 1/8 aluminum... 3/32nd filler rod.. 3/32nd 2%thoriated tungsten... 15cfm argon...  I cleaned th aluminum with acetone, then cleaned it with one of those brillo type disks.. then cleaned with acetone again.... I get a haze around the weld area and the last bead or two look contaminated and develop a little crater... please let me know if there is a way to correct this.. thanks so much..Marc
Reply:The caters at the end of the weld is called a hard stop.  That happens when you stop the weld instead of letting off easy.  Next time add one extra dip of the Alum. as you slowly let of the pedal.
Reply:I'll give it a shot, as I'm just getting into tig welding. The haze around your weld is normal. It is the cleaning action of the AC arc. I'm not sure off the top of my head, if your syncrowave has adjustment to let you reduce the ac arc time which would reduce your hazy area; but I like to see it around the weld, to make sure that it is getting cleaned enough. The crater is from not putting enough filler into the pool as you stop. That is something that you want to focus on ( the crater issue,), as it can cause problems with your weld.Daryle.
Reply:Wow, from one new guy to another, those are looking nice!  My burnt offerings are just sad. City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:The cleaning or Wave Balance changes the "haze" around your weld. Its just cleaned aluminum.  Turn the wave balance to more negative and your haze will get smaller.Nice welds.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Thanks everyone for your input.. I want to make sure I am on the right track.... Once again. Thank you... Take care.. Marc
Reply:Sorry I'm late but...Everything looks great..But if you go to 1/16" filler you will see a big diffrence..3/32" is kinda large for your application and some of the "bumps" in the weld pics is caused from not enough heat.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:your filler is not to large for the applicaiton you just need more heat so that the puddle can "wet" out more.
Reply:Thanks!
Reply:Marc, first go to pure tungsten not 2%, thats for carbon and stainless. Green or pure creates a ball on the end, making it much easer to weld aluminum. also the DCRP cycle of the AC wave is what cleans the weld.  Check the settings on the High Frequency, that can also have a negative on the weld.