Welding Tips and Tricks

I've been trying to learn TIG on aluminum. Have watched a ton of videos and have tried several hours. I'm still working on laying down consistent lines, but one thing that I've noticed is that I never have an oxide area like I always see online. I do when I do a single dot, but not when I run along a line.

The two runs above are an example on a fresh coupon. The top one is typical. I purposely ran the bottom one slower (and thus the crack).

I've tried modifying the amps, the frequency (from 100 to 200Hz) the balance (from 20 to 50%), cup size, and gas flow rate. I've also tried on 6061 and 6063.

What am I doing wrong? Will there always be an oxide area surrounding the weld puddle?

YesWelder 250P AC/DC TIG
120Hz / 120amps / 30% balance / 3/32" tungsten / #5 cup @ 12.5 cfh

i would double the gas flow to start with.
if that doesn't help, try bigger cup. still no joy and you have pressure gauge meter instead of flow gauge, then you may have a gas restriction. seen that with cheap gas lenses.

cracking is from not filling the crater at the end. gives it a few more daps and fill the crater.

Agree with Tweake. You have a gas flow issue. And you need to learn to taper off the amps near the end, even back step a bit while you add another dab of filler to avoid hot cracking.

Aluminum is full of tricks to weld. Lastly, make sure you take some time to get your puddle before you move the torch. Don’t stomp the pedal, ease into it. If you don’t see sufficient cleaning action develop while you get your puddle, don’t proceed with the weld as if it isn’t there at the start, it won’t be at the end.

mojo, from what I'm seeing is the material isn't cleaned (could be the photo too). Brush with stainless brush in one direction and wipe with acetone or some other non chlorinated cleaner. Turn the amps up, IF that is 1/8 thickness aluminum, you'll need a bit more heat so you don't have to wait. Hold the tungsten kissy close and push the puddle. Don't want too much tilt on the torch from perpendicular. Set the argon flow to around 12-15 cfh. IF you have another tungsten, lay it on the material and move the torch over the tungsten without touching (with the machine OFF). That's about how close you want to be. Just run some beads without filler for a bit to see how the machine acts for you. Good luck and keep us posted.

I don't see any cleaning action that I would expect to see with his posted settings. I'm curious if your torch lead is plugged into the + or - connector on the welder???

stefuel wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 8:24 pm I don't see any cleaning action that I would expect to see with his posted settings. I'm curious if your torch lead is plugged into the + or - connector on the welder???

there is cleaning action, easily see it at the start. its just small because of the small cup used.

He's tried from 20%-50% on the AC balance with little to no cleaning action. I only asked because wouldn't he be on the wrong side of the balance if his cables were reversed???

Don't mind me. I suck at tig welding. I thought I'd be good at it because I can gas weld all day long perfectly. I assumed as the eye hand motions and filler rod manipulation was close to the same that tig welding would easily follow. I spend more time dressing tungsten then welding

stefuel wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 6:08 pm He's tried from 20%-50% on the AC balance with little to no cleaning action.

Cleaning will only occur where there is gas coverage so even if there is sufficient balance adjustment, cleaning won't happen if (say) the cup is too small.

I only asked because wouldn't he be on the wrong side of the balance if his cables were reversed???

That would be true but the tungsten would suffer badly (and perhaps violently) if that were the case.

Jack

stefuel wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 6:08 pm He's tried from 20%-50% on the AC balance with little to no cleaning action. I only asked because wouldn't he be on the wrong side of the balance if his cables were reversed???

Don't mind me. I suck at tig welding. I thought I'd be good at it because I can gas weld all day long perfectly. I assumed as the eye hand motions and filler rod manipulation was close to the same that tig welding would easily follow. I spend more time dressing tungsten then welding

as above, the tungsten will be very unhappy if you have leads mixed up.

you need gas coverage for the cleaning action to work, hence the posts about lack of gas flow. whats interesting is that a gas lens is worse with low gas than standard collet bodies are. you also do not need cleaning action outside of your weld, no point wasting gas/amperage cleaning whats not going to be part of the weld.

i'm not much better, but i also don't get much practice in. don't forget there is a lot of pro's out there who take the tungsten for a swim now and then.