Tig welding tips, questions, equipment, applications, instructions, techniques, tig welding machines, troubleshooting tig welding process
GreinTime
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ONDGAS wrote:The puddle on the bottom right is just me lighting up previously with a freshly ground tungsten trying get to get a ball, the rest of them are me lighting up after the "problem" occurred mid weld on the work piece, I would post a pic of the work piece but I brushed it back thinking I hit some contamination so it doesn't really represent the problem I think
Turn your balance to 50% and set your frequency to 60hz if you can adjust it. If it's not an inverter, you're at 60hz already, so no worries there.

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ONDGAS
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I'll try that now and give you a pic
Rubbin' is racin' son
ONDGAS
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This is all at 60hzwhich is what it was set at
To the left is yesterday's puddle. It seems better but what the hell would cause it to be crap yesterday but today ok?

This is why I find rig frustrating as a news because I can sometimes walk away and comeback with out touching a thing and it just fixe itself.
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Rubbin' is racin' son
exnailpounder
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You'arc is too close. Don't believe me..I don't care if you do or not but your arc is too close.
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ONDGAS
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Hey I'd believe you if you told me I was using the wrong end of the torch no problems taking advice on this end

I think I've tried it at all lengths, intact when it turned ugly mid weld I was in a corner inside weld that was fine then turned to crap so I couldn't get u home closet being that the cup won't let you get too close on a inside corner

Wheat distance would you say I need to be? I'm at around 2-3mm away from the work
Rubbin' is racin' son
exnailpounder
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ONDGAS wrote:Hey I'd believe you if you told me I was using the wrong end of the torch no problems taking advice on this end

I think I've tried it at all lengths, intact when it turned ugly mid weld I was in a corner inside weld that was fine then turned to crap so I couldn't get u home closet being that the cup won't let you get too close on a inside corner

Wheat distance would you say I need to be? I'm at around 2-3mm away from the work
I give up. Your welder was built to weld. If your having problems then don't blame it on the machine, only trying to help you.
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
ONDGAS
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:shock:

I was actually taking your advice and was asking what distance you would recommend. I'm not blaming the machine I'm asking for advice and I took your advice.

Thanks for your input anyways
Rubbin' is racin' son
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sorry that you have to stand on your head to see my pic. This was for another thread ...the numbers are percentage of cleaning vs. penetration. When you do everything right, your machine will weld aluminum. Not trying to be a dick but you're not taking the time to realize that AL is easy if you are doing it right. 8-)
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
exnailpounder
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Please don't take offense but AL is easy....but different. You have to be a good tig welder to weld aluminum. If you're not then you need to practice. You can be mad at me for being terse but one day, when you get it, you will say to yourself... that crazy stupid American ass was right. 8-) Hate or not...I want to help you ;)
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ONDGAS wrote::shock:

I was actually taking your advice and was asking what distance you would recommend. I'm not blaming the machine I'm asking for advice and I took your advice.

Thanks for your input anyways
Beer happens this late in the states.

The sudden occurrence of your problems tells me it's not you. If everything was going "well" (being a relative term for someone relatively new to this), and abruptly went to hell with no changes on your part, it's clearly not you.

This fact has escaped my esteemed colleagues, leading them to continue suggesting technique adjustments. There is something technical going on, whether an abrupt failure of a gas line, drawing air, or a machine issue. Your most recent picture shows the cleaning etch I didn't see in your first picture, suggesting this issue has an intermittent nature.

Have you looked at how your HF is made? If that machine has a spark gap for a tesla coil, that's your prime suspect. I mentioned it before. Clean it and gap it.

Steve
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Otto Nobedder wrote:
ONDGAS wrote::shock:

I was actually taking your advice and was asking what distance you would recommend. I'm not blaming the machine I'm asking for advice and I took your advice.

Thanks for your input anyways
Beer happens this late in the states.

The sudden occurrence of your problems tells me it's not you. If everything was going "well" (being a relative term for someone relatively new to this), and abruptly went to hell with no changes on your part, it's clearly not you.

This fact has escaped my esteemed colleagues, leading them to continue suggesting technique adjustments. There is something technical going on, whether an abrupt failure of a gas line, drawing air, or a machine issue. Your most recent picture shows the cleaning etch I didn't see in your first picture, suggesting this issue has an intermittent nature.

Have you looked at how your HF is made? If that machine has a spark gap for a tesla coil, that's your prime suspect. I mentioned it before. Clean it and gap it.

Steve
Beer is so 'last year"...Vodka is the "in"thing now....update your brain Steve :lol: :lol:
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
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Think "barbeque". Not "kegger".
GreinTime
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Otto Nobedder wrote:Think "barbeque". Not "kegger".
I thought everyone had vodka at the barbecue?

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exnailpounder
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GreinTime wrote:
Otto Nobedder wrote:Think "barbeque". Not "kegger".
I thought everyone had vodka at the barbecue?

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Whoa! This reminds me of George Carlin's "the big electron" :lol: If you don't get it...then don't expect me to explain it cause I can't....Gosh is it Friday night already? :lol:
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
ONDGAS
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Thanks Steve, that is the logical conclusion I came to, since my last post I have gone out again and it welded really well so I'm not sure what the story is.

Can I add my machine is a kemppi 2300 which isn't that big in the states I hear but is a quality unit and whilst I've had it for 5 years or so I've probably gone through no more than 6 bottles of gas so it's almost brand new.

Also I dunno if I mentioned but in those pics when I have the balance around 75% I can hear the welder buzzing away and I'll get a noticeable change in tone... best I can describe is a car revving evenly at 4000rpm and it has a ignition misfire every now and then

I'm not sure if this is anything to worry about

And yes I checked, it does this misfire thing whether I'm really close or further away with the electrode. It did go away when I gave it more cleaning action with the balance
Rubbin' is racin' son
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ONDGAS wrote:....notice the ball on my tungsten pulls to one side and almost looks like there is a split in the end of it....
tungsten 1/8 blue, and do the same thing and notice it's just not pooling nice....two puddles are around 80-100 amps and 75% bal and the lower one is when I try to add filler, it's almost like the filler is absorbed under the pubble....I hate aluminium? I feel like you need ten years experience on each conceivable weld in each conceivable position :evil:
Perhaps your machine has a fault in the AC waveform. A few questions and comments for you.

I. Confirming you have the Master TIG MLS? In reviewing the Kemppi manual, appears that when you select "more positive" on your machine you are actually adding more DCEP (increased cathodic etching, increased electron transfer to the tungsten and ionic bombardment to the workpiece). This protocol is the exact OPPOSITE on how Lincoln and Miller transformer/inverter-based machines are adjusted, if we are interpreting the manual correctly. On a Lincoln/Miller, increasing the " % " increases the level of DCEN and the heat into the workpiece. Figured you understand this, but noting the differences for context. Try welding with the waveform, frequency, and balance at factory settings. Note, images show annotated clips from the Master TIG MLS.

II. Confirming your work piece is 6061-T6 Aluminum? Thickness of material? On Lincoln/Miller inverter machines we prefer 2% La (BLUE) Tungsten for Aluminum/Magnesium and 2% Th (RED) for ferrous materials. DGP Tri-Mix WS2 (CREAM) for special applications. On Aluminum material 3.2mm (1/8in) and greater, we run an 1/8" electrode with a balled end. Aluminum under 3.2mm, we switch to 2.4mm (3/32") Tungsten and down to 1.5mm (1/16") Tungsten for even thinner Aluminums. Although the balled Tungsten profile is common on transformer rigs, we find the spherical end maintains arc consistency, helps focus the plasma jet, and combats split ends. We also use a standard blunt end and regular 2:1 sharpened point with equal results.

III. Learn to appreciate Aluminum. The material requires a different mindset. In material preparation/fitup and when welding. Uncertain with your existing level of hood time on Aluminum. We prefer to START off someone NEW to TIG on Aluminum. The perceived "violence of action", IOPO, forces a welder to learn how to develop the molten puddle, control heat input, and develop sound tactics (dip, move; dip, move, etc a la a metronome) during the weld out. Also, never be in a rush to finish a weld line. Slow things down. You're in control of the process, not the torch or the pedal. Once you improve your Aluminum abilities, switching to ferrous material is less challenging.

IV. Online training and focused practice. As you know, Jody C. has a virtual bank vault replete with excellent video content and commentary on how to approach Aluminum welding. Another outstanding online source is Arron at http://www.6061.com/imagegallery.htm. His one-time, unlimited access, $45 subscription for professional Aluminum TIG training is worth it's weight in Scandium. Note, have no existing professional relationship with http://www.6061.com and above comments are not a funded endorsement.
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ONDGAS
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Thanks arclight that's some in depth advice!!!

Yep that is the machine I have and I have a previous post questioning how to cross reference the Lincoln miller percantage based balance to the kemppi and I have a online chart I use. I'm on my phone so I might have to just screen shot it but I'll add it below.

I'm using 1/8 blue tungsten because I have a subscription to the 6061.com tutorial and Aaron reckons he just uses the 1/8 for pretty much everything and suggest balling the tip so that's what I have gone with. I admit I haven't followed his specs 100% because I simply don't have the exact belt sanders and polishing tools as he does ( he grinds, then belt sands then polishes on a buffer his tungsten)

To be honest I'm happy with my welds on scrap, as in - on the bench with nice clean material in nice positions, where I struggle is when there is a variable eg. Welding a throttle body flange that I bought which is alloy(who knows what kind) to a thinner material of pipe, so it's a curved weld thick to thin and just plain awkward. 99% of my welds are for my own car so I don't mind it not looking sexy and to be honest don't mind it failing ten times over cause it's a learning experience and it's still cheaper then paying to get done elsewhere. I say this cause I understand that I'm out of my league attempting these welds but basically I have no choice I need to get it done.
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Rubbin' is racin' son
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Sheesh, I doubt the problem is this complex. No need to get into all the technical just yet, its a welder meant to weld, seems like it welds but it aint perfect.

There are SO many variables when TIG welding, its not even funny, then there's TIG welding Alum which adds even more shit to worry about.

I read some of the posts so I am not 100% sure what you did already but here's what I recommend,

First of all, Nail is right, you are way too close, you look to just be burning into the alum to show but that ain't the way to test it, matter of fact I have never seen anyone test it that way. Run a bead and see what it looks like.

With TIG, its easy to come to the conclusion that the physical universe around you suddenly changed and something in the machine magically changed and now its welding properly, I highly doubt that's the case.

There is a reason for it and it could just as well be your angle of the torch, tungsten contamination, base metal contamination, insufficient gas flow, kinked hose and the list goes on. Those are things i would look for before getting complicated, someone else already figured all the other shit out, its up to you to follow the directions, not reinvent the machine and verify the original engineers did their job, at least not yet. Start with the basics and go from there.

There was a thread here, recently with someone who just couldn't get his machine to weld right and pages and pages of replies and it turned out to be his gas lens...........

Edit:

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... 7&start=40

48 answers trying to solve this problem.
if there's a welder, there's a way
exnailpounder
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The gas lens guy reminds me of a story...using my friends truck to do some work for him....truck dies out...I start pulling spark plugs, checking wires, cleaning out the oxidation on the contact points in the distributor cap, doing everything I can think of. I can't get it to run. I call him...he says "the truck has 2 gas tanks, one is empty, flip the switch to the other tank" :oops: ....it ran. Might as well try everything else first right? :lol:
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
electrode
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exnailpounder wrote:The gas lens guy reminds me of a story...using my friends truck to do some work for him....truck dies out...I start pulling spark plugs, checking wires, cleaning out the oxidation on the contact points in the distributor cap, doing everything I can think of. I can't get it to run. I call him...he says "the truck has 2 gas tanks, one is empty, flip the switch to the other tank" :oops: ....it ran. Might as well try everything else first right? :lol:
:D
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:lol: :lol: :lol:
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electrode wrote:
exnailpounder wrote:The gas lens guy reminds me of a story...using my friends truck to do some work for him....truck dies out...I start pulling spark plugs, checking wires, cleaning out the oxidation on the contact points in the distributor cap, doing everything I can think of. I can't get it to run. I call him...he says "the truck has 2 gas tanks, one is empty, flip the switch to the other tank" :oops: ....it ran. Might as well try everything else first right? :lol:
:D
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:lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol: :lol:
if there's a welder, there's a way
ONDGAS
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Olivero

Thanks for your input

I tend to agree that the issue is me as history with me shows it's usually something I did that is making my welds shit and not the welder. I'm not home ATM but after all the dramas I just picked up the torch and welded some lap joints that I needed for a little bracket And wow... that addictive feeling of nice shiny puddles that just swallow up filler rod I swear I could hear Barry white music playing in the background and rays of sunshine and rainbows shooting from the workshop. Anyways what I mean is when it works it works great but there has to be a variable which it's not liking and that variable is driving me crazy.

Question: could it be that I'm welding and halfway through a puddle I hit some sort of contamination and with current traveling up and Dow from the electrode I'm sucking up some crap and it's sticking to my electrode? Then with enough time/cleaning action the tip of my electrode cleans itself?
Rubbin' is racin' son
exnailpounder
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Trying to weld galvanized metal will really mess up your tungsten but welding aluminum won't crap it up unless you dip. You will get a little oxidation on your tungsten but not enough to mess with your weld. When you weld on DC your electrode will stay nice and bright as long as you have a good post flow. It's very difficult if not impossible to weld through contaminated AL. I am guessing you are getting out of position a little and changing your arc length or torch angle and that's giving you some headaches. If your metal is clean then you shouldn't have any problems but sometimes dirty filler will cause grief.
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ONDGAS
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I'm starting to think the throttle body flange I purchased might have some sort of anodise on it. I know it sounds stupid but it doesn't look like anodise but it doesn't look like raw aluminium either. I just wrote it off as me being silly because it's sold as being used for welding but I'm having doubts and that could explain everything don't you agree?
Rubbin' is racin' son
exnailpounder
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ONDGAS wrote:I'm starting to think the throttle body flange I purchased might have some sort of anodise on it. I know it sounds stupid but it doesn't look like anodise but it doesn't look like raw aluminium either. I just wrote it off as me being silly because it's sold as being used for welding but I'm having doubts and that could explain everything don't you agree?
Sometimes extruded and die-cast AL can look anodized. I would bet your throttle body is die-cast. Can you scratch it easily? If you can, it's not anodized.
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