Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi guys I have been welding for ages with Mig. Now I bought the Welbach 335 Alpha AC/DC Tig welding machine. The only small problem that I encounter is not the technique of how to weld but the calibration as I am a bit old school with these new technology.
Would like any help with the setting of the machine, maybe some of you guys here have the same equipment.

Thank you

Welcome to the forum MADSiJ.

Never seen your machine but it seems to have a very common pictograph style layout - I prefer old school myself with rotary dials - but I used similar & they are quite straight forward - just can't glance at them to see settings - have to scroll through stuff - what in particular do you want settings for ?

Is it just me, or does the amazon picture that comes up when you google that have a welding mode called "easy"? I've never heard of that before haha. What's it do??

Going through the buttons:

Up-down buttons
-First one selects the process (not sure which process "easy" is though)
-Next one selects AC or DC current (What sort of material are you going to be welding? i.e. aluminum=AC usually and mild steel=DC usually)
-Next one selects trigger function (In 4T mode clicking the trigger button down begins start amps, releasing the button begins main amps, pressing the button down again begins end amps, releasing the button again terminates the arc. In 2T mode, pressing the button down starts main amps, releasing the button terminates the arc)
-Next one I'm thinking is letting the machine know how you're cooling the TIG wand (gas cooled means open air/inert gas cooled while water cooled means you have the torch hooked up to a water cooler.)


Knobs
It looks like the top right knob should move you through the selection items at the center of the machine and then the bottom knob allows you to adjust each of the selections as you get to them.

As noddybrian said, the forum needs to know which sort of material you plan on welding before any suggestions are given. Unless you want a general overview of the common materials.

MAD, welcome to the forum.

Also remember that you don't have to use every single setting just because it is available.

noddybrian wrote:Welcome to the forum MADSiJ.

Never seen your machine but it seems to have a very common pictograph style layout - I prefer old school myself with rotary dials - but I used similar & they are quite straight forward - just can't glance at them to see settings - have to scroll through stuff - what in particular do you want settings for ?

Would like to know maybe some display values suitable for aluminium.

I'd help you, but my neck doesn't like twisting a full 90 degrees to either side.

to do basic aluminum tig welding, use the same settings for steel but add 20% more amperage, double the post-flow to shield the tungsten, 65%EN (or 35% EP, equivalently), and you're off to the races. That's it to get started. No need to write a dissertation.

I'm with Oscar! The orange labels are impossible to read too. Sadly I'll write the dissertation...

Really you don't need any special settings for aluminum as long as you run with 2T and a pedal. From there you just need to consider your thickness and then set your Amps. For 1/8 aluminum I've been loving 150A on my machine. It lets me mash to almost mash (depending on the temp of the part) and get a puddle in decent time (3 seconds seems to be the goal with aluminum vs. 1 second or less seems to be the goal for stainless steel) then begin pulsing the pedal about about 3/4 - 2/3 pedal press and begin travel/feed. After about 1/2 - 1 Inch I'll taper back to about 1/4 to 1/3 pedal pulsing and make a gradual shift as I get there. This has let me run about 6" beads and joints with nearly all shiny results.

If your AL parts are shiny i.e. if you can see yourself, they are not clean. If you can barely see your silhouette with zero detail then you're about there after an alcohol or acetone wipe with a clean cloth. Wouldn't hurt to stainless steel brush it before that wipe either but you will beat your head into your table trying to figure your settings out if it is not wonderfully clean.

Without the AC balance you may be in for a rough time but it's not necessary, just upping your game level a lot. The reference to AC Balance for your machine seems to be called "Clean Scope". There are two settings that range between 20 and 40. So I think if you go with 33 on both, you'd be where you want. The "Clean Scope Width" is interesting since technically that should affect your white cleaning "halo" width. Still pretty sure 33 will be your mark.

Remember AL requires a lot of filler and so far IMO it requires about 2-3x more filler per dunk than any steel. You also really can't do autogenous welds with AL so you will want filler otherwise anything you do will probably look like crap and crack. Also do not forget to taper off slowly and add extra filler at the end or you'll get a crater. A brief circle as you taper off for about 1-2 seconds and continued circling for post flow usually seems to make things even better.
Have fun starting and ending at your first edges