Blown my welder up.

[Retired]

Hi,

I've just come out of the workshop after an hours practice running beads on 4mm thick aluminium using 2.5mm 4043 filler rod at assorted welder settings. I spent a while using my Makita palm sander with a new clean abrasive sheet then went over with s scotch brite pad before dusting off with a lean towel; I didn't wipe with meths. I ran the Scotch brite pad along the filler rods.

Below are the results so far; the black sooty run was first; the tungsten was ground sharp but a bit messed up so I removed about an inch from the tungsten end giving a clean pointed tungsten. Next beads were towards me from the black to the left; 130A to start then as it warmed up dropped to 100A both at 60hz; this produced very wide beads but mostly under control. I then experimented with hz running the beads to the right; at last I'm getting to grips with hz; low hz wide bead high hz narrow bead; not dull but not highly polished beads and I was puzzled by the black deposits; these seemed to appear with wrong filler feeding possibly touching the tungsten or dipping the puddle. As welding progressed the piece started to really heat up and as I was now having to stretch over hot beads I called it a day. I switched the welder off and the gas but just before turning out the lights I double checked the gas was turned off to find the high pressure had dropped to zero psi within only a few minutes so there's a gas leak to sort out next session. I'll run some water with washing up liquid added shaking the mixture over all the joints/couplings to locate the leak; the cylinder is definitely turned off so just another problem to sort out. It's very gloomy so the pictures aren't brilliant but I'm now fully behaving myself in only running beads and will continue to run beads until I get them right. I ran these freehand; I'm sitting on steps with a thick towel as cushion and using my arc welder trolley as a welding table this being a bit too high; I'm very short of space otherwise I'd make a dedicated welding table but I do need an adjustable stool for height control. One thing I'm doing is enjoying myself. Today's lesson learned was in using the hz adjustment; the narrow beads were run at 130A 140hz with 15 ac balance. I tried 25 ac balance but this seemed to mess up the tungsten?

Kind regards, Colin.

From the bottom 60hz towards the top at 140hz. various amps. 2M of 2.4mm filler rod used.

 

[Munkul]

That's a decent bit of practice And it's good that you noticed the differences between frequency. Strange that it didn't like 25% balance... but it's running well on 15% from the looks of things, just technique to dial.

Black soot - yes you'll get some with a touchdown, but it looks continuous along some of the runs. You need to get rid of that. Possibly gas coverage - tell us about your torch angle, ceramic size, tungsten stickout, and gas flowrate again? You ARE using a ball float flowmeter?

I'd keep doing that practice. Try tying in each bead to the previous, and keep the runs as straight and even as possible. It's more challenging than individual beads by a long way.

You'll get "frosting" over the previous run, due to the AC cleaning, and this is normal, but you should only see black soot when you have a touchdown.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul.

Jody has made lots of very useful welding tutorials and I've watched quite a few of them but not the one you kindly included above which I've just watched in its entirety finding it interesting.

I have problems with dipping but there was something else wrong with the first really black sooty bead; I think I dipped right at the weld start which possibly caused the problem but although I'd reground the tungsten to a point the first half inch of the tungsten was coated; after such a bad start I then removed about an inch from the tungsten end then reground a new point just touching the grinding wheel to remove the very sharp point leaving a small flat at the end. This made a lot of difference with less soot on the second bead; I'm welding freehand so I now need to sort out some hand support which will help me stop dipping. I have noticed when I do dip the soot appears; as I stated earlier I've found I have a gas leak too and will fix this before doing more welding; I can't hear the leak with the welder fan running and only noticed it as I shut down last thing yesterday; not a major problem but needs urgently sorting out.

Torch angle is about 15 degrees pointing forward inline with the weld; I'm trying for about 1/8" tungsten to material gap; I'll also have a look into some hand support; I have a TIG finger. Tungsten at the moment is 2.5mm Lanthanated but I've also tried on thin aluminium with a 1.6mm Lanthanated tungsten. Amps all over the place as I try different settings; hz between 60hz and 140hz; 140hz gives the narrow weld. 2.5mm 4043 filler rod on the 4mm thick aluminium. Tungsten stick out about 1/4"; gas on the flow meter about 8 on this meter with the float top as reference;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Argon-Ti...271165?hash=item258839acfd:g:huAAAOSwrsRdie8D

Cup size #6 at the moment I only have this size 2 of them. Pure argon.

Possibly the soot is caused by dipping otherwise had it been gas flow all the welds would have lots of soot; now I know what to look for regarding soot it should help? I've set the welder up as recommended in the Parweld user manual but these are basic settings; I'm getting used to amps & hz though.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Retardan...var=631671769250&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Worried about skin protection especially under my chin yesterday I bought one of the above and await delivery; I won't skmp on personal safety.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pure-Ace...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I've been using Methylated Spirit as a wipe but again yesterday I bought 1L of Acetone seen above also awaiting delivery. I tried to avoid using acetone because it's highly dangerous liquid to have in a workshop; I have lots of experience with acetone being a glass fiber laminator over 40 years ago; we used to have open containers of acetone for tool cleaning such as steel rollers and 15" lambswool rollers; one day there was a soft whoosh and two of the acetone containers burst into flames; we believed it to be hot sunshine through the small square glass panes on the old factory roof to have caused it but acetone is very highly flammable and needs treating with the utmost respect.

By the time I get fully set up I'll have a welding shop but not the skills to run it which I'm working on.

After dinner I'll spend an hour or so in the workshop but first job will be to sort out the gas leak; I'll run lots more beads; I'm practicing on 4mm thick aluminium but as my first project will be welding 1.6mm thick aluminium I think I'll drop this to 2mm thick aluminium once I become more proficient. No more joints though yet; lesson well learned.

We've been out this morning but I'm free this afternoon; the problem is it's so dark and gloomy making for a totally miserable day; I'll not learn without practice so I'll try to have a practice session each day getting off my backside where it's warm and comfortable; I must be getting old and soft but I'm retired so not under pressure to learn TIG welding as fast as I can; I'm confident I'll get there in the end.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

I think you've found the problem yourself that tungsten coated with a ton of aluminium is most likely the cause of that soot. I find that you can get away with a SMALL amount of aluminium contamination on tungsten, the AC action will burn it off... but a good chunk of it burns and creates all that black soot.

Your cup size, electrode size, stickout, 1/8" arc length all sound absolutely fine, although you could tighten that arc length up a bit further. The tighter the arc, the cooler the tungsten runs, so when you touchdown it picks up less alum.

The idea is that when you touch down, you stop, clean and regrind straight away. That's the correct way to do it... although like I said, you can get away with very small touchdowns sometimes.

No idea what that 8 means, but if it's scaled in litres per minute then 8 lpm is good

Acetone is great stuff, I subscribe to the school of "no open containers" though, and keep solvents and sparks at opposite ends of the shop. I personally think it's a better cleaner than meths, just because it flashes off so fast and leaves no residue at all.

Hopefully you find that leak quickly, and you can get on and practice I think your setup is pretty well dialled, now it's down to technique.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I'm definitely learning all the time Munkul; hopefully I can now ease back on soot in future? I'll try to shorten the arc as you suggest and have just pulled out a short length of 2" x 4" timber to use as a hand rest;I've also measured top step height and height to top of welder trolley; top step 19"; top of trolley 32"; I need a decent adjustable stool or to make a wooden buffet because I'm having to work with my hands too high; just another problem to sort out. Yes I believe it's 8LPM.

I tried using meths because I've done quite a bit of French polishing using it and without detriment to my hands or breathing; I'm unsure as to acetone; we always wore heavy rubber gloves whilst fiber glassing. Like you though all my flammables are well out of the way.

I certainly found the leak all three of them?

I was taught 55 years ago how to set up oxy/acetylene welding/cutting equipment this being BOC sapphire range; top quality stuff. We were instructed to blow out the hoses etc and to assemble everything; all fittings had to be tight but not to the extent of swinging on the end of a spanner otherwise distortion of the fittings was possible. We didn't need to check the actual gauges and never suffered leaks with them. Fast forward 55 years and now we've got to check every last detail because these days things are made down to a price and few seem to care at all about good quality.

Will I ever be rid of all these silly problems Munkul; bad luck and these problems have dogged me ever since I decided to learn TIG welding; will I now need to check all soldered joints etc; what can we trust these days? Yes I'm moaning; all I want to do is to have equipment work as it should and practice welding; I pulled out 12" lengths of both 1.6mm and 2.5mm filler rod to practice with in comfort of the bungalow; I can't even get this right having left them in the workshop. It's a cold wet black hole but I'm unable to control our Yorkshire dire climate; I'm still full of enthusiasm and keen to learn; tomorrow is another day.

Kind regards, Colin.

Lets blow bubbles instead of welding?

I'm very tight for space in the workshop.

My welding set up; the steps are too low and at the moment I wonder if I could still use the steps but make a new folding steel welding table; this table is the top of my arc welding trolley being pressed into service; better than nothing and it got me started.

An empty washing up liquid bottle part filled with clean water and a drop of washing up liquid added; used in gas leak testing; it really would have been better with a long fine tube to control flow better but it worked.

I hadn't realized the gauges and flow meter had such poor connections; first job this afternoon was to turn on the gas then turn off; the high pressure dropped to zero psi in less than two minutes; three leaks were detected and hopefully cured; the bit of masking tape I've added as a marker; it's bottom edge aligned with the high pressure needle; with the gas turned off and having checked all couplings I hope pressure remains when I check tomorrow? I'VE LEARNT THE HARD WAY AS USUAL; CHECK ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING AND TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED. I'm still dreaming of the day I can wander into the workshop and not find problems.

An update. It's now two hours since I closed the cylinder valve; the pressure on both gauges hasn't moved so leaks now cured. Another job ticked off. At last I've brought the two filler rods up to the bungalow; now I can practice feeding the rod through my fingers; so much to learn but I'll keep making all the mistakes possible first which adds to the fun.

 

[Munkul]

It's a good looking workshop though

Yeah I think gas connections plague us all at some point.

I got lucky with a charity shop steel/wood stool, it did me well for years til I built my taller table, then I found one of those cheap gas-ram adjustable seats in a hardware outlet for £15. It's worth time and money to get comfortable.

Of course, you could easy make your own stool

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul; my workshop is constantly evolving; I always manage to move things around to squeeze something else in; at the end of the bench under the helmet is my home made 4hp saw bench it having a 4" depth of cut; it was designed at just the right height allowing the bench to support material as it passed through the blade; everything has its own place and lots of thought goes into where to position machines. The workshop though is now at it's limit; I could do with a big warehouse to play in.

Yes it wouldn't be a problem at all to make a welding stool and well worth considering; months ago I bought a new office chair and it's already starting to creak and groan so perhaps making my own stool at a fixed height will be better long term; I don't feel like doing anything looking out of the window at the rain and usual black hole; 9:38am and I need the desk lamp switched on to see the keyboard; I need to snap out of it and head into the workshop even if it means getting wet AGAIN. I'll have a mug of tea and bickie then get off my backside; moaning about the weather won't improve my welding skills.

I'll be interested to see if the cylinder gauges are at zero? I'll phone Innergy in Dewsbury to ask them to obtain a 20L argon for me as a special order; by the time it arrives I'll be out of gas then I can return these two 9L cylinders. I'll need more 1.6mm aluminium welding rods; the ones I bought are pure aluminium; are 4043 a good choice or is there a better choice; I'll buy a 2.5kg pack. I'm buying consumables from The Wakefield Welding Center because Jim there has been brilliant helping me out so he's got my full support.

Last night I thought at last I've now got the filler rods on my desk and started to practice feeding one between fingers and thumb; I should have brought a TIG glove up too because my fingers were a bit too shiny.

Mug of tea and bickie on my desk; workshop shortly here I come.

Kind regards, Colin.

I've just phoned Innergy in Dewsbury to ask them to obtain a 20L Plus cylinder for me; A lovely young lady spoke to me and explained she was training so couldn't handle my request but if she took my details they would kindly ring back? I explained I was heading into the workshop so I would phone them back later, nothing changes.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I decided it worth getting wet to wander down to the workshop and after a poor start actually made a lot of positive progress; the gas pressures in the cylinders had remained as left last night much to my delight.

I tried using a length of timber as a torch hand guide; at first the glove moved along in jerks; next I sanded the timber then wax polished the top area giving a bit of improvement; I felt cold and stiff so this didn't help either; having dipped the tungsten a couple of times I replaced the timber with my bandsaw angle iron fence; still far from perfect mostly now due to having to lift my hands and arms higher than was comfortable but I came into the workshop to practice and I was going to jolly well practice so got on with it. I'll keep running welds until the gas cylinder is empty; I'll then upgrade to the larger cylinder but before doing more welding I'll sort out the seat height and look into making an adjustable glove guide. In spite of the dire weather I'm pleased with this morning's session.

Kind regards, Colin.

I doubt the gas pressure dropped at all during the night as seen here. This looks exactly like the first picture; I must have been standing in exactly the same position to take this picture; I bet I couldn't do it again even if I tried.

I ran these welds last before quitting this morning;the six at the top are new welds the rest is just penetration from the other side; WOW no dipping and no soot. I need to get comfortable but I'm encouraged by these welds. I had dropped to 110A from initial 130A for these and tried feathering the torch button on the last weld. These were done using the bandsaw fence as a guide; I'm now heading in the right direction.

Welds from top to bottom; cold; wet and stiff I dipped the tungsten and also these were done experimenting using the wood support guide. Once I got going things improved; the final weld was much too hot but using the guide meant less tungsten dipping.

Here's the set up for the final welds.

Pouring with rain as usual but the gardens look lovely.

 

[Munkul]

Good progress now you're getting more consistent, it's time to tighten up the bead size and heat - I'd start by dropping at least 10 amps, maybe 20 amps once the material is already hot.
Yes it will take a bit more time to puddle, but that's fine - you'll get a better bead profile, and it will be less grainy.

Most of those latter welds are simply too hot altogether. It starts out good, though.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul; I'm not all over the place now with amps; I started off at high amps but should have dropped the amps progressively with each bead due to the aluminium heating up; I wanted to do more practice welds this afternoon but can't face this terrible weather to go down to the workshop; the rain sure is coming down and it's also a black hole in fact I don't think it achieved daylight here today. I will do more practice until the gas runs out then have a break to sort myself out regarding comfort. Once I can run decent repetitive beads I'll enjoy running more beads in pulse mode.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[minimutly]

I bought a pair of padded, backed hydraulic zoom up an down stools on ebay for £25. Stripped the padding of one and use it like that, the other is in work, I took it in for the apprentices to practice welding.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks minimutly; I've just looked on eBay and at these prices it's simply not worth the time and trouble to make my own stool so I've just bought one of these;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SALON-BE...var=423748103796&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Surely I'll soon have just about everything I need including a dry day in order to wander down to the workshop without getting wet? The rain has been relentless today resulting in lots of local flooding.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

Yorkshire has really been getting a hammering the last few days!

For my own interest, I started padding beads on aluminium last night, just to remember amps. Found that 85-90 amps, 90hz and 25% balance worked well on my Lorch for 3mm - bit hot at the edges, but padded beads nicely and didn't run away with heat, in fact I could have ran the entire sheet with those amps. On 1/4", it took 170amps at same settings. Interestingly enough, when I drop the balance down to 20%, the machine seems to hate it - and runs way colder as a result, like 15% more amps required, even though theoretically it should run hotter. I think this is a machine thing, though. I should have taken a pic :/

 

[Hood]

I have always found that the higher the frequency the higher the amps need to be. Balance can have the same effect obviously as you are altering the time between the tungsten and the material taking the heat.
I tend to weld mostly at 70Hz but often when welding heavier stuff, like the 10mm yesterday, I drop down to 50Hz.

 

[Munkul]

Balance can have the same effect obviously as you are altering the time between the tungsten and the material taking the heat.

Yes - but when you're decreasing the %EP, you're increasing EN which is when the heat goes into the material. So in theory, the higher the EN %, the better... within reason for cleaning. So I don't really understand why it somehow cuts down the heat input on my machine - only when you go lower than 25%, because up to this value it works as expected. It's not important, because 25% works great for tungsten shape, but curious still.

 

[Hood]

Aye, I was more commenting on how small changes can drastically change the welds. As you say yours is going against the way you would think but as you said it is likely machine specific even though it is a strange one.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul; yes heavy rain from getting up to going to bed yesterday; lots of flooding all around us with many roads still under water but then it is Yorkshire so we're used to it; it's eerie today because at the moment it isn't raining; I hope it rains soon because a couple of days without rain is a drought for us.

Thanks Munkul & Hood for your interesting information; I've so much to learn yet. One thing I have learned is there's no standard setting to work to; every machine is different; it would be so much easier if I could TIG weld the way I Arc weld; on the arc welder I simply choose the amps and filler rod then go for it. With TIG though there are endless variations with impact upon each other; if the filler rod sticks on ARC welding so what it's not the major issue as it is in TIG welding; I don't have to break off and head to the grinder; running an ARC weld is also very much easier only needing one hand; no gas to play with and the arc gap isn't critical; I'm finding TIG welding a real challenge even though I can arc and gas weld.

Balance adjustment seems different on American machines I see the YouTube videos of 75%? I've got mine at 15% but it obviously relates %EP and %EN; I'm still learning so used Parweld basic settings; Parweld recommend 60hz as a starting frequency; I'm now learning that although increasing the frequency to narrow the weld bead does narrow the bead but isn't what I'm really wanting; I want a consistent bead width and I start off with a decent width bead but it's the heat build up getting away from me running in front of the puddle; I really need to either weld faster or decrease amps or both; now I'm feeling more at home I'll play around feathering the button as suggested. I seem to coat the end of the tungsten a lot more as I increase balance; I've tried 25% but reverted back to 15%. If there was an easy answer I'd be TIG welding by now without problem; it comes down to lots and lots of practice. At times I feel so near then lose it.

The acetone has just arrived and the new stool will be here in the next few days; I've been watching YouTube videos showing assorted adjustable hand supports so I'll get rid of my makeshift hand supports and make an adjustable one. I'm sure if I can get comfortable it will help.

Thanks again guys.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[minimutly]

Hi,

Thanks minimutly; I've just looked on eBay and at these prices it's simply not worth the time and trouble to make my own stool so I've just bought one of these;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SALON-BEAUTY-MASSAGE-STOOL-STYLING-HAIRDRESSING-BARBER-TATTOO-MANICURE-EQUIPMENT/123352228528?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=423748103796&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Surely I'll soon have just about everything I need including a dry day in order to wander down to the workshop without getting wet? The rain has been relentless today resulting in lots of local flooding.

Kind regards, Colin.

I would have said that stool is too low, but obviusly it depends on your bench height.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for your interest minimutly. The steps I currently use as a seat are only 19" high but the welding trolley top I'm using as a bench is 32" high. The new stool starts at 21" low with an high of almost 25" so hopefully the new stool will be fine; if not I can easily modify it. I'm considering making an attachment welding table to the arc welding trolly; one that is detachable allowing it to be stored out of the way when not in use.

I've been fascinated by automatic TIG welding videos this afternoon it being rather too wet; cold and grim to wander into the workshop; tomorrow is forecast an high of 5C but dry; I wonder why rain isn't forecast? I can spend time in the workshop over the weekend the weather making it too bad to venture out far in the car; I'll put the fan heater on then I don't need to wrap up like an Eskimo.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I sure struggle to get uninterrupted workshop time; it's been another cold day with early frost but I managed an hour in the workshop before dinner. When I came up to the bungalow and checked my emails our next door neighbour asked if it was OK for her to pop round at 2pm saying she had some news to tell us; of course it was. She came round as arranged and informed us she's had her bungalow valued by three estate agents this week she's going to move into an apartment. This came as a surprise because she's only lived here six years after sadly losing her husband; at first I was drawn into doing lots of free labour jobs for her which I was happy to do but it started to become looking after two bungalows so I started being deaf and blind easing back on her jobs. Over the last year in spite of strong hints I've evaded the jobs so now she has to pay tradespeople; she's spent a fortune on upgrading her bungalow even having a proper lift installed from the garage up to her bedroom this lift costing £12,000. It's now all caught up with her and she is finding the bungalow and gardens to by high maintenance. She's an excellent neighbour and we'll be sorry when she moves but we'll keep in touch. I learnt a very hard lesson though; be kind but not stupid; new neighbours won't be dragging me into their problems. Because I have the skills and a well equipped workshop our neighbours seem to think I'm retired for their benefit; in the last 32 years only one parcel has ever been taken in by a neighbour for us which about sums up the amount of help we receive.

I did manage an hour in the workshop this afternoon though having just come out. I've struggled today with the interruption but I've now completed a hand rest; tomorrow I wonder who will want me? Both Bron and I are soft only too willing to help others but recently we've been taking stock and it's time to keep our heads down. Fully retired and struggling for workshop time; in future Bron and I are first.

Kind regards, Colin.

I could do so much more if I were left alone in peace; I'll always knock off to help Bron but others can now form a queue. I enjoyed making this hand rest; the bar stock is 5/8" dia BMS; the base a short length of 2" x 2" angle iron the set screw handle is threaded 10mm.