Blown my welder up.

[Munkul]

Cleaning generally gives diminishing returns, like most things. For new clean alloy sheet, you'd always get away with just welding and rely on the AC to blast the oxides off, but remember you want all oils off the surface first and that's where acetone comes in. Otherwise you're just guessing that it's oil-free.

Any contamination will result in porosity to some extent. Aluminium porosity starts very very small, so small you can barely see it. From there, it's a roughly linear scale up to lots of contamination (oils, old thick oxide scale, water etc) resulting in very visible porosity and surface dross. It's more of an issue with old, weathered material, and castings, especially oil-bearing items like sumps and gearboxes. That's where brushing, multiple degreasing, sanding/dressing, etc all come in.

It's just whatever you need to get acceptable results. A good idea would be to cut up one of your poorer, dirtier welds and sand/polish the inner surfaces to see any visible porosity. Gives you an idea of what you can get away with.


I don't think anyone realised you were welding with rigger gloves Seriously, man! Get yourself some TIG gloves! It's a precision process, requiring dexterity... so proper gloves are almost a given!

Cylinders - the 9l bottles are by far the most expensive way to use gas. You'd make a single regular 20l cylinder last roughly twice as long as both of those 9l bottles together, and the Ultra has roughly 50% more gas than a regular 20l. Make of that what you will.
If I were you I'd just get a regular 20L, no need to complicate things further with the QR fittings that the Ultra bottles use.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul. I've been really going over brand new aluminium using the big wire brush and it's roughed up the surfaces; I don't have acetone but I have lots of meths and 99.99% alcohol; I'm currently using meths as a cleaner. I've always worn rigger gloves whilst arc welding so never thought anything of it; I've now bought four pair of these through eBay;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TIG-Fing...rentrq:123fdbab16e0a4b77cb198b3ffeb73f0|iid:1

I fully agree with you regarding which cylinder is best for me; yes I'll be trading in both 9L cylinders once they are empty and go with 20L at around 230 psi. The 9L at £60 per refill will be fine for the odd use but no good for me even whilst I've been practicing I've noticed how quickly they empty and I'm using a flow meter.

If you can recommend better gloves I don't mind because gloves are always handy.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

Spot on Colin. With new plate I'd just wipe it over with meths/alcohol, no need to wire brush it.

No idea what those ebay ones will be like, but they HAVE to be better than riggers. It's usually less of a problem for the torch hand, and more important for the filler hand, to be honest.

The idea is that you have these slim dextrous gloves that allow you to feed wire through your first two fingers and thumb, smoothly and predictably. Of course, with a multi-button torch, slim gloves are needed too.

Rule of thumb - good TIG gloves let you pick a 1.6m filler wire off a flat table...

Ultima make the best TIG gloves in my opinion. Our lads at work like Ultima Gold:

https://www.unitedwelding.co.uk/ultima-gold-tig-welding-gauntlet-1498-p.asp

They're well made and relatively durable. I personally prefer Ultima Deerskin:

https://www.fosterindustrial.co.uk/...wTJjazG_ZApU2OcHMBIIBdNVjx7TX6gxoCdgkQAvD_BwE

The deerskins give probably the best "feel" that you'll ever get, unfortunately they're so soft that they aren't all that durable... I made my last set last 2 years, though.

Anyways, you'll likely find a huge improvement with the Ebay gloves when they come

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks again Munkul.

I've been spending too much time cleaning the aluminium; wire brushing; filing edges; deburring then degrease with meths just because this is shown so often on the YouTube videos; I didn't know any better until I watched the video I've posted the link to where the guy is simply welding new aluminium sheet as it's bought.

I'm sure the new gloves I've bought will be a huge improvement over rigger gloves but if not I'll buy a pair you kindly recommend in the links you supplied Munkul; I'd struggle to pick up 1/2" diameter bar with rigger gloves.

Yet another well planned day falls apart; I'd get more welding time in the workshop if I was working full time. This morning was taken up with shopping etc which is fair enough it's got to be done. This afternoon I received a welcome phone call from a very good friend; he suffered an heart attack four weeks ago and is now well recovered so we enjoyed a long natter. Having put the phone down I said to Bron I'll just wander down to the workshop and prepare a few aluminium blanks to practice with which I did then popped back up to the bungalow for a mug of tea; the phone rang and it was our neighbour asking if it was convenient for her to pop round because she wanted her signature witnessing on legal documents so an hour later she departed and now I've lost the will to live. I did manage about twenty minutes in the workshop today so I shouldn't be moaning.

Everything is set up for welding it's just me dragging my heels at fault; I found it takes ages to hand file aluminium edges so I'm experimenting using my belt grinder with a new Zirconia 60G belt installed; this is rapid and the result can be seen in the picture below; all I need then to do is a quick deburr with the file and a wipe over with meths; by the time I approach it with the welder the edges will be oxidized again but why do a job once when I can do it a few times. Tomorrow we're out in the morning but will I get into the workshop in the afternoon; what I need is a fortnight's holiday from retirement and take the welder into a respite center.

Kind regards, Colin.

Edges ground using 60G zirconia belt but not yet deburred; I've got finer grit bets but I'll see how I go with these. I'm doing my best to speed things up but however hard I try it's proving very difficult to do any welding.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

A lot of running around today including yet another trip over to Dewsbury; the 9L argon cylinders had been delivered this morning so now I've got a full 9L and an half full 9L to play with; it is the 20L Ultra cylinders they stock not the 20L high pressure I want so if I want to trade up they will have to put in a special order for me; why is my life always so complicated.

I'm gearing up for a day in the workshop tomorrow; nowhere to go; shopping done; Bron happy so I'll repel all boarders; I want to learn TIG welding and an hour here or there simply isn't good enough.This afternoon I've been preparing more aluminium practice blanks this time from 1.6mm aluminium sheet; I also replaced the coarse 60G belt with a 120G belt this giving a much finer edge finish and fettled each blank with a fine file; they just need a wipe over with meths. Will there be an emergency tomorrow to prevent me getting into the workshop?

Kind regards, Colin.

Finer grinding with 120G Zirconia belt and the right hand piece as it came off the bandsaw. Protective film still in place. I've also set the torch up with a 1.6 Lanthanated tungsten I just need a bit of peace now.

 

[minimutly]

Amongst the advice I was given, and it was, I believe good advice, run beads until they're perfect, use tight torch distances, move fast. Once you're happy, then do joints.
Joint ends are allways a challenge - maybe stop short, let the job cool and then finish?
Like you I wasted loads of gas practicing, it's not cheap.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Excellent advice minimutly and much appreciated.

I'm just enjoying practicing with both running beads on the pieces I've also been practicing corner joints on not wasting aluminium. I've just enjoyed an uninterrupted session; after a few beads on 4mm thick aluminium I was interested to see if I had made progress allowing me to weld much thinner 1.6mm aluminium? Amazingly I have gained a bit of experience and didn't blow big holes in the thin pieces; I found 50A and 60HZ reasonable to play with and 15 AC balance. I hadn't realized just how much my heavy rigger gloves were affecting control of the torch; after a decent session I started to lose control because I was cold and the gloves were now making my right hand holding the torch feel very uncomfortable so I've just knocked off for dinner but I'm well pleased with my efforts this morning.

Kind regards, Colin.

Time to knock off because I started to go backwards due to aching torch hand; it's not pretty but is welded and I can now make good if I start off badly; I'm no longer spending lots of time at the grinder with the tungsten.

Poor start at the right but overdid the finish a bit adding too much filler; I'm now confident enough to go back and make good the start; every bit of practice is helping whether I'm just running beads or actually welding a corner; It's possible I can lower the amps even further allowing a slower weld giving me more time as I practice.

Too slow resulting in too much filler but it's a weld and not full of debris or holes. All three shown here are 1.6mm thick welded with 1.6mm lanthanated tungsten and 1.6mm pure aluminium filler rod. 50A at 60HZ.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

More practice this afternoon.

Kind regards, Colin.

4mm thick aluminium; sorry about poor picture. Just practicing running beads; triangular section joint.

I'm now getting the hang of "dimes" which are starting to appear so I'm well on my way. I weld right to left; the burn at the end was poor torch control due to thick rigger gloves; these rigger gloves are ideal for arc welding but proving useless for TIG welding; I'm very clumsy trying to handle anything in them even gripping the torch and trying to press the button are challenging; hopefully the new TIG gloves will help a great deal once they arrive; the main weld bead though looks decent to me; I can now fill holes and dips with more confidence and if I wanted sharp corners I could now fill the dip at the right and the hole at the left before grinding but I'd like other TIG novices to see my progress good or bad we all have to start somewhere. No tungsten sharpening this afternoon.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

One of those days today when nothing seemed to go right in the workshop; I quit at dinnertime then visited a garden centre this afternoon; after some weeding and it now getting dark outside I popped into the workshop and polished off two nice welds that are shiny. 4mm thick corner. 1.6mm Lanthanated tungsten sharpened to a dull point; 110A 100HZ 9 on flow meter and 15 AC balance; 2.5mm filler rod. Suddenly these welds were easy and a lot faster. I got myself comfortable and managed control of the torch even though wearing heavy rigger gloves; the weld is very shiny indeed but the picture was taken under our hall light it being dark outside. I'm now able to spend uninterrupted time in the workshop which is also helping.

Kind regards, Colin.

Filler rod running out and getting hot at left hand weld finish but I'll crack corner joints with a bit more practice and knowing what settings I used to run these welds. I can run faster and use less filler rod but this will now come with more practice; I'm improving with each session apart from this morning which was poor.

 

[Hood]

Very tidy Colin, nice even spacing, just the end letting it down.
Might be worth doing some practising using either the 'tap' method in 4T or the releasing the button and repressing it just before the downslope completes. Either of these methods will cool the weld down a bit.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Hood for your continuing help and suggestions; now I'm getting the hang of running a decent bead I can now look at other aspects I need to grasp such as starts and stops; on the weld shown above I should have ended the weld sooner then picked up another filler rod; I realized only when I felt my fingers getting very hot I was running out of rod; I had been fiercely concentrating on putting the weld down and ran out of rod hence the poor finish; one thing I have learnt regarding finishing a weld is to let go of the torch button as the end of the material approaches and as the welder backs off to continue the last bit of the weld adding a final dab of filler; I'll also try the method you kindly suggest after all there are three buttons on the torch but at the moment I'm struggling to control the main button due to my thick stiff rigger gloves. It's a very miserable wet day here today so I'll wander into the workshop and practice more. I can now produce strong welds but hopefully with more practice will produce pretty welds too; each welding session I learn a little more. I'm now limited with the 4mm thick aluminium but I have plenty of 1.5mm thick aluminium and it's this thinner aluminium I'm interested in welding because I wanted to learn TIG welding in order to weld the aluminium petrol tank I've made for the mower which will be my first proper project but as yet I daren't try welding the tank until I gain more experience; I'm now well on my way though.

I'm now noticing more the effects of the welder settings on the weld; tungsten tip angles and whether sharp or rounded point; balancing the amps to allow a decent start but not too many amps to then blow holes as the aluminium heats up; it's also easy to lose the torch angle as the weld progresses but I'm gaining on this ensuring the torch is more vertical; if the angle increases too much then it pushes the pool along too rapidly allowing the weld to spread out of control leading to a big hole; keeping the torch almost vertical concentrates the arc straight down allowing me to dab with filler and using higher frequency narrows the arc; as the aluminium heats up I weld faster; on the weld above I kept lifting the tungsten just a bit before adding filler giving a bit more gap and stepped along the weld in this manner. I find for my practices AC balance is fine set at 15 and I think I can reduce gas a bit because I'm working indoors where the air is very still. Lowering the amps gives a slow start in creating the pool but then allows a steady weld without racing to keep it under control; if it starts to heat up too much then stop welding but as you kindly suggest Hood I will eventually get the hang of using the torch buttons; the two extra buttons either increase or decrease the amps but as I say I'm unable to use the two extra buttons at the moment; the rigger gloves are like trying to control the torch whilst wearing boxing gloves.

With practice and more practice I will eventually succeed; thanks everyone.

Kind regards, Colin.

A quick edit; my new TIG gloves have just arrived; four pairs are now three pairs; I've given a pair to Bron as they are so comfortable; I'll be trying these out today. I watched a guy on YouTube this morning TIG welding thin aluminium and he was holding the filler rod in a bare hand; how long before he gets skin cancer?

 

[Munkul]

Looking good, it's a long way on from where you started and looks really neat.

Not wanting to complicate things buuuuutttt.... I'd be using lay-wire method and a pulse setting for the thin stuff. I wouldn't even bother trying to weld it with a straight AC current. It's lazy man's welding, but you can't argue with the end results. It manages heat input an awful lot better than straight current and you have much less to worry about... plus the pulse creates that rippled bead almost on its own.

Now you're getting the hang of the basics, it maybe makes sense to experiment a bit.


WTT "chart" for 1.6mm (1/16") pulsed settings, this is what I'd use as a starting point:

1/16" (.062") - Hz 100, balance 20%, set pulse width 60%, peak current 100a, background current 30a, Hz 1.0

Agree with you re the gloves. There's so much heat in AC TIG that I'm surprised he can stand to weld like that at all without getting radiant heat burns.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Munkul for your suggestions; pity I didn't know sooner what pulse welding was about so as you say time to experiment.

As usual simple things seldom go right; I wandered into the workshop this morning getting wet in the rain intending to play with pulse welding; well this of course went wrong straight away; I had printed off the Parweld user manual but only used the page for straight TIG welding without pulse; I couldn't make any sense whatsoever whilst trying to set for pulse welding; the details I needed on the page were missing and after a lot of messing around gave up and prepared more practice blanks then came up to the bungalow at dinner time. Now I could sort out the details I needed from the computer and I also noted the settings you kindly supplied Munkul these I took into the workshop after dinner.

I've just knocked off after a mixed session in the workshop; I finally got the welder into pulse not really understanding the settings; AC or DC and which frequency is which etc; anyway I set up for a test weld in 1.6mm aluminium for a corner joint and amazingly ran the joint without blowing holes in it; I was also trying to add filler by dabbing but perhaps laying filler on will be better as you suggest; I'll keep practicing; I then tried pulse welding 4mm thick aluminium but made a mess of it; I was using a 1.6mm Lanthanated tungsten and as the 4mm aluminium needed high current I installed a Lanthanated 2.5mm tungsten but by now I was starting to feel cold so reverted back to straight AC TIG and played around getting the feel of the torch which I found very interesting; the poor 4mm weld I ran over again but with a wider tungsten gap and was amazed to see I'd run a very smooth weld; I think I'm over concentrating on welding with a very small tungsten gap but once again it comes down to practice; it's not so long ago I hadn't even tried TIG or even MIG welding so I've come a long way knowing I can weld aluminium which might not be pretty but still a good strong weld.

My new expensive Optrel Crystal 2 helmet started to annoy; the actual helmet is wonderful as eye protection but lifting the shield then having it lower slowly on its own is very annoying indeed; I adjusted it and it worked OK for a few lifts then once again it slackened off and started lowering on its own; perhaps its me at fault so at the moment I can't be too critical but I expected once it was adjusted it would remain so; not a major issue at all but I've enough to learn without these little problems. I might be able to lock the helmet adjustment but it's something else I now need to look into.

Not a top success story today but two more things learned; I now know about pulse and have tried it; once I get it set up correctly I think it's going to be absolutely brilliant because the heat is much more controlled. I can also turn a poor weld into a decent looking very smooth weld. I'll also sort the helmet adjustment out one way or another; I've enjoyed playing around today and after all it's a hobby for me.

Kind regards, Colin.

My very first pulse weld; not pretty but at least it's a strong weld and no blow hole at the ends; I think I'm going to like pulse welding thin material.

I could scream with my bad luck; here's what I had to work with in the workshop when I looked at the pulse welding details; nothing made any sense with the picture mostly unprinted; drat it the simplest things are just one big wind up; of course it was raining as usual so not wanting to get wet again I waited until dinner time before coming up to the bungalow. Welder that explodes; printer that doesn't print I'm just moaning.

This was a very poor pulse weld attempted at too low amps with a 1.6mm tungsten; by now I'd had enough and was feeling cold so installed a 2.4mm tungsten and did this weld without pulse; each session I gain a bit more experience; the new TIG gloves are a total success though.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I tried pulse welding again yesterday just for a short time but all practice helps.

Set at 1HZ this is the back of the corner joint; penetration right through.

This is the front of the same corner joint; I simply cut the filler rod to length and laid it on the joint; the start blew away but I'm mightily impressed by how easy it was; I then tried lap joints using pulse but was hopeless; I tried different amps but rather than waste material I thought I'd gain more by watching a number of YouTube videos.

A number of practice pieces.

Short ends of filler rod; what's best to do with these; just bin them ?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

Something is wrong with your settings if you're getting that black rubbish in your weld. And it looks stupidly hot for a pulsed weld. You said you've opened up your arc length? Which sets alarm bells ringing.

I keep saying it, so do others but you don't seem to be listening: Stop running joints!
You have barely got the basics so far, and it doesn't look like you've got any kind of consistency yet - or at least, not enough "feel" to know in the first inch or so if what you've adjusted is better or worse. All you're doing is creating a mountain of scrap metal, and in total you've maybe welded, what, 3 metres?

Start padding beads on one of those 4mm pieces, and don't stop until you've covered the entire surface. Then do it again with a fresh bit. Then again. Then start again on the thin stuff.

It's muscle memory you need. Keep that arc length short, tungsten tidy, and keep fiddling with settings until you can run bead after bead, shiny, stack of dimes, and most importantly, without having to really think about it.

And of course, play with pulse function, but doing run after run gives a feel for the small changes like nothing else will. 6" of weld here and 6" there just doesn't give you this.

Penetration isn't really something you should worry about yet, and especially not on 1.6mm (when you do get to making that fuel tank, 1.6mm will nearly always have full penetration unless your settings are way off).

Sorry I know I'm being a bit harsh, but since last thursday and that great-looking piece you turned out, it's went downhill from there instead of uphill, and I don't think you really understand why, yet.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Munkul; not harsh at all I'm running before I can walk so I'll back off and start running beads on flat sheet; I'm just over keen and this can and does make me my own worst enemy. My plan was to master one joint at a time before moving to the next joint; I've not totally failed because this has given me lots of practice with success and failure in equal amounts; I've very much appreciated yours and other members advice and because of it I have moved forward. I've now had a go at joints just to solve my own curiosity so now I'll follow your instructions; running beads it is. No more joints until I can run beads and I'll post my endeavours.

Because of more pressing jobs I've not spent a lot of time actually welding; it took weeks just to get the welder in working order then I've had to learn about tungstens; collets and collet holders; source and obtain gas plus everything else to get up and running with TIG welding; a lot to take in all at once; fortunately I had the sense to join this forum and I've watched many YouTube videos both helping me a great deal. I've been welding for a lifetime but arc welding; I've never tried welding other than steel not stainless; definitely not aluminium. TIG is much more difficult to learn than I expected but I'll get there in the end. TIG learners reading my story now know how not to learn?

I've just come out of the workshop; not welding but helping a friend out repairing his petrol mower; I made space for the mower expecting it here at 8:30 this morning; at dinner time it arrived with an apology; because I'd put the welder away I spent the morning tidying the workshop; tomorrow is yet another day but what will the diversion be?

Sorry Munkul; I have been listening and should have followed the advice to rub lots of beads; I never intended to to purposely ignore your sound advice but I'm like a kid with a new toy so no offence meant in any way. I did a lot more in the workshop before I retired and these days I get out of bed and blink then go back to bed with another day gone.

Beads to follow and many thanks once again.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

No worries Colin, I tend to just say what I'm thinking out straight, and I never take things personally. And I'm by no means an expert compared to some on here.

All I can offer is advice on how i learned, and what worked for me. I already knew how to TIG DC when I learned AC TIG and it was STILL a huge jump up from DC - there's so, so many more things to take into consideration, and everything matters more.

E.g. arc length. You can run a relatively long arc length on steel and suffer an extra bit of heat input, but do the same on aluminium, and it won't even puddle, or the arc focus will jump around, and you end up just making a real mess. Until you know how it's supposed to be, it's sometimes tricky to know how it's NOT supposed to be.

Running beads has loads of advantages, I've mentioned some, but thinking of others: You try like the devil to keep nice, straight lines with tight, even spaced beads. And half-spacing the bead on top of a previous run is more difficult than seeing the clear edges between two peices - so when you come to actual joints, then the lines make it really easy.

If I were you I'd:

1. Run a bead with last known "good" settings, and get that nice shiny look back.
2. Run a bead all the way around the edges of a piece of metal - these edges will help you out with the beads, by giving more mass to adsorb heat.
3. Start running beads at the top, working down, always the same way if it helps consistency. Try to half-space the bead on top of the previous run.
4. Pad an entire piece with only changing one or two variables - amperage and slopes, maybe. Concentrate on getting that even heat input in right to the end of the run, but it's always a fight.

call that a session (might take an hour or so)

Next session: Change something else. What do you need to do? Make smaller narrower welds - higher frequency? Experiment with the AC balance for cleaning? Try pulse? Those pulse parameters will work generally for anything (assuming you have them set correctly) so it's then just playing with peak amperage (and background, if it's not set in %)

Hope you have fun

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks once again Munkul. I'll follow your advice next session. I have run a few beads previously and found each to be increasingly difficult; the first bead wasn't too bad but by the time I ran the second bead everything changed and I hadn't even touched the welder settings; it was just that the piece had heated up considerably being no longer cold so the first bead had a ripple but the second bead then sank and the width started to spread; I know it all takes practice and I'll now follow your sound advice; I did find I had more success with corner joints because I was welding cold joints each time so the welder settings started to make more sense to me without having to take increased material heat into consideration but beads it is next time and until I gain more experience; I was doing what came better for me hoping to build on it hence I did lots of corner joints; I tried cleaning with abrasive paper; abrasive pads and stainless brush; I also filed edges and ground edges; I tried using meths to degrease I tried simply welding new aluminium as supplied; then of course was size of tungsten; size of filler rod and no end of welder settings; some days I did really well other days not so well but I'm certainly having a go to the best of my ability. Rigger gloves were a real pain but these new TIG gloves are a delight. I tried the Miller welding settings but these threw me off the scent and each machine seems to have it's own adjustments; mine is the electronic bar graph type not the knobs so this took a lot of understanding; when I tried setting for pulse for the first time; important information had not been printed which was highly frustrating and it was pouring with rain making trips up the bungalow most unpleasant; it's put lots of rain down again today; I hope I'm not moaning but I'm stating how learning TIG welding is affecting me; I'll not quit though.

Another important thing I need to practice with is feeding the filler rod and I've been watching YouTube videos showing how to do this; as winter starts to bite I'll be able to spend more uninterrupted time in the workshop but this is just an hobby so I'm not under any outside pressure to learn TIG welding; it's something I want to learn and I don't even know what I'll need TIG welding for other than welding the petrol tank but it's another useful skill to have. I've watched hours of YouTube videos from the experts; I found the one below to be hugely useful showing how to feed filler rod; it's the kind of basic information I need; I've been running welds at about 4" long because this is the length I can feed the filler rod in at the moment;

I need to buy more 4mm aluminium; not a problem other than yet another wet journey; I've got plenty of filler rods 2.5mm 4043 and once this gas cylinder needs changing I'll upgrade to a 20L cylinder; funds aren't a problem. I'm feeling more confident with each session and find an hour at a time plenty because it takes so much concentration. 4mm thick is definitely easier to weld than 1.6mm thick. I've been using 2.5mm filler rods on the 4mm thick aluminium but 1.6mm filler rods on the 1.6mm thick aluminium.

The mower repair is now fully sorted so another job ticked off.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

That's a good video - indeed, I think a lot of us have practiced feeding filler wire in the living room, it really does help! My preferred method is holding like a pen between thumb and first 2 fingers, and using my thumb to do the pushing... I use the feeding motion as the dab itself, so my hand stays in exactly the same position, just making small feeding movements... also I often lazy-man it and rest the tip of the rod in the joint itself, although doing that can be problematic as it soaks up more head and will melt back with a poor torch angle or arc length. You need a slight backwards motion as well - enough to pull the filler out of the pool after a dab, but leaving it in the gas coverage.

Getting used to the changing heat requirements of aluminium is part of the challenge, there is barely EVER one single amperage that is perfect for the whole job. There's a good reason a lot of people use footpedals for aluminium work. however, I know plenty skilled sheet metal workers that make beautiful welds on ducting and the like, never once using a foot pedal... so it's perfectly possible without one. Granted, I can't weld as nicely as they can

Padding beads is a perfect example of this - your first weld will maybe run fine, your second will run hot - so turn that amperage down. At some point the heat input will meet equilibrium with dissapation and you'll feel happy running a few beads without stopping to adjust anything. Your other option (and it's a bit of a pain) is dunking the plate in a bucket of water every few beads, and drying it off carefully before restarting.

Personally (and it's just me, others may disagree) I hate seeing that overcooked look to those aluminium welds - it's ugly and compromises the strength of the weld (any time the weld looks grainy, you have problems)
So, my end goal from my next session would be to get those clean, shiny beads back, by watching that heat input very very closely, and stopping and turning it down.

Also, are you using the 2-touch restart method that Hood and I have told you about? If not, then DO set it up like that - it's then inherently easier to control, since whenever you have too much heat you just let off the button, and press again when you're happy.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks once again Munkul.

I'm learning fast and have come to realize I can't concentrate on just one aspect of TIG welding at a time; it's all or nothing isn't it in order to run correct shiny beads because so many factors rely on each other? I don't have a foot pedal and sa you state and Hood has previously stated TIG welding can be done successfully without foot pedal; I know Hodd doesn't use a foot pedal and like you Munkul Hood is a good role model pointing me in the right direction.

I am starting to get to grips though with all the welder settings; at first it was as with any novice suck it and see but gradually with advice kindly supplied by forum members and YouTube videos it's all starting to come together. I know I can run a nice clean shiny bead because I've done it but I can't do it consistently yet. I had noticed the heat build up as I tried beads parallel with each other so at least I'm aware of it; when I first started I kept visiting the welder to adjust the main amps but I've now got the hang of using the torch buttons although I've not tried changing the amps with the two side buttons on the torch; I have tried pausing the button as kindly suggested by Hood and yourself; I've found this very useful at the weld end; letting go of the button whilst still adding the last bit of filler rod to complete the weld; I do struggle starting a weld mostly burning the end of the aluminium away; I'm not yet quick enough to grasp when the puddle has formed hence I hang around for slightly too long; I can make good but with practice I need to be adding filler rod and progressing the torch sooner. I need to speed up more as welding progresses and now I'm gaining experience lifting off the button at the weld end I'll experiment during the weld run.

I'll not bother trying to dunk the aluminium to cool it; I can if I experience heat problems is to switch material allowing the first to cool naturally; as suggested I'll stick with 4mm thick aluminium for my bead practice at the next session. I still have a piece of 4mm sheet that I can lay multiple beads on and I can always obtain more.

Lifting the tungsten very slightly between dabs seems to make it slightly easier whilst adding filler rod but I'm trying so many different things at once which are alien to me.

The weather as usual is dire; it's so depressing looking out into the doom and gloom this morning I didn't feel like a welding session but after dinner I'll do more practice; I've been watching more TIG videos this morning;

I'm not on my own as I look at this guy in action; I too am using 4043 filler rods but I've also used pure aluminium on the thinner aluminium; I'm pretty sure I have run perfectly shiny beads using the 4043 so once again it comes down to practice; I notice the guy wire brushing a small piece of aluminium with it resting on the steel bench; surely at overrun the front bristles will contact the bench? The guy in the video though looks to be practicing exactly as I've been practicing running joints with the same poor results; unlike me though he's grasped how to feed the filler rod; I'll have a go at your method Munkul feeding the filler rod; it's a very important thing to master.

When I grind the tungsten point the end of the tungsten is often coated with a layer of debris; sometimes even a big blob of aluminium if I've touched the tungsten with the filler rod when it appears to draw the rod onto the tungsten.

I'm taking up lots of members time whilst receiving so many welcome replies; I'm not just a tyre kicker so fully appreciate all the help; I'm genuinely giving TIG welding my full attention and I'm determined to succeed.

It looks more like daylight outside so workshop it is after dinner; I'll settle down to an hour welding which is as far as my concentration stretches; if I try too hard then things start to go backwards.

KInd regards, Colin.