Welding Tips and Tricks

Please bare with me as I am very new to the Tig world. I have been reading as much as I can, but ti seems that everyone has their own way of setting up their machine.

I have just purchased an HTP 221 Tig and have been practicing on some 5052 1/8 aluminum. Mainly just running some beads and getting used to have it all works. I recently got some 6061 .090 thick aluminum to make a small square pan out of just for practice, however, this is where I started having issues. I stared with 3/32 2% Lanthinated and was using some 1/16 4043 filler rod. Everytime I tried to run a fillet pass the filler only wanted to stick to one piece of the aluminum.
My Machine settings were AC, 60Amps, 15cfh Argon, AC Balance is set to 65. As for the AC Frequency, I don't remember off the top of my head.

At any rate can you give some suggestions on what settings would be a good starting point for welding this 6061. I believe I am getting to confused with all the different settings.

Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Your amps are too low for the 0.090 material. And welding aluminum is tricky. The standard formula for welding steel is 1 amp per thousandth of material thickness, up to 1/8". That is not the case with aluminum.

Initially, I'd set the machine to 130-150 amps, get your puddle established on both pieces by pointing your torch into the V, then you can taper off your heat with the pedal. I would also encourage you to bump up to 3/32 filler. Filling a fillet with 1/16 is more tricky because you will tend to get a "hollow root" with thin filler wire (a weld that ties both sides in, but has a rabbit hole running down the joint due to lack of filler).

It always takes a lot more heat to start your puddle on aluminum. But the material soaks up the heat as you weld allowing you to back off long before the end, when welding thinner material.

For AC settings on that type of material, I like 150 amps, balance of 65-70%, and a frequecy of 60Hz. The 60Hz allows the arc enough width to hit both sides. I use a #8 cup, 3/32 2% Lanthanated, and a gas lens. Tungsten pointed straight into the joint, very slight push angle on your torch (cup laid backwards along the joint 5*).

Hope that helps-

cj737 wrote:For AC settings on that type of material, I like 150 amps, balance of 65-70%, and a frequecy of 60Hz. The 60Hz allows the arc enough width to hit both sides. I use a #8 cup, 3/32 2% Lanthanated, and a gas lens. Tungsten pointed straight into the joint, very slight push angle on your torch (cup laid backwards along the joint 5*).

cj,

Curious, he mentioned he had his argon set for 15cfh argon, isn't that a tad low also? Seems that 20cfh would be more suited for that type of work, but I have very little tig experience. I was more curious for my own knowledge how you set the argon for that type of weld?

Alan

Jody says your puddle should form in 3 seconds or less. This has helped me to set the amperage. Then use your pedal to adjust the amperage as the metal gets warmer.

BTW....Welcome to the forum.

aland wrote:

cj737 wrote:For AC settings on that type of material, I like 150 amps, balance of 65-70%, and a frequecy of 60Hz. The 60Hz allows the arc enough width to hit both sides. I use a #8 cup, 3/32 2% Lanthanated, and a gas lens. Tungsten pointed straight into the joint, very slight push angle on your torch (cup laid backwards along the joint 5*).

cj,
Curious, he mentioned he had his argon set for 15cfh argon, isn't that a tad low also? Seems that 20cfh would be more suited for that type of work, but I have very little tig experience. I was more curious for my own knowledge how you set the argon for that type of weld?
Alan

Not really. And mostly CFH is determined by cup size. I do tend to run slightly higher CFH than others might because I don't care too much about the cost of gas versus getting full coverage. I don't weld 5x9 for money, so $70 every 6-8 weeks doesn't add up on me.

cj737 wrote:Not really. And mostly CFH is determined by cup size.

Ah ha! <sound of palm slapping forehead> That makes sense. So a #8 cup would require more CFH than a #5 cup...I know that Jody often uses 20CFH, but he also uses a #8 cup most often as well.

cj737 wrote:I do tend to run slightly higher CFH than others might because I don't care too much about the cost of gas versus getting full coverage. I don't weld 5x9 for money, so $70 every 6-8 weeks doesn't add up on me.

I don't worry too much about the cost of gas either, as it is not a great deal difference most likely. But just to understand that correctly, if you have too much gas will it cause any problems?

Alan

When Jody uses his Fupa 12 he runs 20-25 CFH but not normally with an 8. Too high 30-> on an 8 can be problematic too.

cj737 wrote:When Jody uses his Fupa 12 he runs 20-25 CFH but not normally with an 8. Too high 30-> on an 8 can be problematic too.

I think I see him run 20 with a #8 mostly. I see him use a #8 most of the time.

So there is a problem with too much argon...yes, I was curious about that.

Thanks,
Alan