aluminum tig welds help!!!

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I am a heck of a time welding laps and fillet welds on alu.I have been doing really good on flat 1/8 plate laying beads, I've alreadyfilled up a 12x12 with only beads for practice. For somereason I can't get both pieces of metal to melt"puddle" without meltingthe material outside of weld joint area on either joint type welds.I have a precision tig 225 pure argon,amps from 130-150 (tried all between)balance from all cleaning to all penetration,even tried pulse 1pps - max.When I finally get it to puddle and can weld the weld is 1/2" wide,wet and wayto hot looks like poo poo! I've tried short stickout on the tung. and longabout 3/8". Acetone,ss wire brush,acetone and brush again.Argon set at 15, with #8 gaslens cup using 3/32 4043 rod and 3/32 1.5% lanth.tung. But joints are good flat welds are too. I do fine with steel for these jointsjust not aluminum.  Any advice?        James
Reply:Ya know how you get the real shiny puddle at first running beads with ONE plate?Now you have to get the same thing on the matching sides on BOTH plates at the same time..Aim at one plate and get it shiny..Then aim at the other one and do the same thing..Then go back and fourth between the 2...Add the filler in the middle but it usually just melts on to one or the other..Here is when you Bridge" the gap.Keep adding filler to the side it stuck to and bring it over to the other plate..Once you have them attached then it's no big deal.Getting the "bridge" can be frustrating at first but once you do it a couple of times it gets easier.Good luck....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:Thanks zap I will try again. Do you think my amps and other settingsare ok? I know you don't like pulse, I am still very new.
Reply:Well I don't have pulse so I can't give any info on that but the only thing I would do different is use 1/16" filler.I don't like big filler except to use for building up stuff.I think you will find 1/16" easier to get along with because you really should use filler smaller than your base material.3/32" will add too much too fast and you need more heat with bigger filler.90% of all the different filler I use all day every day is 1/16"Your results may vary....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:From the problems you are having it sounds like you are long arcing.Airco Ac/Dc 300 HeliwelderMillerMatic 200 (stolen)Miller Maxstar 150STLMiller AEAD200LE (welding and generating power) Hobart MIG
Reply:Going out right now swap out with 1/16 and try. Thanks zap.
Reply:From experience with students it sounds like you may be taking too long to form the puddle. At the tech school on 1/8" we set the machines to 150 amps. Personally I like to set the machine just a bit higher, say 180 to 200 amps. Floor the pedal and the puddle starts quickly ( faster at 180 than 150 obviously). As soon as you get a puddle, add filler and GO! backing down the amps as you go. As the piece heats up you need to back down the amps to compensate for the residual heat from what you have already welded to keep the puddle under control. Here's where running 150 vs 180 amps helps. At 180 you need to almost instantly drop your amps at the same time you add filler and move, or hit it with just enough amps over 150 to get the puddle to form. At 150 you get a bit more "breathing room" to drop your amps, but you still have to do it fairly quickly, and the student can usually just mash the pedal to the floor vs trying to judge how much over 150 they need.We use 3/32" filler for the students. The reason is many students tend to want to tip the torch too much frequently and don't keep the torch as vertical as they should. 1/16" alum filler melts way out in front of the puddle if they have too much angle. 3/32" takes the extra heat tossed out in front of the torch better..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:DSW is right, up your amps. Only thing I would do different is I would crank your machine up ALL the way and like he said floor it. That burst of HF will almost always join the seam on tranny tigs. #8 cup requires some 20 min to 25 max CFH gas flow. 20cfh for inside fillets, 25cfh for outside corners. Try more gas. Neck down your tungsten some.I feel your pain in getting the seam to join. If you still have trouble, lay your rod on top of the seam and strike an arc on it and burn it into the seam to join it, then proceed with authority, hot and fast. Or put a .030 bevel on one side and bury your arc in the joint. A slight  bevel is always easier to join, at least for me anyway.Pop some helium in your mix, and we would not even be talking.Last edited by shovelon; 07-28-2013 at 03:11 PM.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Originally Posted by SquirmyPugFrom the problems you are having it sounds like you are long arcing.
Reply:Originally Posted by vettersjakeFor some reason my arc wanders from piece to piece unless I haveshortened the tung. length now its about 1/8" stick out. That's whyI was wondering about my balance, if it would help concentrate thearc better. I have the tung. ground to a point to help. I think!
Reply:Rule of thumb, your arc length should be about the diameter of your tungsten. Any more and you will get wander.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:This post is saving me typing, nice good stuff and is also helping me understand some things. The alum tig welding has an AC buzz to it, I assume that is normal correct ? Was not expecting it to be loud?The BootMagazines have issues, everything else has problems
Reply:Originally Posted by pepiThis post is saving me typing, nice good stuff and is also helping me understand some things. The alum tig welding has an AC buzz to it, I assume that is normal correct ? Was not expecting it to be loud?The Boot
Reply:I hardly weld any aluminum at all unless its thin without some Helium......Maybe not a lot but some.......On thick material  I run 25 to 50 %  depending on machine settings..  Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:Changing your EN% will not focus your arc.  If you had an inverter, increasing th AC freq would help.Once you get the first puddle to bridge, it's smooth sailing.  You actually put less heat into aluminum with more amps.  Kinda like a icicle. Heat it with a fine tip propane torch and you can carve a notch in it without melting the entire thing.  Hold the torch 6 inches away or turn down the flame, the whole thing melts.You want to put max heat into the smallest amount of material, generally speaking.TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum