Welding Tips and Tricks

Otto Nobedder wrote:Your gas supplier should analyze your bottle for free, if you take to them. I would do this. The last likely cause beyond a gas issue (since it welds fine on DC) is an internal machine issue with the AC mode. Everlast is great at handling those, but I'd rule out the gas first for certainty.

The last time I experienced welds like this on HFAC aluminum was with a water-cooled torch, and I discovered the company the machines were rented from used (hard Pennsylvania) tap water and cheap automotive antifreeze for coolant. The HF would conduct through this mess, and I don't understand the damage, but it would start welding like yours, so I suspect a machine issue.

Steve

Hey Steve...I'm with you on machine problems...if it was gas he would have soot around the welds...he is getting cleaning action but it's very erratic so it might just be a balance problem or a very long arc.

And for clarity sake, what exactly is the spec on the aluminum? Some ally is non-weldable-

All aluminum alloys will weld. The ones considered "unweldable" can and probably will crack.

exnailpounder wrote:

Otto Nobedder wrote:Your gas supplier should analyze your bottle for free, if you take to them. I would do this. The last likely cause beyond a gas issue (since it welds fine on DC) is an internal machine issue with the AC mode. Everlast is great at handling those, but I'd rule out the gas first for certainty.

The last time I experienced welds like this on HFAC aluminum was with a water-cooled torch, and I discovered the company the machines were rented from used (hard Pennsylvania) tap water and cheap automotive antifreeze for coolant. The HF would conduct through this mess, and I don't understand the damage, but it would start welding like yours, so I suspect a machine issue.

Steve

Hey Steve...I'm with you on machine problems...if it was gas he would have soot around the welds...he is getting cleaning action but it's very erratic so it might just be a balance problem or a very long arc.

If it's not the material then I think it is a ac problem with the machine. I tried the ac balance from 20-50 and still had the problems.

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It's almost assuredly not a material problem if it's good, clean AL. By the way..how thick is your material?
I'm pretty sure your manufacturer will suggest ideal settings for balance. If your balance is way off, you will have nothing but problems. It's pretty common for new AL welders to show up here with exactly the same problems you're having and it is almost never a machine defect. Your balance should remain around the ideal setting except when you encounter really dirty material. It looks to me like you are way into the cleaning side of balance so that's why I keep hinting at finding the correct setting.

Farmwelding wrote:What kind of filler metal are you using?

4043

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exnailpounder wrote:It's almost assuredly not a material problem if it's good, clean AL. By the way..how thick is your material?
I'm pretty sure your manufacturer will suggest ideal settings for balance. If your balance is way off, you will have nothing but problems. It's pretty common for new AL welders to show up here with exactly the same problems you're having and it is almost never a machine defect. Your balance should remain around the ideal setting except when you encounter really dirty material. It looks to me like you are way into the cleaning side of balance so that's why I keep hinting at finding the correct setting.

35% is the recommended setting on balance. I started there then also tried going down a bit trying over and again until I went down to 20. Then going little by little until I reached 50.

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If your metal is clean then leave the machine at 35%. Is your arc wandering all over when you light up? Is your tungsten balling up ok? You never did say what thickness your metal was. Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but are you waiting for a puddle to form before you advance? What type of tungsten are you using?

exnailpounder wrote:If your metal is clean then leave the machine at 35%. Is your arc wandering all over when you light up? Is your tungsten balling up ok? You never did say what thickness your metal was. Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but are you waiting for a puddle to form before you advance? What type of tungsten are you using?

Arc does wander. Tungsten does not ball up. 1/8" material.

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I'm waiting for the material to mirror finish before advancing.

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Using blue tungsten

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Ok. I have suggested that you are too far into the cleaning side of balance. I run my machine a little bit into the penetration side, that keeps the arc focused and keeps the ball small. Go a few numbers into the penetration side( i don't know your machine so bear with me) not much, just a couple percent. See if your arc still wanders and if your tungsten balls a little bit. Don't use any filler , just try to get a puddle and when and if you do, try to advance forward and see if you can duplicate the puddle again. Don't move your balance knob in huge leaps...a little goes a long way with balance settings and keep your arc length short as too long of an arc length will cause it to wander badly.

Mattwho777 wrote:Using blue tungsten

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Is there any chance you have some anodized aluminum?

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exnailpounder wrote:Ok. I have suggested that you are too far into the cleaning side of balance. I run my machine a little bit into the penetration side, that keeps the arc focused and keeps the ball small. Go a few numbers into the penetration side( i don't know your machine so bear with me) not much, just a couple percent. See if your arc still wanders and if your tungsten balls a little bit. Don't use any filler , just try to get a puddle and when and if you do, try to advance forward and see if you can duplicate the puddle again. Don't move your balance knob in huge leaps...a little goes a long way with balance settings and keep your arc length short as too long of an arc length will cause it to wander badly.

Alright I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

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Warrenh wrote:

Mattwho777 wrote:Using blue tungsten

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Is there any chance you have some anodized aluminum?

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Thats a good question. There are so many variables with tig welding that it takes awhile to come up with the answer to a problem. Most of the time it's the "torch nut"

exnailpounder wrote:

Warrenh wrote:

Mattwho777 wrote:Using blue tungsten

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Is there any chance you have some anodized aluminum?

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Thats a good question. There are so many variables with tig welding that it takes awhile to come up with the answer to a problem. Most of the time it's the "torch nut"

Hey, ive had a loose nut on my torch, too. Small world. Lol

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I took out the cheap gas lens I purchased. Put in the standard collet that came with the machine. Keep the same settings 35% balance and frequency @120. Laid down good. I think an 3/32 or 1/8 filler rod would work a little better. I guess I'll have to save up and get a good gas lens and find a good place to get some aluminum to practice on.

Thanks everyone for the help & advice.

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Glad you figured it out! Much better! Now you can appreciate how much is going on while tig welding. Once you get everything dialed in, you should only have to tweak your settings once in awhile or use some of your bells and whistles. Another tiggerator joins the ranks! Ps...even good gas lenses are cheap. I think I paid $5 for a Miller brand lens last time I was at the LWS. Good luck!

Mattwho777 wrote:I took out the cheap gas lens I purchased. Put in the one that came with the machine.

I learned a lot from this thread, there's a few things I'd like to make sure I've got right:
Did the machine come with a gas lens or a standard collet body?
During the original diagnosis, it seemed like you were able to weld steel OK with the cheap gas lens, is that true? If so I'm not sure why the results on aluminum were so bad. I would have thought the cheap gas lens would have done rather poorly on steel as well.

MarkL wrote:

Mattwho777 wrote:I took out the cheap gas lens I purchased. Put in the one that came with the machine.

I learned a lot from this thread, there's a few things I'd like to make sure I've got right:
Did the machine come with a gas lens or a standard collet body?
During the original diagnosis, it seemed like you were able to weld steel OK with the cheap gas lens, is that true? If so I'm not sure why the results on aluminum were so bad. I would have thought the cheap gas lens would have done rather poorly on steel as well.

Mark...check this out.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM28MIhmneU

MarkL wrote:

Mattwho777 wrote:I took out the cheap gas lens I purchased. Put in the one that came with the machine.

I learned a lot from this thread, there's a few things I'd like to make sure I've got right:
Did the machine come with a gas lens or a standard collet body?
During the original diagnosis, it seemed like you were able to weld steel OK with the cheap gas lens, is that true? If so I'm not sure why the results on aluminum were so bad. I would have thought the cheap gas lens would have done rather poorly on steel as well.

Yes it came with a regular collet body. The gas lens was from eBay.

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exnailpounder wrote:Glad you figured it out! Much better! Now you can appreciate how much is going on while tig welding. Once you get everything dialed in, you should only have to tweak your settings once in awhile or use some of your bells and whistles. Another tiggerator joins the ranks! Ps...even good gas lenses are cheap. I think I paid $5 for a Miller brand lens last time I was at the LWS. Good luck!

Yeah I picked up a large gas lens but they gave me the wrong insulator at the LWS. So I was using the smaller style ones from eBay.
Thanks again....

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exnailpounder wrote: Mark...check this out.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM28MIhmneU

Interesting. I feel like I need to have a gold standard lens that I know works but I never use it, I just pull it out when everything is going to hell and see if it fixes the problem.

Mattwho777 wrote: Yes it came with a regular collet body. The gas lens was from eBay.

Well if it's any consolation, I just had a gas lens do about the same thing and it came from a reputable company and I paid good money for it. I gave up trying to figure out what was wrong and tossed it. It looked like brand new, had worked fine for a month, and when I replaced it with an identical lens from the same company, everything worked fine. So I know it was the lens but have no idea what was wrong with it.