[weldin mike 27]

Glad to hear it, its all about the little things.

Mick

[Marc Godwin]

Hi all
Did some changes to my setup got some new gas cleaned the plate with scotch bright pads and acetone. Still got a little pepper even after cleaning the filler rods
I have found using green tip electrodes to be the most consistent in returns for my efforts.
Also it would seem I cannot get enough cleaning action going as if I turn the control to cleaning I don't get enough heat into the start. Please review photo an give me some of your wisdom.
Cheers Marc.

[Otto Nobedder]

Marc, that looks worlds better than your earlier picture.

You're right, the "cleaning" action is a compromise. I prefer to use the least I can get away with. The Miller SW250's I weld with at work are usually set to "9" for arc-balance. I'm usually over-working the tungsten, though, and have to protect from it "puking" in my weld. Even an 1/8" tungsten struggles at 275A. (The SW250 will do 310A in HFAC for short bursts.)

With a balanced weld, you do have to allow a lot of time for the heat to build to establish the initial puddle, and advance very slowly for the first several "dips", until the heat builds up. This is also true with the balance set well negative, but takes less time.

Don't be afraid to try a little pre-heat. On a practice plate like that, you can heat it from the backside with a simple propane torch until it's hot enough to boil water sprinkled on it, and then your start won't be so slow.

The 53XX rods have some magnesium content apparently, and any exposure to air, whether through pulling the rod out of the shield, or through a torch angle that draws a slight draught of air from behind, will give you some pepper. If a wire wheel takes care of it, then no harm is done, it's just draft from behind. It's sometimes tricky "in position", but the closer you hold your torch to 90* to the work, the less air you draw in to the still-hot tail end of the weld.

Steve S

[Marc Godwin]

Thanks Steve
Good advice on the torch angle.
I am happy with my progress so far as I picked up a tig torch first time ever, 6wks ago.. Done my time on stick, mig and oxy act.
What filler rod do you recommend for general ally. Welding?
Also picked up a 90' die grinder with roloc cleaning pads and that makes the job much easier.
As I do not have a foot pedal I am also finding the weld gets too hot after running about 35mm as I have the peek amps at 140 or am I moving to slowly
Have got the whole kit with my Dynasty 200DX coming so that should help tremendously.
One other thing I found now is my tungsten is not burning up either but as you say it is the compromise between cleaning and heat.

[Otto Nobedder]

Marc,

4043 is a very good general-purpose rod for most aluminum work. I use mostly 5053 at work, as I usually weld on 5XXX and 6XXX alloys in a circumstance where the properties need to more closely match, but it's somewhat specialized work. 4043 is commonly used even on 6061-T6 where the interface properties are not critical.

Sometimes the choice between 4043 and 5356 will come down to the intended finish, according to a buddy with extensive experience. I'd have to ask him which is which, but one will take anodizing better than the other, and finish matching must be considered.

I also sometimes (rarely, in fact) weld on 1001 and 3003 alloys. These cases are always piping that sees extreme thermal cycles, and I have to use the matching filler rods.

I guess the short answer is, if I could have only one rod in my home shop for general aluminum use, it would be the 4043.

Steve S

[ajlskater1]

4043 or ant other 4000 series won't anodize color match to any 5000 or 6000 series aluminums. Usually 5000 series fillers with color match pretty well with 5000 and 6000 series aluminum. 5356 is a good choice for color matching and its the cheapest of the 5000 series fillers. Some 5000 are hard to find and expensive.