Blown my welder up.

[qwakers]

if you want a laugh and to feel better about your welding, ill go get some pics of a seam weld i just did to repair a snapped hgv side guard...

1mm alloy and hollow with lots of dirt on the inside, where you cant get to to clean it...

pretty it aint!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Very informative I'll be watching, as TIG is one thing I tried but could make nothing of [slightly compromised sight makes depth perception at close quarters 'tricky'. that and scratch start ] - but I'm determined to get some practise in as it'd mean I could weld inside without setting fire to the cave.

 

[qwakers]

if you want a laugh and to feel better about your welding, ill go get some pics of a seam weld i just did to repair a snapped hgv side guard...

1mm alloy and hollow with lots of dirt on the inside, where you cant get to to clean it...

pretty it aint!

got the job done and it will clean up ok...

 

[Hood]

@Retired

As has been said 1.7mm is not the best thickness to start your tig welding practice on but to be honest for a first time your efforts are not too shabby. Try and get hold of some 4 or 5mm Alu and practice on that, once mastered you can then start going to the thinner stuff.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Munkul for your informative and highly useful reply. I set the welder up at standard settings as supplied in the Parweld manual this allowing me to have a go; I'm getting used to adjusting the main current which proved a problem at first; the tungsten I'm using is 1.6mm Lanthanated Gold. Even after such a short session I felt I was starting to make progress; as usual I make life hard and difficult for myself but even so I think with lots more practice I could weld the the 1.7mm aluminium. I've got two brand new 4' x 2' sheets of aluminium and I think these might be 2mm so I've plenty to play with; I've also got lots of offcuts from the metal spinning company so I can also practice cleaning aluminium. I'm just looking at the Parweld suggested settings as a base to start from;

Pre-gas flow position (E) I think I've set this at 0.15 seconds (midway)
Initial current (H) this is set at 50%
Slope up time (I) I think it skipped this not allowing adjustment?
Main welding current (J) I've tried between 40A and 85A at the moment making some progress at 65A but possibly too high.
Slope down time (K) 2s
Final current (L) 10%
Post gas time (M) 3s
AC Frequency 60hz
AC balance (Q) 15%
It's set on AC output with HF start and no pulse.

As a complete TIG novice I've just set the machine up as above because at the moment I don't know any better but at least I'm now making some positive progress.

It's unlikely I'll be welding steel with the TIG unless I need some thin gauge welding; I've got a very nice 180A Pickhill Bantam for my steel welding and having been arc welding for over 50 years this isn't a problem at all. I'm more interested at the moment welding aluminium and have been watching lots of YouTube videos so at least I've got a clue; like learning anything new I'll make lots of mistakes but this has never put me off learning anything.

That sure looks rough qwakers but I certainly won't laugh but it's nice to know I'm not bottom of the class.

Thanks Hood for your continuing encouragement which I fully appreciate; I'll obtain thicker aluminium just to practice with; I've already got 2.4mm Tungstens with collets and collet holders and I understand your's and Munkel's advice in starting off thick; this also applies to arc welding it's just that I'm experimenting with what I've already got; the aluminium I'm abusing cost me nothing and is affording me good practice in using the torch and setting up the welder etc; like slim my eyesight could be better; I wear bifocal glasses; at first I found it difficult to focus but now I have the excellent Crystal helmet it helps a great deal; as I'm only welding seated in the workshop I might buy a pair of cheap reading glasses. One thing I did notice is that rather than try to keep the tip of the tungsten the right distance from the material by sight alone I kept touching the material but by listening to the arc it helped a lot and I started to make better progress?

I'll keep posting with updates because I'm not on my own being a TIG beginner.

Thanks guys for your interest and help.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I appreciate all the tips and suggestions; as suggested by you Munkul & Hood I'll practice on some thicker aluminium; I've got plenty of thin aluminium to hand but Bron and I have just returned from The Metal Store where I've bought 500mm x 500mm x 4mm aluminium to practice on.

I now have the usual problem of other more pressing jobs to do; our front porch door has started to stick due to the huge amounts of rain we suffer; just another job to prevent me getting into the workshop to practice TIG welding; If I don't sort the door out it will only get worse then have to be forced opening up joints making for a bigger job. I'm retired but working full time on the bungalow and in the gardens; I don't know how ever I managed to do a full time job.

I'll keep dreaming of TIG welding though.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

spot on Colin, you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly with thicker material I'd have thought. 2.4 lanthanated will work for everything except perhaps welding coke cans.

some of my "go-to" settings:

Pre-gas flow position 0.1-0.2 seconds is usually enough for anything
Initial current set at 20-30% - you want this good and low, I'll explain why in a moment
Slope up time - 1-1.5 seconds IF you can adjust this, if not then the initial current % will have a proportional effect on this.
Main welding current - whatever you feel it needs to create a puddle within a couple of seconds.
Slope down time - 2 seconds is usually perfect
Final current (L) 20% - low enough to prevent craters but not too cold
Post gas time - 5-6 seconds. More important for stainless, but you also need that tungsten cooled before the gas stops.
AC Frequency -matter of preference
AC balance (Q) 25-30% - too low and you'll get contamination in your weld pool and it doesn't clean properly. This makes a big difference, and I think 15% is too little.

Now, when you don't have a foot pedal, you need some other way to control heat... Otherwise on most small bits of alloy you'll start cold, and finish wayyy too hot.
So make sure the machine is set to "2T". I'm 99% sure that the Parweld is configured to arc-restart.
What this means, is that you press and hold the button, it starts the arc, and it ramps up. You let go, it ramps down, and extinguishes. BUT, if you press and hold before it extinguishes , it will ramp back up.

So by pressing the button for more heat, and letting go, you can "feather" the button so you're not overheating the work, particularly as you reach the end of a run. You can't damage the machine in this way, because the only mechanical switch is the one in the torch. The inverter control software does everything else.

Not sure - you might have already worked this out, but I thought I'd mention anyway.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Munkul for your excellent advice which I'll be happy to have a go with. No I've worked very little out so far but I'm heading towards more practice and I'm sure as you say the thicker aluminium will help in me grasping the basics; the first problem I encountered at adjustments was setting the welder up from the Parweld operation details; easy when known but not to a beginner like me; I'm used to using knobs for adjustments so having the electronic graph type display took a bit of getting used to; press this or that button to move the LED indicator then adjust; one of the adjustments automatically skipped which at first threw me but I now feel more comfortable; having set the basic adjustments I now feel more at home adjusting the main amps (J) I don't know what I did wrong but after adjusting the main current the torch suddenly blasted holes in the thin aluminium; when I checked it was welding at 194 amps? Simple little things but then this is the learning curve; I'm sure 194 amps through a 1.6 tungsten turned the tungsten into a lightning conductor; one mistake learned and ticked off.

If I'm correct I can control the heat using the extra buttons on the torch but obviously I'm struggling at first just using the torch; I realize this thread is dragging on a bit but I'm still struggling to get workshop time due to silly problems; we have a big rear garden we call our mini park; during the night two adult badgers visit us and they are trying to set up home here digging big holes; on top of this I'm planting primroses and the squirrels are digging them back up whilst turning the garden into a thousand hole golf course; with winter iminent I'm also trying to get on top of all the outside jobs before it arrives; fed up with all the rain and interference I find concentrating on anything difficult at the moment; I need a stressless full day to play with the welder but being retired I haven't the time?

I'm gathering TIG welding kit; Bron and I have just returned from The Wakefield Welding Center; I had bought three stainless steel wire brushes through eBay but wonder why if these are stainless the wires are coated? I now have two genuine stainless wire brushes and whilst in the store bought a pack of 1.6mm mild steel filler rod; a spare #6 lens and a pack of 1.6 tungstens; I'm now fully kitted out all I need is a desert island for a bit of peace and quiet.

Kind regards, Colin.

A lot of work to keep on top of for one person.

Picture lifted from our new CCTV showing the two badgers playing on our patio; no doubt they're just getting ready to cause me more work; Bron and I like all the wildlife but they do increase my daily work load. The night vision on these cameras is amazing. Extremely dark to the rear of our bungalow without the security light being activated.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

showing the two badgers playing on our patio

Looking at that pic, they're getting very friendly so you might be up to your knees in little badgers soon.....

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks slim; I hope not these two are causing enough damage; we used to have three of them nightly? All the wildlife are safe here because we'd never harm any of them; at times I would like a catapult though.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

A rare free day to get into the workshop today. It seems to take a lot longer getting the aluminium ready to weld than actually welding it. I used my big sawbench to rip a few strips of the 4mm aluminium from the sheet then cross cut on the bandsaw; file all edges and deburr; go over the surfaces with a stainless wire brush then wipe each piece with a cloth wetted in meths; remove the corner from a short length of angle iron then clamp two of the strips to it.

I started welding at 85A but got nowhere so increased it to 100A and at last after a bit of messing around at the weld start actually ran a weld. Pleased with this I tried again but by the time I created the weld pool the aluminium had heated up resulting in a big hole; well I'm practicing but I'm learning too; the third attempt I got the weld running something like. I also tried butt welding and agree yes it is easier with thicker aluminium; I also tried a run near the edge which gave a bit more practice; I'm good at sharpening tungstens though although today I've done quite a lot less sharpening.

I need practice and lots of it but results so far are encouraging; I've been sitting on low steps with a large towel as a cushion with my elbow propped on my knee; I need more control of the torch than this and have watched YouTube videos of assorted aids.

1.6 mm Lanthanated tungstens were used but with 2.5mm filler rod. Next attempt I'll swap to 2.5mm tungstens; I have plenty of each. All in all though it's proved an interesting day and with each session I gain a little more experience; the welder is superb. Previously when I've reached the end of the run I've let go of the torch control only to watch it blow an hole; today I've let go just before reaching the end and it seems a lot better eliminating the hole.

Kind regards, Colin.

The coarse file I bought at Rufforth Auto Jumble from the guy who sells lots of aerospace drill bits and files etc; it's for filing aluminium without clogging and it does a good job. The smaller file I used for fettling the edges.

Prepared short length of angle iron used as an aid for alignment.

The welding set up.

The inside of the weld.

Two test runs showing promise; getting the pool to form will take more practice but once it's formed then running the weld is a lot quicker; I'm not using a foot pedal.

A lesson learned; get comfortable and if the aluminium starts heating up just quit for a while to let it cool or decrease the amps; this one got away from me but it's not a disaster because I learned a bit more. I don't mind showing problems I encounter after all this is how I learn so quickly in whatever I attempt.

I bought two of the top brushes from Wakefield Welding and these are genuine stainless steel. I bought three of the bottom brushes through eBay advertised as stainless steel which I very much doubt they are.

A practice run which overheated the edge; the butt weld though was much better; not straight but then I'm not only learning TIG I also need to get comfortable whilst welding. I'm doing less sharpening of the tungsten; I now use two tungstens one in the torch the second ready sharpened. I'm using a pointed tungsten not yet trying with a balled tungsten. A lot to learn all at once but I was taught gas welding as an apprentice which must help.

 

[eddie49]

After you got the welder ( it was your original one, not a replacement machine? ) back from Wakefield Welding Centre, did you by any chance open it up to see what was new inside? I'm interested to know if they fitted new board(s), or carried out component-level repairs.

On this thread:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...-200-3in1-welder-plasma-pfc-igbt.49696/page-3
it looks like we've got another TIG that blew up on first power-up after being in storage:

"Machine was unused for few years and this happened when I powered it up, first tiny (electric toasting) odor and then BANG! and display was off but fans were on"

Maybe we need to come up with a procedure that could be used pro-actively to prevent this type of failure on any welder that has been inactive for a while....?

 

[minimutly]

As a learner myself, one of the things I found (still find) difficult to grasp is the heat needed to pool vs the heat needed to make the whole lot collapse. The longer you faff around trying to create a pool on too low amps, the hotter the job gets, then eventually there is an avalanche effect, pool and hole in quick succession.
More amps and quicker I think is the answer, with a tight arc, and the good news is with more amps you can have less stick out.
Untill I got my pedal I was floundering around between oxidising and melting the lot, but Maybe if you pay more attention than I did to recommended settings you'll have more luck. The experts say you don't need a pedal.
One last thing, get a stool and bench, be comfortable and don't rely on your torso to keep the torch from wandering, good soft gloves are a must.
I'm still learning, but at least now it's not a lottery wether the job ends up in the bin....

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I restored vintage valve radios for about ten years eddie49 and the first job was always to sort out the capacitors; the electrolytics in particular were dangerous as they easily exploded; I never bothered trying to re-form them just replaced them on sight; I'm not a fan of circuit boards at all knowing they will eventually fail. I've not opened up the welder which is the original after the warranty repair; I just want to leave it well alone now its working so well; I do have a copy of the repairs carried out to it and wouldn't disagree with it in any way because it sure expired big style and I expected it would need lots of new components to repair it. I think the best way to keep these electronic welders in decent order is regular use then the capacitors won't deteriorate?

Thanks for your interesting information minimutly and even with the very short welding sessions I've had I too notice how the aluminium builds up heat quickly and holds the heat for a long time; like you I too am a learner and need plenty of practice; my torch has three buttons but at the moment I'm just concentrating on basic welding; if I'm correct a foot pedal gives a turbo effect at start boosting the amps to create the pool then the amps can be backed off; I also realize once the pool is created without foot control it's time to get things quickly moving before as you say the lot collapses; I'm using Parweld recommended settings because at the moment I don't know enough about TIG welding to be creative playing with the settings; I am however slowly getting to grips with main amps and can now easily adjust these without constant reference to the user sheets which I found difficult at first.

Today I've been welding 4mm thick aluminium taking my time to try to get everything just right especially cleanliness of the aluminium and removing the oxide surface coating; I'm making decent progress though; on my next session I'll try using a 2.5mm Lanthanated tungsten replacing the current 1.6 mm Lanthanated tungsten; the filler rod at 2.5 appears fine; after knocking off today I realized I needed to increase the main amps in order to create the pool quicker but I know if I do this it means a fast weld technique; I'm aware Hood doesn't use a foot pedal and does top class welding so I'll follow his lead knowing TIG welding aluminium is possible without foot pedal.

I've got two new big sheets of 1.5mm thick aluminium so once I've practiced a bit more with the 4mm thick aluminium I'll revert back to the 1.6mm tungsten and hopefully increase my skill level which as a novice is still low. I'm definitely not of a nervous disposition but having the welder explode definitely put me off TIG welding and I admit I'm only just coming round and relaxing more as I use the welder more; I keep expecting it to expire with another loud bang? Not easily forgotten once it happens. It's very likely any of these TIG welders with circuit boards are prone to fail if unused for a long period of time whatever make they are; I confess I had thought about getting a transformer type TIG welder to reduce the electronics.

I'm not worried about picking up TIG welding overnight because I enjoy making all the mistakes as I learn something new and I doubt many will have got off to a worse start at TIG welding than I have.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Hood]

There are a few tricks you can use with the Parweld.
I think @Munkul mentioned one previously but I will reitterate it. If you have the torch set up in 2T mode, that is the mode you hold the button down when welding, then you can, if the weld is getting too hot, release the button for a short while and then press it again. Ideally you want a fairly slow ramp down to end current, maybe something like 2 seconds as that will give you time to re-press the trigger before the arc extinguishes. That second or so of sloping down lets the weld cool a bit and can help if things are getting too hot.

Another method is if you use 4T mode, that is where you press the trigger and once the arc has initiated you release and keep welding, when you want to stop welding you again press the trigger and it will slope down to the end current and you can then release the trigger to extinguish the arc. Now that in itself won't help much with the Alu getting too hot but if whilst welding you tap the trigger the welder will drop to the end current which means you can keep welding at the lower current, as it cools too much to weld properly you can tap again and it will increase to the main current again. It sounds complicated but it is actually easy enough to master and a few practice sessions on some flat plate should get you into the swing.

There is also a start current setting which I normally had fairly low just for initiating the arc but if you set it higher than the main current then it should act in a similar fashion to the Hot Start you can get with a pedal.

 

[Munkul]

good progress Colin

it sounds counter intuitive (a lot of things in welding are) but you need more amps. 4mm alloy wants around 100 amps+ depending on joint type. Only joint that wants less than 100 is a outside corner weld, but since you're supporting it with steel, it wlll act like a thicker piece.

More amps lets you do a few things:
1. puddle almost straight away, within 2 seconds is where you want to be at.
2. lets you melt base metal much cleaner and more predictably. Instead of dabbing and the puddle not reacting the way you expect it to. The metal will flow and join, instead of curling edges back.
3. lets you travel faster. This is obviously the main factor that drives you to use the lower amps, while you're figuring out exactly how to do just that, but unfortunately this is just how it goes.
....and as a result:
4. puts less overall heat into the work. This is an important thing with alloy, as you've found - too much heat input ends up with a joint that simply falls apart somewhere down the line. You'll need to manage the amps near the end of a weld more carefully, but that's part and parcel of alloy welding.

You can see even on the nice beads you've produced that they are grainy and not pronounced - all a result of low travel speed and high heat input.

I really, REALLY like the Miller welding calculators, they always seem to reflect my real-world experience so I kind of trust them, especially the TIG settings which are individual to each joint type.

https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/weld-setting-calculators/tig-welding-calculator

I also think that 4mm plate is PRIME material for the best practice drill you'll ever get: stacking beads right the way across it.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/aluminum-drill.html

^ words to live by. I still do the drill now and again, since my part time TIG work comes in dribs and drabs, and it's a great way to keep my hand in (literally).

Jody has all kinds of useful things to learn on his welding tips and tricks website, in fact no-one can really knock what he does because so many people have learned skills from him online

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Munkul for your continuing support and useful suggestions. Getting into the workshop is the biggest difficulty but of the two short practice sessions I already feel as if I'm starting to grasp the basics; I'm really grateful of your's and other members tips and advice which I take a lot of notice of. The Millerweld calculator is hugely useful to me and I've already watched Jody in action many times; he's an excellent tutor as are others on YouTube videos. As you state Munkel I think I'm trying to weld on too low amps so I'll make a note of the Millerweld settings.

A fillet weld of 4mm aluminium looks to need at least 150A which looks like fun to play with. I am finding the 4mm plate a lot more forgiving to practice on; it's all a steep learning curve so please bear with me; all your advice though is very useful indeed; thank you all.

I'm busy again today having just returned from Barnsley and I'm out again shortly; tomorrow four friends from Leicestershire are visiting us so I'm grounded again; by the time I do get into the workshop I have to keep starting over; this retirement is full time with little time to myself always somewhere to go or pressing jobs to do.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

A bit more practice this morning. I noted the Millerwelds settings and took these into the workshop. Freq 100 Hz 130A and gas flow set at 14 which is as high as the flow meter goes? The 1.6mm tungsten was replaced by a 2.4mm tungsten and what a difference; the arc is a lot noisier but sure heats the aluminium quicker. I'm using 2.5mm rods but only at 12" long and it's surprising how many short lengths of rod I'm accumulating; I have a big pack of 1m 2.5mm rods so next session I'll have a go with these.

The top weld in the picture I managed to touch so back to the grinder then continue. The bottom weld got off to a bad start so back to the grinder; turn the piece around and much better. The welds though are now nice and shiny. I'm using a pointed tungsten and the point quickly disappears; would I be better to ball the tungsten? YouTube videos explain and show how to ball a tungsten. With the increased amps welding is a great deal faster. I have the Parweld torch with the three buttons; this morning I pressed the other two buttons in turn and saw the amps either increase or decrease. I'm spending more time preparing the aluminium than actually welding but with each session I improve a bit and am starting to notice difference in settings and tungstens.

I'm still uncomfortable so need to buy a wheeled adjustable height stool but in the meantime I'll keep having a go allowing me to practice feeding rod etc and to judge how fast the pool can be moved forward once its formed.

The Miller settings state 70% AC balance but this Parweld tops out at 50 on the readout; I think I set it at 35?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Hood]

Balance can be described in different ways on different machines. My normal on the XTT was between 15 and 25 if I recall but it has been a while. The Stealth I have at the moment is -3 to +3 and 0 seems to be where I am most of the time.

Gas flow sounds a bit high, are you sure the miller guide is saying LPM, as it is American it may be calling out 14 Cubic Feet per Hour so around about 7LPM.

Welds are looking much better

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Hood for your information and kind comment.

Whoops; you're right Hood; yes it's 21 cfh so I've now adjusted accordingly. You certainly know what you're on about.

Last night I said to Bron; tomorrow we've nothing on; nowhere to go; no pressing or urgent jobs to do; no visitors and gardens can miss me for a day. So I was into the workshop just after 9 o'clock this morning keen to make most of the day. I set about making aluminium 4 mm thick practice blanks at around 30 mm x 100mm; deburred; wire brushed and wiped them with meths 15 in total as I wanted plenty to ply with.

Looking at the previous practice pieces I thought what am I doing when I've got these I can still practice with in particular the piece with the big hole; I've got the welder and filler rods so why not try to fill the big hole surely this will give valuable practice and I can't fail because even if I couldn't successfully fill the hole I'll gain more experience. At first I struggled and kept touching with the tungsten so plenty of trips to the grinder; with high amps I started to make progress but as the piece heated up I found I could lower the amps and for the first time used the extra buttons on the torch making it very easy to increase or decrease the amps. I ran weld around the hole edge and added a lot too much filler but this was practice and excess could be cut away? WOW I succeeded so I'm delighted; I removed excess filler using my home made 2" belt grinder with a coarse belt.

At 10:30 I came up to the bungalow for a mug of tea and bickie whilst the piece cooled. As I sat at the computer the phone rang and Bron answered the call; my full day is now half day we're invited to our neighbour Carole's at 2 o'clock this afternoon; it's Max's 7th birthday and Carole has baked a fancy cake with candles on top; Max is such a lovely cat.

I can dream on about a full day in the workshop; I've enjoyed this morning though and although it's taken a morning to cut practice blanks and fill the big hole I'm now starting to feel more at home playing with the TIG welder.

Kind regards, Colin.

Practice strips of aluminium.

One of my early practice pieces which could hardly be worse but if I can create a big hole surely I should be able to fill the hole with practice?

Not pretty but at least I ran lots of filler in backing being a piece of angle iron. I got a bit carried away.

Hole now fully filled; excess weld removed using the belt grinder then wire brushed; I didn't try to grind the weld flush because I'd achieved what I set out to do and was running out of time AGAIN.

The other face and I even managed to fill in at the right hand end which I've not previously done.

My home made belt grinder; I use this mostly for tool sharpening but fitted a coarse belt for this practice.

My home made 4" belt sander; not pretty but it's seen a lot of use over the years.