Problems welding aluminum

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Ok I am working on a set of motorcycle ramps for a guy at work and I am having a little trouble. For the most part it is welding good but it is very noisy. It sound almost like a swarm of bees. Is this normal? The welder that I have a Lincoln precision tig 185. Where should I set the ac balance? Also this welder has a pulser that I tried but it seems to work better without it. Should I be using that? The tubing I am welding is just under 3/16" thick.One other thing. I am trying to weld some corner joints right now so I am having to set it on about 180 amps. I am using 3/32 tungsten and it seems to be almost melting it. Should I jump up to some 1/8" tungsten? I don't have any 1/8 right now or else I would have tried it but think I will go get a piece tomorrow.Thanks for any comments
Reply:The noise is normal. As far as the tungsten. I have found that when i get that little metled ball on the tip of my tungsten i seem to have an easier time with it. Im sure most will disagree but thats just what works for me
Reply:Try to keep the tungsten ball flush with the cup if possible.Welding aluminum IS noisy.If you are welding a motorcycle ramp and the tubing is 3/16 thick, the real problem is that as the weldment gets larger and larger the aluminum is giving off the heat as fast as you are trying to put it in..Try to do the welding while it it is all hot. Do not let it cool down.Pulsing will not help it is only a crutch for beginners to make the welding look better. For such a large weldment you want to keep the whole weldment hot. It could take 500 amps to do such a large weldment.They have a place in Novato, California that welds garbage truck bodies out of aluminum and they use 600 amp spool guns (high heat input) and most of the welders are women.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Is your tungsten rod pure tungsten, or thoriated tungsten.  Need pure for tig aluminum.  Also pure Argon.
Reply:Originally Posted by bellinoracingFor the most part it is welding good but it is very noisy. It sound almost like a swarm of bees. Is this normal?Yes, it is normal. The welder that I have a Lincoln precision tig 185. Where should I set the ac balance?My Syncrowave 250's dial is 0-10, but it's balanced at 3. And it's marked 'bal' on the panel. I wouldn't worry about the pulser on 3/16".One other thing. I am trying to weld some corner joints right now so I am having to set it on about 180 amps. I am using 3/32 tungsten and it seems to be almost melting it. Should I jump up to some 1/8" tungsten? I don't have any 1/8 right now or else I would have tried it but think I will go get a piece tomorrow.Thanks for any comments
Reply:Originally Posted by bellinoracingOk I am working on a set of motorcycle ramps for a guy at work and I am having a little trouble. For the most part it is welding good but it is very noisy. It sound almost like a swarm of bees. Is this normal? The welder that I have a Lincoln precision tig 185. Where should I set the ac balance? Also this welder has a pulser that I tried but it seems to work better without it. Should I be using that? The tubing I am welding is just under 3/16" thick.One other thing. I am trying to weld some corner joints right now so I am having to set it on about 180 amps. I am using 3/32 tungsten and it seems to be almost melting it. Should I jump up to some 1/8" tungsten? I don't have any 1/8 right now or else I would have tried it but think I will go get a piece tomorrow.Thanks for any comments
Reply:If you should happen to see the ball on the tungsten moving around, it is liquid and ya sould go to the next size.
Reply:[QUOTE=Donald Branscom;229548]Pulsing will not help it is only a crutch for beginners to make the welding look better. For such a large weldment you want to keep the whole weldment hot. It could take 500 amps to do such a large weldment.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Am I reading this wrong or are you saying that the pulse feature is for cosmetics and he needs to possibly use 500 amps to weld 3/16" thick aluminum.Please elaborate.
Reply:Bellino, What kind of tungsten are you using? Are you balling the end of it before welding?Not a jab at you, but if you were wondering what that sound was while welding with AC current I wonder about what else is going on that might not be right, again not a jab at you, just trying to get a feel for your experience.The AC wave balance thing: How new is your machine? does it have the "auto-balance" feature?The wave balance sets how much time the current spends on each side of the AC current (DC- and DC+)On your transformer machine this switches back and forth 60 times a second. So just to make that clear, when your machine is set on AC, the current switches back and forth between DC+ and DC- "Alternating Current"Forgive me if I insult your intelligence I just don't know how much you know about this.The longer its spends on DC+ the less penetration you will have, but the time spent there is what gives you the cleaning action. When the electrode (the tungsten) is positively chargedthe heat is concentrated there.So if you adjust the balance to have less DC+ time, the tungsten will stay cooler but the arc will not clean the alum. oxide off as much.Either way you could use a bigger tungsten, try it out see what happens.The pulse feature can be a really useful tool, it varies the weld current quickly to help control heat input. Really helpful on thin stuff, Necessary? No. Useful? Can be.Saying that it is a "crutch for beginners" is like saying they only put rudders on multiengine jets because the pilots are too lazy to steer with the engines.And on that note your not going to need 500 amps to weld that thing together.Last edited by Burnit; 11-25-2008 at 05:13 AM.Yup
Reply:I need to correct my earlier reply.  Pure Tungsten electrodes are used for AC welding of Aluminum.  2% Thoriated are used with DC applications.  Here's something I pulled out of a TIG welding web site:The two most important types are EWP or pure tungsten and EWTh-2 or thoriated tungsten including 2% thorium oxide (or thoria). The first is used with AC, mostly for aluminum or magnesium welding. Electrodes of the second type, used for DCEN, emit electrons more easily and have a 20% higher current carrying capacity when compared to pure tungsten.If the original poster is using an AC TIG setup, try the pure tungsten rod.  You'll immediately see the difference.  Note:  GREEN end.
Reply:I can weld large pieces of 1/4" aluminum with a TA-185.  It takes all its got, but it will do it.Wave balance 25% + 75% - This puts more heat into the base metal.  Aluminum has to be CLEAN to use this little + wave balance, but it works.David Edit, I use red or Gold tungsten.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:willie mccormickwhy would a smaller cup heat a smaller area? i thought cup size governed the volume of shield gas and  visibility. isnt the heat going into the metal a function of amps , travel speed  and arc length?
Reply:Originally Posted by paweldorI need to correct my earlier reply.  Pure Tungsten electrodes are used for AC welding of Aluminum.  2% Thoriated are used with DC applications.  Here's something I pulled out of a TIG welding web site:The two most important types are EWP or pure tungsten and EWTh-2 or thoriated tungsten including 2% thorium oxide (or thoria). The first is used with AC, mostly for aluminum or magnesium welding. Electrodes of the second type, used for DCEN, emit electrons more easily and have a 20% higher current carrying capacity when compared to pure tungsten.If the original poster is using an AC TIG setup, try the pure tungsten rod.  You'll immediately see the difference.  Note:  GREEN end.
Reply:Originally Posted by FusionKingDude I do not doubt you are an awsum welder but you are giving out old and outdated info. I am certain there are even new publications saying to use pure but they are behind the times and out of the loop. Inverters have caused everyone to re-think tungsten and now found several things relate to making older machines work better as well.Pure tunsten is crap compared to lanthanated...try it. If I had it I would throw it away.Grinding or forming a ball is pretty much gone for me as well. I use 1.5% lantanated on everything and ground to a point and weld almost 100% of the time on aluminum with all kinds of machines. Try that as well...the worst thing that will happen is it will just form a ball!!
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadwillie mccormickwhy would a smaller cup heat a smaller area? i thought cup size governed the volume of shield gas and  visibility. isnt the heat going into the metal a function of amps , travel speed  and arc length?
Reply:many thanks, willie m..
Reply:Originally Posted by William McCormick JrIt just does. By actually having done it both ways for years. The idea of TIG is that you are super heating a very small area, without really uniformly heating the whole part and forging it together. The smaller cup tends to keep the heat right at the place you are welding. I noticed much less of that white heat discoloration as well. It causes a higher velocity of backup gas to pass over the tungsten. Normally this would cause an unwanted cooling. However to me it seems to help stabilize the tungsten a bit. And allows me to get a nice hot thin weld going. You really are supposed to sit there for a bit to preheat the part. Or preheat the part.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:I own and use  PT 185,For that application I would use a 2% Zirconated 2.4mm (3/32" ?) I have tried Lathanated and they are just as good also  but if I have a Thoriated electrode in the torch and its only a small weld I will rarely take it out to switch from SS to ally  but I have noticed the Thoriated gets consumed quicker . I have never used a 100% Tungsten so I cant comment on its performance. In Australia Thoriated is red , Lathinated is Grey and Zirconated is White tipped.The electrode will form a ball of of its own , so for ally a bit of a flat top with the corners knocked off works for me . As W. Mac correctly pointed out the weldment needs heating , by the time you start seeing a shiny pool your tip will have balled. (then you often need to go like blazes !    )I dont worry about pulse on Ally and for the most part set the balance to Auto, just make sure you have cleaned the weld area , I use scotch brite material.On a PT 185  welding 3/16 material the machine will be pretty much flat out , I would set it at 185 amps and would not expect to ease up on the pedal till near the end of the weld .I use a #5 cup. 100% Argon.There are better and more experienced weldors on this board than myself but these settings work for me with this machine. My 320 Tig I tend to set up differently.Hope this helps BrettBrettA good guess is better than a bad measurement
Reply:(shortened)[/QUOTE]When welding aluminum it is not a question of the thickness of the metal, it is a question of the total size(area) of the weldment as far as the heat is concerned.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Originally Posted by paweldorI need to correct my earlier reply.  Pure Tungsten electrodes are used for AC welding of Aluminum.  2% Thoriated are used with DC applications.  Here's something I pulled out of a TIG welding web site:The two most important types are EWP or pure tungsten and EWTh-2 or thoriated tungsten including 2% thorium oxide (or thoria). The first is used with AC, mostly for aluminum or magnesium welding. Electrodes of the second type, used for DCEN, emit electrons more easily and have a 20% higher current carrying capacity when compared to pure tungsten.If the original poster is using an AC TIG setup, try the pure tungsten rod.  You'll immediately see the difference.  Note:  GREEN end.
Reply:Thanks for all the good replys and sorry I havent been on for a while. To answer everyone's question I was trying to use 3/32 zirconated tungsten. I did buy a piece of 1/8 pure (pure was all the local store carries) tungsten and that does work a lot better when welding at 180 amps. I also have some Lanthanated tungsten, can that be used for aluminum?  I know thoriated is not to be used for aluminum. What else can I not use for aluminum?Thanks again
Reply:Originally Posted by BrettI own and use  PT 185,(shortened) Brett
Reply:Originally Posted by bellinoracingThanks for all the good replys and sorry I havent been on for a while. To answer everyone's question I was trying to use 3/32 zirconated tungsten. I did buy a piece of 1/8 pure (pure was all the local store carries) tungsten and that does work a lot better when welding at 180 amps. I also have some Lanthanated tungsten, can that be used for aluminum?  I know thoriated is not to be used for aluminum. What else can I not use for aluminum?Thanks again
Reply:Originally Posted by Donald BranscomRight on PAWELDER.On the box the tungstens are sold in there is information as to what the different electrodes are supposed to be used for.If anyone does not believe me go look for yourself.
Reply:Originally Posted by Donald Branscom" In Australia Thoriated is red , Lathinated is Grey and Zirconated is White tipped."It does not matter what country you are in. The colors of the tungstens are determined by the organizations that regulate.I've used thoriated and pure with my lincoln 185. Both work fine but the pure tends to keep a steadier, more directed arc.
Reply:Originally Posted by RojodiabloMost welders today use 2% thoriated(Red) tungsten for aluminum. [B].... On aluminum, once I get above 170-180 amps, I am using 1/8" tungsten. The 3/32" will not hold up under the load when running AC too well, especially if you plan on doing a lot of welding at once.
Reply:i'll be the first to admit i'm no hotshot, but i will agree on the balled end comments.i was told be a pro where i used to work at that you WANT that bad boy to ball up, and wanna run a small cup size. i've found it was immensely easier once the tungsten (pure stuff..) balled up. welding a subframe of a honda CBR600 F4i proved that to me.. the gas i was told makes a big difference as well.. helium allows better penetration and burns hotter. argon is better for thinner metals. ?? at least thats what i think i remember.. please, correct me if i'm wrong!! lolhttp://kawispeed.com/ -moderator and tech deluxewww.myspace.com/trickortrack -cuz i have no life
Reply:Originally Posted by whitehendrix!i'll be the first to admit i'm no hotshot, but i will agree on the balled end comments.i was told be a pro where i used to work at that you WANT that bad boy to ball up, and wanna run a small cup size. i've found it was immensely easier once the tungsten (pure stuff..) balled up. welding a subframe of a honda CBR600 F4i proved that to me.. the gas i was told makes a big difference as well.. helium allows better penetration and burns hotter. argon is better for thinner metals. ?? at least thats what i think i remember.. please, correct me if i'm wrong!! lol
Reply:Originally Posted by ojcoolDoes anyone use Argon Co2 mix for any TIG welding operation?
Reply:Does anyone use Argon Co2 mix for any TIG welding operation?
Reply:Originally Posted by ojcoolDoes anyone use Argon Co2 mix for any TIG welding operation?