DC TIG on Aluminum is this real???

Adam's Got Skills · Thu Aug 14, 2014 11:46 pm

I talked to a guy the other day that told me that u can weld aluminum with a DC TIG!! He said u had to use 4130(?) fill rod and use straight helium shielding gas crank the heat up an weld...I kind of thought to myself this guys an idiot but then I had to realize that I don't know everything an it may b possible. Idk Id like to hear what anyone else that may know somethin about this has to say

MinnesotaDave · Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:18 am

Yes, DCEN welding of aluminum with 100% helium is the real deal.

One benefit is the reduced amount of amps needed for penetration.
One drawback is no cleaning cycle so the weld looks scummy until brushed off.

Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:26 am

Shot a video on this a few weeks ago on dc welding of aluminum. with the help of Roy Crumrine aka rediron881 .
Typically, 4043 filler and pure helium is used . Uhp helium is recommended but usually the regular stuff works ok. Roy has done a bunch of it and has a few tips that should help anyone

Coming soon

Jody

Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:15 pm

rediron881 is full of knowledge on heavy sections of SS.

He does work similar to mine in nature, but on much thicker material.

He's mentioned a TIG gas that's 2% hydrogen. I'd love to give it a try.

I have yet to have a good excuse to try DCEN on aluminum, but I assure you, I'll find one!

Steve S

Wade Patton · Sat Aug 16, 2014 9:30 pm

From what I saw on some other videos, I'd say that it takes more of a NEED than a whimsy to tackle Al with other than AC.

I doubt I'll ever need to punch Al that deep, but it does have its applications.

Adam's Got Skills · Mon Aug 18, 2014 1:56 am

Id sure like to see that!!! I wonder now that deep penetration was mentioned....Could u use it for thinner material?? not too thin...like 1/8" aluminum???

Adam's Got Skills · Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:00 am

Id also like to here what situations would someone prefer DC to weld aluminum...Im thinking id like to try it but id kinda like to see the video Jody was talking about before just winging it trying to figure out where to start

Wed May 13, 2015 11:04 am

I posted this over in Video Discussion also but thought it might make sense to post here too.
For some reason, it just took me a long time to get around to editing and posting this video.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig ... ng-dc.html
b1dCZyH_NBI

Arno · Fri May 15, 2015 1:24 am

Just curious..

Perhaps I'm missing something but isn't the reason that the arc runs hotter on Helium simply because Helium doesn't ionise as readily as Argon so the current path in the arc has a higher resistance when running Helium as a shielding gas? Less ionisation means that there are less electrons passing freely through the gas which gives a highter resistance per mm/inch/whetever of arc lenght.

The highter resistance means that the (constant current) power source on a TIG machine needs to compensate by bumpin up the voltage to maintain the same weld current (ohms law and all that..) and a higher voltage is known to increase arc temperature.

A bt like lenghtening the arc would do but this also widens the arc 'footprint', but with Helium you get the same effect with a short, focussed, arc.

I often hear/read that the reason that Helium runs hotter is 'complicated', but is it really?

Or am I missing some totally obvious fact.. Wouldn't be the first time!

Bye, Arno.

Mick · Fri May 15, 2015 1:09 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:rediron881 is full of knowledge on heavy sections of SS.

He does work similar to mine in nature, but on much thicker material.

He's mentioned a TIG gas that's 2% hydrogen. I'd love to give it a try.

I have yet to have a good excuse to try DCEN on aluminum, but I assure you, I'll find one!

Steve S

Sorry to bring up plasma arc welding again, but I been told thad hydrogen also is used in plasma welden. It should increase penetration. I'd love to see it in use.

As for DCEN welding with helium, I really want to try that, but haven‘t had the time to get helium at home, and at work my boss won't spend the $$$, even though I could use it to mix with argon.

Jody mentioned that 5356 wasn't really good for DCEN. Does anybody have an idea why and what happens???

LtBadd · Fri May 15, 2015 7:27 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:rediron881 is full of knowledge on heavy sections of SS.

He does work similar to mine in nature, but on much thicker material.

He's mentioned a TIG gas that's 2% hydrogen. I'd love to give it a try.

I have yet to have a good excuse to try DCEN on aluminum, but I assure you, I'll find one!

Steve S

I use the 2% hydrogen on SST everytime I weld, it give a little extra push and the stainless wets out nice.

Fri May 15, 2015 7:31 pm

LtBadd wrote:
Otto Nobedder wrote:rediron881 is full of knowledge on heavy sections of SS.

He does work similar to mine in nature, but on much thicker material.

He's mentioned a TIG gas that's 2% hydrogen. I'd love to give it a try.

I have yet to have a good excuse to try DCEN on aluminum, but I assure you, I'll find one!

Steve S
I use the 2% hydrogen on SST everytime I weld, it give a little extra push and the stainless wets out nice.

Most of my code welds are under 3/16", and even my high-schedule pipe is under 1/2" wall, so I've not had an excuse to try a H2 additive gas. I'd experiment, if the opportunity presented itself, as I've been pleased with the results from rigging a helium mixer when welding aluminum.

Steve S