TIG alloy help

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Hi, new to forum, I've been building bikes for a few years and have used a local welder upto now, as the new project bike has a had made alloy frame I decided to get a TIG and try weld myself, I bought a SIP 214, been having problems welding, all I get is pitting and the filler rod "balls" up. I'm using 2.4 red tengsten with size 6 cup, the Argon is set to 16 flow rate, I've tried setting the machine with different cleaning widths but still all I get in pitting, I clean the alloy with a stainless brush each time I try weld, there are no gas leaks anywhere, the touch is correctly assembled but still can't weld!Any help?
Reply:Originally Posted by cabbieHi, new to forum, I've been building bikes for a few years and have used a local welder upto now, as the new project bike has a had made alloy frame I decided to get a TIG and try weld myself, I bought a SIP 214, been having problems welding, all I get is pitting and the filler rod "balls" up. I'm using 2.4 red tengsten with size 6 cup, the Argon is set to 16 flow rate, I've tried setting the machine with different cleaning widths but still all I get in pitting, I clean the alloy with a stainless brush each time I try weld, there are no gas leaks anywhere, the touch is correctly assembled but still can't weld!Any help?
Reply:What he said, plus post pics and full info for help.Honestly, if you are friendly with the welding shop you've been using, you could turn around and show them your work and ask for help. You're on a fairly long road here and technique has to be gained as much or more than settings.Good luckMatt
Reply:Sorry the alloy is 6000 series and I'm NOT welding the frame, that is being done by the pro welder locally, I'm just trying to learn so I can weld the unimportant stuffFew pix of project, I'll go read up all the sticky's, thanks.Still a long way to go, top and bottom sections still to be added
Reply:Nice piece. I don't know your knowledge so don't be offended. Couple things, are you getting some flow going before you try to start your arc? Give yourself a few seconds of post flow, bump the pedal before starting. Polarity correct? Tig torch to the neg terminal. Break back your tungsten and re sharpen. Make sure you start to see the base material start to "shine a bit" before you try to add filler. Maybe turn the balance up a fuzz. Other than that just try to keep your electrode clean.Good luck.HammerFile Big Hammer------------------------------Here, let me Google that for you...
Reply:Tried all that mate, the weird thing is the first week I was getting really nice welds like thisThen the bottle ran out so I got an exchange for a full Argon and just got pitting, try feed filler in and it just balled up and turned black! I got another bottle of argon but it's exactly the same, this was two weeks ago and since then I've set the machine to just about every combination of settings and gas flow rates! God knows, guess I best join a welding course.
Reply:Sure you are getting good flow out of the cup?HammerFile Big Hammer------------------------------Here, let me Google that for you...
Reply:your supplier may have a bad batch of gas. They usually rack fill them so if one bottle is bad, there could be a whole bunch of contaminated bottles.
Reply:Originally Posted by lamenameSure you are getting good flow out of the cup?
Reply:Originally Posted by cabbieI've had the flow rate set from zero to 40 psi, had every combination of tengsten size and cups,  there is a good flow out the cup, the gas supplier said I was the first person ever to complain about his gas! I might go get a small disposable just to see if it helps.
Reply:I have the guage that reads tank pressure and flow in cfh, will go get a ball type flow meter today to see if thats the problem.
Reply:There are firsts all of the time.  If you change to a small bottle and it clears then it is definately bad gas.  A good LWS owner would be chomping at the bit to swap out bottles since he has to make sure he doesnt lose customers from disgust.  I give every business one chance to correct an issue, if they fail then I take my money and business elsewhere.  If everybody did that a lot of crummy places would be gone already and the others would be on notice that they better tighten up or lose out.  Just my .02 FWIWBobI'm spending my Kids inheritance, I dont like him that much anyway!!!!!!Enuff tools to do the job, enough sense to use em.Anybody got a spare set of kidneys?  Trade?
Reply:I had a similar problem with bad gas.  Try to get a 55 at anther place and see if your problems resolve.TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:Here's what I read here. You are new to welding in general and are just learning. You've chosen to start with tig welding alum.The picts you show of a "good" weld look cold and glopped on. It wouldn't surprise me if you aren't melting the filler with the arc rather than the puddle. I'm guessing a big part of your problem in general is you don't have the basics down yet and can not control simple things like torch angle, arc length etc yet, and don't even realize what you are changing and when you are doing so.Alum needs to be run hot and fast. You must have good heat control to make this work well. Your best bet is to start off with an "easy" material like steel to learn the basics like heat control and torch manipulation. Steel is easier to work with for several reasons. You can see the puddle easier because if changes color. Steel reacts slower than alum, so you have a bit of time to think and react and if the puddle starts to get out of control you can simply back down and slow the process down until you can catch up. With alum, when things start to go south you need to go faster and react quicker, not slower, which with a newer welder usually means you crash and burn at that point.You need to get to a point where you have a basic control over as many of the variables going on as possible, then you can start narrowing down the list to figure out what is going wrong. If you constantly change everything and can't tell what is changing, you won't make any progress..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