Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi welding gurus .

I once saw a welder at a car-speed shop several years ago build weld bead on top of thin-walled aluminum intercooler pipe (~1.6mm aluminum tubing). Although, I've had success with my EverLast 225LX machine, I'm having difficulty creating a tall weld-bead around the end of this thin-walled aluminum tubing. Does anyone know how to do it without burning through the metal or penetrating too much? (The weld on the upper right is the one I was trying to make tall, but had no luck)

Machine: EverLast 225LX
Tungsten: 3/32 sharpened to a point (2% Lanthanated)
Gas: 100% Argon @ ~15 cfh
Cup: #8 weld-craft cup with Gas Lens
Heatsink: 1/4" thick flat-bar of aluminum rests directly below the aluminum tubing

Try easing back on the amps just a little and feed the wire in from the back of the puddle.
That should help make it crown up for you. You want the heat set so it feels just a bit sluggish
but still creates a puddle.

Sound advice from rake.

Another option is to manually pulse it with your pedal (assuming you use one) after establishing your initial puddle, building each dime in a short burst of power with a firm feed of the rod (can be front-fed), and backing off the power rapidly (not to zero, just low). This takes a little practice to get the look you want consistently, but the pulsing (and using the feel of the rod-feed to keep the puddle cool) will help you avoid blowing through. Another advantage is you can do this quite slowly, meaning you can advance a careful, precise amount between each pulse, since I'm guessing it's the finished appearance you're after, not additional strength.

Either method will work, and you may yet get other advice, so give it a go on some scrap and see what works best for you.

Steve S

I too have done the manual pulsing method but my old bones just hurt enough from getting up in the morning.
All day on the pedal and I'll need an ankle replacement!

Try both and see which one you really like!

try moving backwards, and pulling the puddle, the bead may get small tear drop points on the top but you can usually get a higher bead.