1mm v 1.2mm Alu wire on EWM Phoenix 330 Pulse

[Hood]

I started off using 1mm wire and was getting on well but decided to change to 1.2mm and see what it was like.
Well for the heavier stuff, 10mm and up it was fine but in single pulse but on the thinner stuff I much preferred the 1mm.

The 1.2mm is welding fine enough but I am getting what I would call crackling of the arc, not full on spatter but certainly not all spray like I could get with the 1mm.

Looked in the parameters today for both 1mm and 1.2mm and will have a play around with them hopefully this week but to me it seems too much wire feed and not enough voltage with the 1.2mm wire. Hot start was very hot so turned that down a bit and that made a difference, time will tell but at the moment I am thinking of going back to 1mm.

 

[Hood]

Got a bit of time today to try and adjust some settings but I am not really getting anywhere with the 1.2mm wire. The welds are decent enough but the arc is very short and almost dipping in the pool and spitting away all the time. I can get rid of it and get a nice spray going but I have to increase the voltage offset by +4 or 5v.
Will shove on some 1mm again and make sure it is still ok with it and then maybe revisit the 1.2mm wire again in the future or if I have heavier stuff to weld.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning Hood.
Some pics would be fine. It is difficult to determine what you are saying without some photo evidence. Is it possible that you may have inatvertally changed some setting to counteract others. This I have done myself and it leaves you head scratching as to 'what the hell is going on'.

 

[Hood]

Good morning Hood.
Some pics would be fine. It is difficult to determine what you are saying without some photo evidence. Is it possible that you may have inatvertally changed some setting to counteract others. This I have done myself and it leaves you head scratching as to 'what the hell is going on'.

Hi Henry, it has been that way with the default settings since I tried with 1.2 wire.
Don't get me wrong, the welds are reasonable and maybe it is normal that you get the crackling/spitting when welding but I have been used to a non pulse mig for many years and things were great when you got it into a nice spray. With the 1mm wire it was also like that with only a very occasional crackle but with the 1.2 wire it is almost impossible to stop it doing that.
As said if I wind the voltage adjustment up to +4 or 5v I can get a nice arc again but the weld is too hot and has surface porosity.
Have some pics but really I don't think they will help, a video would be better and I may try and do that if I can rig up a camera when I get a chance.

Here are a couplee of pics I took the last day whilst doing some testing, as can be seen the weld is decent enough, not beautiful but the penetration is fine although I am thinking it may have been better with the 1mm but will have to do tests with that when I get a chance.

As you may see there is a bit of spatter on the first pic, it is just something I am not used to getting.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning hood.
The top pic, it seems that the start (I am assuming you are going from right to left) start is good, but half way through it seem cold and the edged 'toes' seem spattery, with the finish improving again. 'Francis's' setting will be very different, so cannot give you any setting direction as to what I am doing. Just packing at the moment to go 650km north for fishing boat breakdown and will be gone three days. When I get back I will try some 8mm 5083 which I have and let Francis have a go. We will see what and how she does. This will at least give you some comparison. All I use is 1.2mm 5356 Safra, however got some Bohler 5356 given to me, so it may by that. Either way shouldn't make much difference to the finished result.

 

[Hood]

Good luck with your work trip Henry, that is one thing I have never liked doing unless I know the place I am going is well equipped with machinery such as lathes and mills.

Yes, it is a bit cold but that is because I had the settings turned down but the voltage bumped up a bit to try and compensate. Penetration was still decent enough but the 1mm wire seems to suit me better.
Maybe the crackling is just how it is with the heavier wire.

 

[Hood]

Ok did some vids today, here it is

 

[Hood]

Also meant to say I reset the job for 1.2mm wire to factory standards before I started which were actually what it was at previously but at least I then knew it wasn't something I had altered and made worse.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning Hood.
I can see and hear what you are saying, there does seem to be a significant difference. I am at the site today so no welding here required, but I do bring all my own required gear to site with me, as you never know what it is, that is required to be done when you arrive. I believe 'Francis' gives a similar sound on 1.2 as does your 1.0mm, but will try to get a vid when I return, probably on Saturday.

Also meant to say I reset the job for 1.2mm wire to factory standards before I started which were actually what it was at previously but at least I then knew it wasn't something I had altered and made worse.

I assumed that, that had been done and didn't even question. We may not be the smartest tool in the shed, but we aren't stupid.
I cannot remember what the 1.2mm wire was. Is it the same as the 1.0mm. Have you tried upping the welding parameters 'thickness' and does it make any difference to the sound. Just a thought

 

[Barking Mat]

I know nothing, but do you need slightly more gas, with the increase in diameter? Just a wild idea, good luck.

 

[Hood]

Good morning Hood.
I can see and hear what you are saying, there does seem to be a significant difference. I am at the site today so no welding here required, but I do bring all my own required gear to site with me, as you never know what it is, that is required to be done when you arrive. I believe 'Francis' gives a similar sound on 1.2 as does your 1.0mm, but will try to get a vid when I return, probably on Saturday.




I assumed that, that had been done and didn't even question. We may not be the smartest tool in the shed, but we aren't stupid.
I cannot remember what the 1.2mm wire was. Is it the same as the 1.0mm. Have you tried upping the welding parameters 'thickness' and does it make any difference to the sound. Just a thought

Hi Henry, wire is not the best make but is the same as the 1mm so I am thinking it is not likely that but I suppose you never know.
I have tried all sorts of settings and nothing really seems to help, the only time it really seems to go better is vertical up.

I knew I hadn't really changed much in the way of settings but I wasn't sure if some had been set before I got the welder, the Reset of that job confirmed they hadn't been.

I know nothing, but do you need slightly more gas, with the increase in diameter? Just a wild idea, good luck.

Don't think it will be gas as I am using 15LPM measured at the nozzle and the welds are clean but suppose it may be worth a try next time I put the 1.2mm wire on.

 

[6 milli billi]

Hi all, when using 5356 wire particularly, the quality can make a significant difference, i have learnt this from experience quite a few years ago. Try a new spool of a quality brand, also i think 15 lpm is a little high, would stick with around 12 myself.

 

[Hood]

Thanks, I will see if I can get some better quality wire and give it a try. As said though the 1mm and 1.2mm are the same brand (Super6, it is all they had in stock) so I would have thought they would have behaved the same but certainly worth a try to see.

I tend to run at 12-14LPM but I was finding it was actually slightly better at the higher flow rate.

Will see what happens when I get new wire.

 

[Jim Davey]

Binzel recommend 16 LPM for that torch and that's what I always run with.
What is your voltage trim set to in the low phase of the pulse? It looks like that's the part of the pulse that is giving the most spatter, also what is the percentage of main current you are dropping to in the base pulse?

 

[Hood]

Jim,
It is, and was originally, set to the default settings which are as in the screenshot below. So that would be zero on the trim and 80% on current.
I did try and alter a load of the settings but don't really recall which ones I changed, what settings would you recommend?

 

[Hood]

Oh BTW the 1mm wire size settings are not the default, I changed the DVstr(a) to 120% from the original 130% and also changed the RUEK to 33 but all others I think are default.
The 1.2mm settings are default although since then I changed to 120% on the DVstr(a) as I felt it was just too hot on the start.

 

[Jim Davey]

What are you looking to achieve by using the double pulse? Are you trying to avoid distortion? Is it for aesthetics? I only ask because using it gives you a whole lot more things to get right in order for the weld to go nicely.
If you extend the time base for each half of the pulse you will get a better idea which one of the two welding conditions is giving the most spatter. I always tend to put a bit of positive voltage trim on the base pulse as the reduced voltage can cause spatter.
My advice would be to go back some steps and find a condition that really works without the double pulse. Then once you have that nailed, to play with the lower part of the pulse and get that right too.
I can't see how thick the ally is but the set needs to be spraying the wire at high and low part of the pulse in order to avoid spatter.
My suggestion is in most cases to turn the wick up and travel faster to avoid spatter, as don't forget your 1.0mm wire will go into spray at a lower voltage/feed speed.

 

[Hood]

I suppose really aesthetics and distortion although I have found even the single pulse does reduce distortion and may possibly be just as good as double pulse.
I found with the single pulse and the 1.2mm wire that it was better, still not spatter free but closer and it was actually what I was using most when I went to the 1.2mm wire.

The alu in the test was 8mm.

I was going to wait until I had the new wire before I tried again but tomorrows job has just been cancelled so maybe I will load some 1.2mm and try again, sad thing is with the small bits of Alu it gets heatsoaked very quickly so it is tedious waiting for it to cool before I can go again. I might have some bigger scrap bits left over from the plasma, if so I will try with them.

 

[Jim Davey]

Chuck them in a bucket of water for a few seconds, if you pull them out while still quite hot they dry off almost instantly.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good afternoon gents.
As promised previously some 8mm I think 5083 as it came off a fishing vessel, gust cut paint ground off and tacked together.

This first pic is the samples linished up and tacked together.

This pic is just the back side showing the paint and antifoul paint still on.

This pic first run, my test setting for 8mm 5083 with 'Francis' 5356 1.2mm material, which I think is Safra or could be Bohler.

As welded untouched, looks slightly cold, but hey crank up some numbers and press the trigger.

Same pic as previous but wire brushed.

Cranked up 'Francis' a bit as the first weld looked slightly cold. This is the reverse side of the first weld. The sample was completely cooled off prior to welding again.

The sample was not as clean as should have been and this can be seen with the top part of the weld. The photos make them look worse than in reality.

AS can be seen from the close up pic, both welds are good. The right side is the first attempt at the lower setting, the left side with the higher setting. Sample prep not the best but you can see what need to be seen.
Now wait for it vid coming up