Miller Diversion 165 (2nd day w/pics)

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So I bought a Miller Diversion 165 like I stated in my intro thread. Also opted for the foot pedal, stupid finger control, impossible for me to use!Right now I'm only using it as a hobby, hopefully get good enough to where I can weld up some stuff for my project car and actually feel safe that my welds are good enough to withstand a little beating!Fired it up the other day for the first time, did a lot of searching and reading on here and other various sites before I started trying to lay some beads.My only background in welding is some MIG and very little time on Stick just for small repairs at work and such.I figure I would try to learn Aluminum considering it's the hardest to learn, so I've read.Well this is my second day at trying so...........I've tried and tried to get rid of the "craters" at the end of the weld, tried numerous variations, letting off amperage at the end, add more filler, swirl the torch after let off, etc....can't seem to get it. How does the "cleaning action" look? Frosty stuff.1/8" plateWeldcraft 173/32" 2% thoriated (reds)#7 cup, no gas lensapprox 5/16"  sticking out of lens1/16' 4043 filler75/25 helium/argon15cfhset at roughly 85-90 ampsPlease let me know what you guys think, all criticism welcome,Thanks, Scott.Backside........
Reply:I thought you wanted to use 100% pure tungsten - green for aluminum?
Reply:It's an inverter. Green doesn't work with them.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:Sorry for mis-reading your OP on the Miller forums! I did not comment on the cleaning action over there but it look about right. The general rule of thumb I have seen/used is .1 of etching around the weld. Chris
Reply:You're kidding, right?  Just your second day of using the Diversion, huh?  Yeah, right.  Those beads look way too good for being only day two.  Looks like you are trying to make us duffers look bad.BTW... aren't you suppose to use 100% Argon for cover on all/most tig?
Reply:A helium mix isn't a bad thing on aluminum. When I read the post over on the Miller thread my brain saw the 75/25 and went straight to a MIG mix, I missed the helium part of the equation. I wonder if the arc length is too long. The welds look kind of wide but there is nothing to really judge the size of the beads against. Also, this might sound weird but I see no evidence of dipping the tungsten on the welds. Normally the new people I have worked with tend to dip the tungsten here and there while learning (and after). Also having the tungsten 5/16" out of the cup would be longer than I would expect to see it. I went from a 7 cup to a 5 on my diversion and it seemed to work a little better for me. Might try that... it won't fix the sagging but the puddle was more controllable for me (w/3/32 tungsten). Oh, what type of prep have you done the the tip of the tungsten blunt or sharpened?ChrisLast edited by ccm399; 02-05-2010 at 11:00 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by ccm399A helium mix isn't a bad thing on aluminum. When I read the post over on the Miller thread my brain saw the 75/25 and went straight to a MIG mix, I missed the helium part of the equation.Chris
Reply:as you move along the metal gets hotter and you need less current to form a puddle.You can see with yours the puddle gets too hot as you go along and sinks through the plate.i see you have a foot pedal so it makes it easy to back off slightly as you go along to stop it sinking in.the stops take a bit of practice but i found backing off slowly with an extra dip or two seems to stop the craters.
Reply:Thanks for the reply's.This is truly my second attempt at TIG, like I said I've read up a whole bunch prior to firing up the machine, and watched a bunch of close up vid's on youtube and such. I have a pretty steady hand and patience so...I will try backing off the amps after initial arc and see if that helps any.What about the craters issue, anyone?My tungsten prep is penciled with a blunt end, I dipped a few times the day before, sucks, stop and regrind!Scott.Last edited by Scotty 510; 02-06-2010 at 08:58 AM.
Reply:Look's great for 2nd try with a tig machine.  You will be running great welds in no time. Settings look pretty good, aluminum distributes heat so well that it you will need to back off the go peddle as you progress along the bead, as far as the craters go, on your last filler dab move the torch back and forth slightly and in a fluid motion let off the peddle slowly.  I've always done this with good results on aluminum and steel. All in all, you are ahead of the learning curve and show major promise of producing high quality beads in no time!!
Reply:Thanks Southern rebel! I will give that a go on my next try, the back and forth motion, haven't tried that yet. I was also told that the bleed through the other side may be cause I didn't let the material cool down long enough.I made these passes within 2min of each other, if that. I don't know? maybe?
Reply:Yea, let the piece cool longer after you run a bead. I did the same when I first tried aluminum, you either must let it cool before you can run the same amps or let of the "go" pedal progressively more the longer you weld on the same piece. Weld on man, you'll have it down to a science in no time.
Reply:Those beads are way too nice for your second day. I bought the diversion right when it came out and I don't think I've done a bead that nice yet, granted I haven't really had a whole lot of projects going on since I bought it. I use the thumbwheel on mine, but I've never TIG welded with a pedal. It's alot of things going on with your hands at once especially if you're a beginner. But there are some nice little features built into the torch control. Like a tack mode if you hold the button and let go, and if you hold the button down at the end of your bead it automatically ramps down the amperage. I haven't seen a crater since I figured that out.The helium could be making it a little harder to control the heat toward the end of the bead on such thin aluminum. helium does promote penetration.Last edited by blazini; 02-08-2010 at 09:04 AM.
Reply:Yeah, I think I'm gonna swap for straight argon my next fill up.Gonna do some more beads this morning, will post up in a few!Scott.
Reply:Cool. I went out Saturday  to do a little welding to post up some examples and I was a little lower on Argon than I thought. I got one decent bead and then they started looking dull so I checked and I was about out of Argon completely. I should be able to get some more tomorrow morning. I practiced with my MIG instead. I am getting closer to the "correct" settings like ZTfab but not there yet. Chris
Reply:So, had some time to run a few more beads. Same plate, same everything. I think I have the amperage dialed in now, no bleed through!Still working on the craters at the end, definitely getting better I think, no more blowing through the other side, and no cracks either. Except for the one on the bottom right!For reference I put a piece of 1/16" filler rod in one of the photo's to show the width of the weld.Still have loads to learn, and having fun doing so.Scott.Last edited by Scotty 510; 02-08-2010 at 01:18 PM.
Reply:That is really some nice Tig beads for so little time under the hood. Try some laps, butts and some T Joints!!!I am really surprised how nice this little machine works I might have to get one!What kind of aluminum did you use btw?
Reply:damn I've had my machine for 8 months now and have used it a few time there is no way I could do that good on my second try... Good luck and keep practicingAdam MMorales Ranch
Reply:When changing from material, say from SS304 to aluminum do you change your tungsten, or regrind and have at it? Any cross contamination going on?Scott.
Reply:[QUOTE=Scotty 510;364295]When changing from material, say from SS304 to aluminum do you change your tungsten, or regrind and have at it? Any cross contamination going on?Scott.[/QUOTEWhy not try it both ways to see if it makes any difference.  It's always nice to start with a freshly ground tip.
Reply:Decided it was time to start sticking things together today.1/8" mild steel3/32" tungsten3/32" filler115 ampsgas lens w/#8 cup12 or so lphWasn't a perfect fit due to a slight gap, but doable.Let me know what you guys think? To hot, to cold, to slow, to fast?Last edited by Scotty 510; 02-26-2010 at 03:28 PM.
Reply:this machine does'nt have any adjustments for the alum. right.?my question :  are these new inverter machines as good as the Millers with th "SyncroWave"  technology...............because those welds shure look like they were done with a " Sync "        thermal arc 252i  -  millermatic 350P -   miller XMT, cp300ts, 30a 22a feeders, buttload of other millers, handfull of lincolns, couple of esabs  -   Hypertherm 1250 G3
Reply:Originally Posted by woi2ldthis machine does'nt have any adjustments for the alum. right.?
Reply:So, any opinions on the mild steel joints above! Looking for some feedback as far as how the heat, speed, etc. looks.Thanks,Scott.
Reply:Originally Posted by woi2ldthis machine does'nt have any adjustments for the alum. right.?my question :  are these new inverter machines as good as the Millers with th "SyncroWave"  technology...............because those welds shure look like they were done with a " Sync "Personally, I think it looks great.  How much stick-out on your tungsten and what type did yo use for the mild steel?
Reply:About the steel beads, your consistency is good. You have been gifted with steady hands. Keep doing that. Watch the bead profile height, tig on steel always tends to be concave. That is how yours appear also. See if you can build up the profile height by adding a bit more filler. Overall they look nice, you might cross-cut one to look for evidence of penetration. Last edited by tanglediver; 03-15-2010 at 01:24 AM.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:Hello, its seems as though this machine works great. Is it good for small alum work and some chassis fab stuff. Im a beginner and from the price i saw on millers website it looks to be a good machine for ($1600). Whats the overall opinion?
Reply:Originally Posted by tanglediverAbout the steel beads, your consistency is good. You have been gifted with steady hands. Keep doing that. Watch the bead profile height, tig on steel always tends to be concave. That is how yours appear also. See if you can build up the profile height by adding a bit more filler. Overall they look nice, you might cross-cut one to look for evidence of penetration.
Reply:For those of you that think the Diversion's duty cycle is a problem, I've personally run one at over 100 amps for about 3 hours straight - not one continuous bead, but probably at least 75% on time - never quit on me once.
Reply:Indywelder. I would love to see some of your work with this machine, post up some pics!Scott.
Reply:Decided to make some little boxes of aluminum today. Im having a lot of fun with this little machine I must say, still need lots of practice though but learning from my mistakes every time I fire it up makes me want to keep going. 1/8" unknown aluminum, 2"x1.5" boxes3/32" 1.5% lanthinated3/32" 4043 filler110 amps or so.#7 cup w/gas lens100% argon.Don't know what happened at the end of this one(black spot) may have dipped when I went back to fill a small crater?
Reply:Hey everyone this is my first post to this forum and wanted to jump in on this one since I have a 165 also... I have had my machine for less than a year but have finally had time to use it. I have been using pure green tungstens with balled ends and get similar results on aluminum just laying beads on 1/8 diamond plate. I am entrigued with that aluminum box you made and I am looking to hone my skills too. I have only had about 6-8 hours helmet time and after doing some reading and making adjustments to the consumables being used I was able to start laying beads with that stacked look. I took a bunch of pics of the stuff I was practicing on and I can say the only part I am having trouble with is fillet welds and butt joint welds. Basically any aluminum welding that requires joining pieces together. I have been practicing on scraps and I just started to prep my pieces with a SS wire brush. Anyway I will post some pics and im sure we can all learn off of each other here.  P.S. When I first started using this machine like nearly a year ago I had some 4x4 alum angle that was scrap from a job that I had started to weld on. I had the 165 turned all the way up and thats the only time I noticed problems with the duty cycle.
Reply:Very nice welds!!
Reply:You are gifted.  I'm having a hard time buying you have no TIG experience prior to buying this machine, but of course I believe you.  My beads still look like a bird with a bad case of the runs let loose on my aluminum.TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:Originally Posted by woi2ldthis machine does'nt have any adjustments for the alum. right.?my question :  are these new inverter machines as good as the Millers with th "SyncroWave"  technology...............because those welds shure look like they were done with a " Sync "