Welding Tips and Tricks

Well got a Everlast 200dv a couple days ago. Most of my playing will be AC on aluminum
And on boat stuff! I have been watching the video's on setup and believe I have it pretty good!
At this time I'm trying the torch that came with it but have ordered a new ck 17 flex to be here Tues!
I have played with foot petal and switch on the torch. Not real happy with what I see so far but not sure that aluminum is
Clean enough? One thing I noticed was my tungsten turned black? Is that normal? Gas flow at 14cfh. 125 amps on 1/8" sheet
Hard time getting clean puddle ?

I'd set your amps at 150-175 So you can floor the pedal at the start and get a nice small shiny puddle real quick. Post up some pics if you wanna better critique
Blue 2% lanthanated is your friend. 3/32 or 1/8th.

What was your cleaning method? What type of tungsten?

Thanks for info, 3/16 2% lanthnated,
At this time I only took a piece of 1/8"
And wire brushed it. I'm sure that in some of the issue!
Again is tungsten turning black normal?
I will ck back when I get the new torch
And will work on cleaning my aluminum
And see how it goes. Thanks

Fishburn,
I believe your tungsten might be turning black or other colors due do insufficient post flow gas shielding. You must set your post flow long enough to allow your tungsten to not be red any longer and then the gas shut off, to put it in simple terms. 10-15 cfh is sufficient gas flow for practice. I am of the belief and opinion that for practice you do not need to make your material surgically clean. A SS wire brush should be good. If you are getting a dirty weld/puddle try giving it a little more cleaning action. However it will not hurt to clean better or use acetone as will be suggested.

Pics will really help us out if you can get us some.
-Jonathan

You definitely need more amperage for doing 1/8" aluminum. The puddle should form nice and shiny within 2seconds, otherwise you just aren't using enough juice. At this amperage you need about 8+ seconds of post flow to keep the tungsten from oxidizing while it is red-hot.

Oscar wrote:You definitely need more amperage for doing 1/8" aluminum. The puddle should form nice and shiny within 2seconds, otherwise you just aren't using enough juice. At this amperage you need about 8+ seconds of post flow to keep the tungsten from oxidizing while it is red-hot.

Yeah, what he said
-Jonathan

I think I hate this thing!!!!! The welder is fine, have some real crappy aluminum.
My left hand will not talk to my brain. My foot has lost its mind!
I don't know what possessed me to want to try this???? Think I will stick to my mig and spool gun!
Anyone want to buy one?? 6 days old, extra new CK 17 super flex 25'
Several kinds of tungsten, tips ect! $1200

Fishbum wrote:I think I hate this thing!!!!! The welder is fine, have some real crappy aluminum.
My left hand will not talk to my brain. My foot has lost its mind!
I don't know what possessed me to want to try this???? Think I will stick to my mig and spool gun!
Anyone want to buy one?? 6 days old, extra new CK 17 super flex 25'
Several kinds of tungsten, tips ect! $1200

I wouldn't give up just yet. If you are beginning I highly suggest the aluminum drill. Don't worry about moving the pedal just set your machine 100-120 amps and when the puddle gets shinny work on dipping and moving. You need to start with one variable at a time.

If not, I will give you $750
-Jonathan

Superiorwelding wrote: I believe your tungsten might be turning black or other colors due do insufficient post flow gas shielding. You must set your post flow long enough to allow your tungsten to not be red any longer and then the gas shut off, to put it in simple terms. 10-15 cfh is sufficient gas flow for practice.

Yup, I learned this the hard way....resharpening the tungsten over and over even an old hard head like me learns eventually.

Also...You may need a few more amps if you have your work resting on a big heat sink.

Superiorwelding wrote:

Fishbum wrote:I think I hate this thing!!!!! The welder is fine, have some real crappy aluminum.
My left hand will not talk to my brain. My foot has lost its mind!
I don't know what possessed me to want to try this???? Think I will stick to my mig and spool gun!
Anyone want to buy one?? 6 days old, extra new CK 17 super flex 25'
Several kinds of tungsten, tips ect! $1200

I wouldn't give up just yet. If you are beginning I highly suggest the aluminum drill. Don't worry about moving the pedal just set your machine 100-120 amps and when the puddle gets shinny work on dipping and moving. You need to start with one variable at a time.

If not, I will give you $750
-Jonathan

I worked on just starting the puddle first...don't worry with the filler rod just yet. Get the puddle started and practice moving ahead...baby steps. After you can make a nice straight weld without filler on a flat plate, then practice dipping without sticking the tungsten. That was the hardest part when my coordination of dipping and moving ahead wasn't working out so good. I ran bead after bead on flat plate and when I had padded that small plate, I started running beads in a perpendicular direction and filled the plate up again.

You might find it easier to start on steel, and then move on to aluminum when you have the rhythm down. When you work with steel you can just turn off many of the machine's bells and whistles. I know you just got a cool, awesome machine BECAUSE it has those bells and whistles, but by turning them off you can take those variables out of the equation. You might also disconnect the foot pedal in favor of the on/off switch on the torch (hint: set machine to 2T) and remove that variable too. Then you can just learn to puddle and manipulate the torch... then learn to add filler... then figure out start amps and end amps... then weld some joints... and then move on to aluminum, when you've dropped into the TIG groove.

Thanks everyone. Looks like lots of the problem is with the aluminum. Only if I take the grinder to it and acetone am I able to
Work with it. I got several sheets from sheets from a guy that had them in back yard.
Going to keep working at it and see what happens !

Fishbum wrote:Thanks everyone. Looks like lots of the problem is with the aluminum. Only if I take the grinder to it and acetone am I able to
Work with it. I got several sheets from sheets from a guy that had them in back yard.
Going to keep working at it and see what happens !

That's the spirit!

You'll get this, and when you do, you'll wonder why it seemed hard at first.

I love it when I can weld aluminum. I can make good looking welds, where with stainless steel my welds look horrible..

Steve S

Find someone that knows how to TIG near you and get a lesson. I'd have you up and running in no time if you were near me.

Otto Nobedder wrote:

Fishbum wrote:Thanks everyone. Looks like lots of the problem is with the aluminum. Only if I take the grinder to it and acetone am I able to
Work with it. I got several sheets from sheets from a guy that had them in back yard.
Going to keep working at it and see what happens !

That's the spirit!

You'll get this, and when you do, you'll wonder why it seemed hard at first.

I love it when I can weld aluminum. I can make good looking welds, where with stainless steel my welds look horrible..

Steve S

Tell me about it. I've been practicing stainless steel for around a year (only on weekends though), and I still need to finesse the amperage I use vs the travel speed and filler rod addition. Slow Pulse gets the heat down so as to not oxidize the surface on a long run, but then I see "discontinuities" on the backside where the pulse "missed" a tiny little part of the seam. Ugh, lol. The loveliness of working with round tubing exhausts