[OliverR]

Hello,

I upgraded my Eastwood TIG 200 AC/DC to the Digital version, as I wanted to have the nicer pedal as well as the ability to adjust the AC balance.
While welding steel works just fine, like with the old welder, I am not able to weld aluminum anymore.

I neither get a clear puddle, nor any cleaning action. Also, the filler rod is immediately getting a dull appearance and balls up.

This is what the beads, without added filler, look like:

Aluminum Bead

AluminumBeadSmall.jpg (34.47 KiB) Viewed 6971 times

At first I thought to have insufficient gas flow, but gradually increasing it to the point at which the gas would make a hissing noise, had no positive effect.

I started with the settings, recommended by Eastwood, but also tried to vary these values:

- Eastwood TIG200 Digital AC/DC welder
- 100% Argon
- 15 scfh (also tried up to 60 scfh)
- Purple 1/16” electrode
- AC 120 Hz (also tried other settings between 60 and 200 Hz)
- AC balance “20”, whatever this exactly means (also tried values from 10 to 50, what are the min and max values)
- Aluminum cleaned with stainless steel brush and acetone

I am a beginner, but had no problems running beads with the old welder.

I already sent an e-mail to Eastwood, but am also interested in your thoughts, as I wanted to do some welding this weeked.

Oliver

[LtBadd]

The AC balance on my Miller is setting the % of EN, I don't know if the Eastwood is the same but the manual should tell you.

Do you know the base material is a weldable grade?

[tungstendipper]

What is your amperage setting? Set your ac balance to 70.

[AxleIke]

What is your amperage setting? Set your ac balance to 70.

Seems like his is reverse, so that would be about 30? He said he went from 10-50 with no noticeable difference. I assume that would be comparable to 50-90 ?

Just guessing.

[Louie1961]

What you don't mention is the thickness of the aluminum and the amount of amps you are using. It looks to me like you aren't getting hot enough and not breaking through the oxide layer. I am guessing a 1/16th tungsten is just too small for the metal you are trying to weld. Typically a 1/16th can only handle up to about 100 amps. If you are welding something thicker than say 10-12 gauge, you really need to step up to a 3/32 tungsten (or larger). As far as your settings go:

- 15 scfh (also tried up to 60 scfh)
- Purple 1/16” electrode
- AC 120 Hz (also tried other settings between 60 and 200 Hz)
- AC balance “20”, whatever this exactly means (also tried values from 10 to 50, what are the min and max values)

Are you using a gas lens, or the collets that came with the torch? I would check that you don't have one of those soft chinese collets that maybe has deformed and is blocking or partially blocking the gas flow. Its best to use a gas lens collet body

Tungsten: I would switch to a 3/32 at a minimum, maybe a 1/8th. I tend to use 1/8th on all my aluminum work. I prefer the 2% lanthanated, but that isn't likely to change your situation.

AC Hz: I would bring this down to 60-70 to start with. Lower hertz puts more energy/heat into the weld, I am guess you are just not getting the metal hot enough

AC Balance: This is the percentage of time the current is electrode positive. Too much electrode positive will ball the tungsten, not enough and you don't get any cleaning. I would start at 40% and then lower it down until you get just enough cleaning action

Make sure you don't have the pulse on, at least to start.

Just some thoughts for you to check out. Good luck.

[77cruiser]

What kind of torch? When i tried aluminum I had a problem with my flex torch, I think something inside flexed too many times & broke & the gas was coming out someplace else. Switched torches & all was good, at least up to my ability.

[OliverR]

Thank you for your responses.

The aluminum on the picture is 6061-T6, 0.025" thick. I think I ran the bead on the picture with 28 amps.
I however also tried thicker pieces of 6061-T6, but with the same result. I even increased amps to the point at which I pretty much immediately burned a hole through the material - still neither a clear puddle nor the white oxide around the bead, resulting from the cleaning action.

Even though I am a beginner, I was able to run beads just fine with the old welder:

Aluminum Bead Old

AluminumBeadOld.jpg (162.97 KiB) Viewed 6941 times

OK, not great, but at least good enough to show that the machine was not the problem.

AC balance can be set from 10 – 50, according to the manual this represents “the percentage of time the current is electrode positive”.
The manual suggest a setting of 20, but I tried a number of other setting, ranging from 10 – 50.

[OliverR]

[...]

Are you using a gas lens, or the collets that came with the torch? I would check that you don't have one of those soft chinese collets that maybe has deformed and is blocking or partially blocking the gas flow. Its best to use a gas lens collet body

Tungsten: I would switch to a 3/32 at a minimum, maybe a 1/8th. I tend to use 1/8th on all my aluminum work. I prefer the 2% lanthanated, but that isn't likely to change your situation.

AC Hz: I would bring this down to 60-70 to start with. Lower hertz puts more energy/heat into the weld, I am guess you are just not getting the metal hot enough

AC Balance: This is the percentage of time the current is electrode positive. Too much electrode positive will ball the tungsten, not enough and you don't get any cleaning. I would start at 40% and then lower it down until you get just enough cleaning action

Make sure you don't have the pulse on, at least to start.

Just some thoughts for you to check out. Good luck.

Great, thank you.
I'll go through the settings again, following your recommendation. II also have 2% lanthanated electrodes at home and will give them a try as well.

I started off with a gas lens, but changed back to the original cup, after having these problem.

What kind of torch? When i tried aluminum I had a problem with my flex torch, I think something inside flexed too many times & broke & the gas was coming out someplace else. Switched torches & all was good, at least up to my ability.

My new welder actually came with a flex torch. The more I think about it, the more I tend to believe that I have some kind of gas problem. One reasons is, that the picture I posted looks very similar to some of the pictures I found on the internet, when people used the wrong gas or when air made it into the puddle. The other reasons is, that the filler rod already becomes dull and starts to ball, before it touches the puddle.

I am definitely getting a good gas flow and also tried further increasing it. I am however wondering, if air somehow makes it into the torch!?

[tweake]

try turning down your gas flow, say by half.
see if it goes better or worse.
i had a similar problem setting up my tig and part of the issue was to higher gas flow.
also check all the seals. you can get a venturi effect that will suck in air.

rod balling up sounds like its got way to much positive cycle.

i set my ac balance to one side and checked to see if the tunsten tipped balled up. if it did thats the positive side of the control. then can adjust from there.

[noddybrian]

Is it just me ? or does the picture look like the machine is putting out DC ? being you have welded before on AC can you confirm audibly that the machine is outputting AC ? ( if you turn the frequency up & down you will hear this ) probably quite wrong here but all the comments on tungsten type etc don't seem to cover the route problem - sure any number of such things can make a weld look better or worse but this is fundamentally not welding at all so the problem would appear to be something else - other alternatives may be the material itself ? no chance it's anodized or something daft like it's not what you think it is ? is it worth trying on another piece of metal ?

[OliverR]

I checked the gas flow again (I am using 100% Argon) and set it to 20 SCFH, to be on the safe side and can hear the gas flow. It appears as whether I have no leaks; I shut off the gas valve yesterday evening, this morning it still showed almost full pressure. I also covered the cup on the torch with my thumb and briefly pressed the pedal to initiate gas flow - it would hold the pressure inside the torch until I let it go after few seconds.

Here is a new sample on 0.100” aluminum, which I had first cleaned with a fresh flapper disk, then a dedicated stainless steel brush, followed by acetone. I used a purple (rare earth) 1/16” electrode, set the welder to the preconfigured aluminum program and adjusted the amps to 110. Still, very similar results, compared to the picture above with the 0.025” 6061-T6 aluminum. No evidence of any cleaning action and I could clearly see how the oxidation layer would just float on top of the molten aluminum. As shown on the picture, the piece of aluminum would melt away within a few seconds, without ever forming a shiny puddle:

4027

fullsizeoutput_4a0.jpeg (58.46 KiB) Viewed 6678 times

I later again tried to vary the amps, the AC frequency and the AC balance, I however never came even close to a useful setting.

Is it just me ? or does the picture look like the machine is putting out DC ? being you have welded before on AC can you confirm audibly that the machine is outputting AC ? ( if you turn the frequency up & down you will hear this ) probably quite wrong here but all the comments on tungsten type etc don't seem to cover the route problem - sure any number of such things can make a weld look better or worse but this is fundamentally not welding at all so the problem would appear to be something else - other alternatives may be the material itself ? no chance it's anodized or something daft like it's not what you think it is ? is it worth trying on another piece of metal ?

I upload an only few seconds long video to YouTube, audibly confirming that the welder actual changes to AC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUJAg-PQKyM
When I changed the frequency, I could also hear that the changes took effect.

The first picture I posted is aircraft 6061-T6 aluminum on which I ran beads with my old welder without a problem and clearly visible residue from the cleaning action.

The 0.100 piece of which I just posted a picture is a some scrap high quality 4027 aluminum, used by the guys in my employer's shop.

Also note, that welding steel in DC mode works just fine. This is a 0.060” thick sample I welded just this morning:

Steel

fullsizeoutput_499.jpeg (54.38 KiB) Viewed 6678 times

If there would be something wrong with the gas(flow), steel probably also wouldn't weld good!?

I actually think that there is a problem with the welder’s AC mode.

Pretty frustrating...

Oliver

[cj737]

I actually think that there is a problem with the welder’s AC mode.

Without question.

[OliverR]

0.060” chromoly 4130, inside corner joint.
Except of some crap in the weld, I think that it looks acceptable:

One side

fullsizeoutput_4a4.jpeg (41.63 KiB) Viewed 6669 times

The other side:

The other side

fullsizeoutput_4a6.jpeg (37.56 KiB) Viewed 6669 times

Absolutely no luck with aluminum, though. I guess they’ll have to swap the welder….

While the Eastwood's customer service is great, I think they need to improve the quality of their products. Besides of the issues with the AC mode, the adjustment knob on the gas flow regulator is loose, and the multi function selector knob on the welder itself has a tendency to stick, what causes the welder to reset. Awesome.

Oliver

[noddybrian]

OK - certainly sounds AC - not familiar with your machine but given the range you mentioned for AC balance it sounds like you only adjustment on 1 side of 50/50 whereas some go both ways - supposing ( & this is a wild card theory having exhausted most other likely problems ) you had the polarity mixed up so the earth was negative & torch was positive I realize you would probably vaporize the tungsten first but it would freak the balance settings available out I think - next alternative without having an experienced member close enough to swing by & go through it is see if Eastwood will check it out or replace it as it's possible there is only one half of the sine wave being produced - unless you have access to a scope to check - if you bought this recently is it possible to send it back for a full refund & buy something else - I don't want to offend Eastwood users but I taught someone to weld on the older non digital machine & it's a " POS " & a very expensive way of buying a very low spec Chinesium welder - you can get way better value in other colors. hope you resolve this one way or the other - it's frustrating when stuff does'nt work.

[R32Guy]

This may be a remote possibility but I recently purchased a new argon cylinder which was suppose to have pure argon in it. It did not. I don't know what gas it had but it was an oxidizing gas that made it impossible to do good TIG welds on any metal. After switching to a new bottle of argon the problem was gone. Just a remote possibility if you're using a different bottle than when you welded aluminum previously with the old welder. Stargon and similar mixed Argon gases do not work on aluminum for TIG welding.

[Warrenh]

I would check your torch angle. It needs to be close to 90 to the workpiece not angled forward like steel. That can cause some of these problems, too.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Louie1961]

I wonder if the base metal is contaminated/not cleaned enough. I had a similar problem on some 061 plate yesterday with my syncrowave. I also used a flapper disk (first time I had ever done this) and couldn't get a puddle to form. Changed to a different piece of the same sheet, a new tungsten, and only used the stainless brush and acetone and it worked fine.

[OliverR]

Thanks again for your responses.

- I'm holding the torch almost at a right angle, so I would rule this out.
- Contamination also seems unlikely: We have a pretty clean hobbyist shop, without any grease or oil anywhere around. I tried cleaning with the flapper disc, then brushing it with a dedicated stainless steel brush, I tried cleaning the parts with a stainless steel brush alone. Always followed with two applications of acetone. Absolutely no luck. Must of the scrap pieces I used were new, clean aircraft grade 6061-T6 aluminum. And - just a few weeks before I was able to run beads on the same material without a problem. Even if it was contaminated - wouldn't I still see evidence of cleaning action?
- Argon mixed with something else might be a (very) remote possibility. I bought the bottle just before I returned the old welder. I am not 100% sure, but I believe that I already used the new bottle with the old welder to weld aluminum, without a problem. However, wouldn't I then also have problems welding steel?

I originally wanted to buy an Everlast welder, but then the Eastwood TIG200 AC/DC was given to me as a gift. I therefore didn't think it would have been right to just return it, take the cash and buy something else. Instead, I decided to pay the price difference and to upgrade to the 'better' digital version, as I wanted the adjustable AC frequency and some of its other nicer features.

I already sent an e-mail to Eastwood, pretty much with the same information I posted in this forum. Let's see what they'll have to say.

Oliver

[cj737]

I'm pretty sure your post from Saturday diagnosed the issue accurately and completely to the AC side of the box. Time for Eastwood to Make-good.

[OliverR]

I'm pretty sure your post from Saturday diagnosed the issue accurately and completely to the AC side of the box. Time for Eastwood to Make-good.

At least Eastwood's customer service is awesome: They already responded, e-mailed me a free return shipper and will swap the welder, the torch and the gas flow regulator!

I'll post the results once I have the new welder, as this might also be helpful for others.

Thank again for all your help.

Oliver

[OliverR]

Eastwood sent me a brand new welder: I still had he same problem. Since the selector knob also had a tendency to stick, I however feel only a little bit bad about swapping it.

So, today I also emptied the gas cylinder and had it refilled - this did the trick! Check out the beads I ran today:

Beads

fullsizeoutput_4c0.jpeg (91.12 KiB) Viewed 6590 times

Now, I need to practice more. Thanks again for your help.

Oliver

[cj737]

So you think it was the machine or the gas? Did you run test beads with the new machine and the old gas? I don't think it was the gas since your DC beads looked perfectly good (like you new AC beads look!!!

[OliverR]

So you think it was the machine or the gas? Did you run test beads with the new machine and the old gas? I don't think it was the gas since your DC beads looked perfectly good (like you new AC beads look!!!

It was definitely the gas.
After I received the replacement welder from Eastwood, I had the exact same issues as before. I started with their recommended settings but also tried a higher gas flow, higher / lower AC balance, current, etc.: Absolutely no luck. The filler rod would get dull before I even came close to the arc. I could also see the oxides just float on the molten aluminum, without any cleaning action.

I then had the gas tank emptied and the shop filled and drained some Argon, before the finally filled it completely.

Back home, I let the gas flow for a minute or so, to get all the old gas out – after that, the problems were immediately gone, even though I had changed absolutely nothing, besides of the tank, compared to the day before. I even still had the same electrode and continued to use the same sample piece.

I found a thread in another forum, in which a guy posted very similar pictures to mine. It turned out, that they did not purge the new tank, before they filled it with Argon. Apparently, the residual air in the tank caused the problems, he had.
I suspect that this is also what happened with my tank, as I had it bought just before I upgraded the welder.

[cj737]

Interesting. But weren’t your DC steel beads clean and normal? I lease my Argon bottles, except for a small 80 that I’ve owned for a long time, so I have no experience with bad gas. Well, at least not bad Argon

[OliverR]

Interesting. But weren’t your DC steel beads clean and normal? [... ]

Kind off - they however still appeared appeared quite rougher than what I had welded in the past.