[jaso]

Hello all,

I'm trying to teach myself how to TIG weld aluminum. I've watched the WT&T and ChuckE2009 videos half a dozen times (each) but I just can't seem to get a decent puddle to form.

Here's my setup:

Miller Multimatic 220
3/32" grey tungsten (2% ceriated)
3/32" filler rod
1/8" aluminum
100% argon set to 15 CFH (I've tried as high as 22 CFH)
#7 cup

I'm using the auto-set features of the MM220 which for this combination says 135 amps (I have a foot pedal). I'm cleaning my material with a wire brush and then acetone. I've attached a picture of my ground tungsten in the torch.

When I fire up I try and ease into the amps (I don't just full mash). I see the frosty cleaning action start but I never get a good puddle. If I go full pedal I get a gummy mess of a pool that has some sort of film around it but it never flows - it just clumps. If I try and add filler rod it doesn't melt off but instead breaks off or starts to melt then sticks back onto itself.

Your guidance as to where I'm going wrong and what I need to work on is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

j

[cj737]

First, that’s a standard collet body and cup. Drop to a #5 cup and shorten your stick out. 10cfh. I set my machine to 170 amps for that material thickness. Aluminum takes more amps than steel to get a puddle, but once you get going you can back off the amps as aluminum keeps the heat.

An aluminum puddle is very different than steel, so get accustomed to seeing a difference. Bump your amps to 150, mash it, then taper off as you go. Don’t add filler until you’ve got a wet puddle. Keep your torch pretty upright too.

[VA-Sawyer]

I suggest that you cut the Tungsten stickout to about half of what you show in the photo. That will improve your gas coverage.

From your descriptions, it sounds like there is still a lot of oxide on the base metal. On fresh clean aluminum, a quick hit with SS brush will clean up a thin layer of oxide good enough to weld. On old dull aluminum with a heavy layer of oxide, you can wear out a new brush, and still not be clean enough to weld well.
I would try something a bit more agressive, like a sanding pad. You want the base material to have a bright shine before you wipe it with the Acetone. It is more critical when you are learning.

[jaso]

Thank you both for the replies. I'm headed out to the garage right now to try our all the info.

[jaso]

Thanks again for the info. It would seem that my biggest problem right now is material cleanliness. I took a flap disc to the aluminum and that has made a world of difference. Apparently, though, my filler rod is filthy. I can see globs of yuck entering the pool when I dab. Lesson learned - Blue Demon rods are gross. Fortunately I only have what little came in a starter kit when I purchased the welder.

Mashing and tapering off (instead of ramping up) has also helped quite a bit. I haven't yet swapped cups yet but I did shorten my stick out by about half.

I'm going to focus a bit more on material and rod cleanliness and try and get my technique a bit more consistent before I ask about tungsten frying.

[VA-Sawyer]

A pass or two with scotchbrite, followed by Acetone wipe, may help out the rods. A short arc will get the best welds. Unfortunately it causes the most TDFBC. (Tungsten Dipping, Followed By Cussing). We have all been there. Some of us are still there. Practice helps, but don't count on it making you perfect.

[sschefer]

First, that’s a standard collet body and cup. Drop to a #5 cup and shorten your stick out. 10cfh. I set my machine to 170 amps for that material thickness. Aluminum takes more amps than steel to get a puddle, but once you get going you can back off the amps as aluminum keeps the heat.

An aluminum puddle is very different than steel, so get accustomed to seeing a difference. Bump your amps to 150, mash it, then taper off as you go. Don’t add filler until you’ve got a wet puddle. Keep your torch pretty upright too.

Agree completely. I like a #6 cup but that's just me a 5 is a good choice too.

Also, don't beat yourself up.. TIG Welding isn't the easiest concept to get but you'll get it figured out over time. I've always been of the belief that every welder should be a good Oxy/Acetylene welder first and then learn the sparky ways. Jody does a great job with his videos but here's and oldie but goodie that might just be what you need to see.

https://youtu.be/M0uHBCkics8

[cj737]

Often times, your actual arc length causes some of what you are describing. Skip the flap discs, they embed crap more than they remove it. A good scrub with your stainless brush followed by an acetone wipe of the material and the filler is adequate.

Regarding your cup... Any time I use larger than a #5, I switch to a gas lens. It provides better coverage and shielding. Its not needed on the smaller cups (<5) as the orifice of the cup is so tight, you aren't welding an area that benefits from the extra coverage. And with a smaller cup, you can get better penetration with the same amount of amps.

Just some food for thought.

[Poland308]

Also I wouldn’t be too critical of the blue demon brand. If it was rod that was exposed to the atmosphere then any brand would do the same thing. I’ve gotten several batches of SS and carbon rods from blue demon and had no troubles. But I’ve had even Harris rods that were left exposed that caus d issues. It wasn’t a manufacturer issue, but rod storage issues.

[tweake]

Thanks again for the info. It would seem that my biggest problem right now is material cleanliness. I took a flap disc to the aluminum and that has made a world of difference. Apparently, though, my filler rod is filthy. I can see globs of yuck entering the pool when I dab. Lesson learned - Blue Demon rods are gross. Fortunately I only have what little came in a starter kit when I purchased the welder.

Mashing and tapering off (instead of ramping up) has also helped quite a bit. I haven't yet swapped cups yet but I did shorten my stick out by about half.

I'm going to focus a bit more on material and rod cleanliness and try and get my technique a bit more consistent before I ask about tungsten frying.

clean the filler rods. even good brands will have yunk on them. also 4043 filler will often have peppering in the weld.

also watch you torch angle. if you point to far forward you will melt the rod as you dab and that ends up as a glob of snot in the puddle.

ceriated tungsten is not great for aluminum, i see its recommended for low amps. 2% lanthaned is a good all rounder.

cleaning flap disk can simply smear the oxide into the aluminum. however imho it can work well if done at low speed (variable speed grinder). most of the time brushing with stainless wire brush in one direction works well.
just remember to clean up all dust, shavings etc. it has a real nasty habit of being sucked into your tungsten.

[sschefer]

Thanks again for the info. It would seem that my biggest problem right now is material cleanliness. I took a flap disc to the aluminum and that has made a world of difference. Apparently, though, my filler rod is filthy. I can see globs of yuck entering the pool when I dab. Lesson learned - Blue Demon rods are gross. Fortunately I only have what little came in a starter kit when I purchased the welder.

Mashing and tapering off (instead of ramping up) has also helped quite a bit. I haven't yet swapped cups yet but I did shorten my stick out by about half.

I'm going to focus a bit more on material and rod cleanliness and try and get my technique a bit more consistent before I ask about tungsten frying.

I think you're on the right track now. Nothing wrong with those rods, they're just oxidized. Aluminum begins to skin over with oxidiation about 10 minutes after it's cleaned to bright white. Just clean them up with a scotch brite and then wipe them down with acetone.

I believe what you are learning now is that the key to good alumimun welds begins with the prep work and with a few exceptions, there's a lot more to be done when dealing with aluminum than other materials.

Best of luck, keep at it.

[jaso]

Thank you all very much for the replies and encouragement. I have to say I wasn't mentally prepared for how difficult this would be. I picked up hobbiest-level stick and MIG fairly quickly but have struggled with TIG.

4043 filler will often have peppering in the weld

Is that the black trail that is left over? Is that considered acceptable? I've never seen it when watching a video but I sure do have a lot of it.

watch you torch angle. if you point to far forward you will melt the rod as you dab and that ends up as a glob of snot in the puddle

That's great advice - I've been having issues with my filler melting when I wasn't expecting/reading for it.

Thanks.

[BillE.Dee]

Hello Jaso....happy to have you aboard. Every day is a learning experience and every learning experience is a learning day. The black soot looking stuff is probably from too little argon and should about wipe off. The "pepper" they are speaking about actually looks like specks of pepper and might come from within the base metal or the atmosphere around the weld puddle and even tungsten dipping will get it in there. The learning curve for welding is a slope and the learning curve for TIG is straight up. Hang in there, the folks in here are very helpful and will get you going.
before you go adding filler rod, try running a bead and see what that looks like. You'll get it, be patient, Grasshopper.
Enjoy your stay.

[ekbmuts]

Hey - can I suggest that you "blunt" your tungsten a little. From my experience a sharp grind like that is good for steel, stainless, etc. When I get to aluminum I make the tungsten quite blunt and it seems to help me direct the heat better. I think cj737 suggested this and it worked for me.

Just another suggestion to add to the list...

Jon

[Turbo]

I would be surprised if blue demon wasn't shit, but even my alcotec rods need to be scotch brited and cleaned with acetone before welding.

[sschefer]

Pepper in your welds can be a couple of things. It can be too little gas coverage or incorrect A/C balance. Set your flow to about 15scfh and adjust your A/C balance so you can see between a 1/16-1/8" of frosting at the edges of the weld. The frosting is Cathodic etching and that occurs best in the area covered by the Argon flow. Too much Argon and you'll cool the material too much and the etching will be less effective. Too little argon and the weld will be wider than the etch area. Both will cause peppering. I should also mention that cup size can also make a difference. Try matching the cup to the width of the weld you expect to produce in a single pass and go up one size.

Here's a tip: Go to Lowes or Home depot and get some aluminum flat stock to practice on. The stuff is about the worst AL I've ever tried to weld. If you can get that to run clean beads you will have mastered the concept of Cathodic etching.

[LtBadd]

Here's a tip: Go to Lowes or Home depot and get some aluminum flat stock to practice on. The stuff is about the worst AL I've ever tried to weld. If you can get that to run clean beads you will have mastered the concept of Cathodic etching.

I would only buy from the box stores if you have no other source for material, they are so overpriced

[sschefer]

Here's a tip: Go to Lowes or Home depot and get some aluminum flat stock to practice on. The stuff is about the worst AL I've ever tried to weld. If you can get that to run clean beads you will have mastered the concept of Cathodic etching.

I would only buy from the box stores if you have no other source for material, they are so overpriced

You may have missed the point. I'm suggesting he learn to deal with crap aluminum and a quick and easy place to find that is at a big box store. You might pay a little more but it might be worth it in the end if you learn from it.

[Tonylumps]

First, that’s a standard collet body and cup. Drop to a #5 cup and shorten your stick out. 10cfh. I set my machine to 170 amps for that material thickness. Aluminum takes more amps than steel to get a puddle, but once you get going you can back off the amps as aluminum keeps the heat.

An aluminum puddle is very different than steel, so get accustomed to seeing a difference. Bump your amps to 150, mash it, then taper off as you go. Don’t add filler until you’ve got a wet puddle. Keep your torch pretty upright too.

Agree completely. I like a #6 cup but that's just me a 5 is a good choice too.

Also, don't beat yourself up.. TIG Welding isn't the easiest concept to get but you'll get it figured out over time. I've always been of the belief that every welder should be a good Oxy/Acetylene welder first and then learn the sparky ways. Jody does a great job with his videos but here's and oldie but goodie that might just be what you need to see.

https://youtu.be/M0uHBCkics8

I have never seen these Videos before,I watched them all.They almost make you want to throw away everything you own with a plug on it. They were great. Thanks