Starting to get really frustraited with Ali TIG welds, can't figure out the problem?

[minimutly]

Just for giggles I’ve been running beads on dirty old Ali - all of it is better than what you’re getting, so don’t waste too much time scrubbing things - your problem lies elsewhere, the right ac balance will take care of a lot of stuff.
Contamination is your issue, but from where? Have you been dipping the tungsten into the pool?
Try running a pool along without filler, yes it will sink, and possibly crack, but it should be clean. A bigger cup is better on the flat, you can rum more stick out, easier to see and more coverage. If the pool is dirty without filler and your not dipping, you have a gas problem. Is it defo pure Ar?

 

[anto44]

What kind of arc length are you using, I had similar experience with contamination like that when I was learning from letting my arc length get too long while moving along.

 

[Popcorn]

I found you can run a lot more cleaning with Zirconiated than Lanthanated, when I was welding cast alloy.

 

[Munkul]

What amps?
Where are you? Someone who knows what they're doing will fix your issue pretty fast. Or at least diagnose it, if its hardware.
My money is on either gas contamination or lack of amps.
Is it a new bottle? Its rare, but not unheard of. Or have you put grease or anything on any of the fittings?

 

[Brad93]

you'll be pulling oxygen into the weld pool with that high a flowrate which would probably explain your problems. It wants to be a whisper not a whistle.

If that's a 6 cup, then as Brad says, 8-10lpm. I mean, you can roughly get away with the same number lpm as you can cup size number.

if it's a 6 then yeah 6-8lpm

 

[AdventuresInMetal]

Try holding it in one spot without moving with no torch angle. Just see if you can get a clean puddle going.

just a few things.
what amps?
up slope?
pre gas?
4t or 2t?
pulse?

Can you run a bead on steel in dc mode?

Phil

pre flow: 2 seconds
start amps: 60
up slope: 0
welding amps: 120
frequency: 120hz
ac balance: 25
down slope: 0
end amps: 5
post flow: 8 seconds

ac waveform is advanced square wave, using foot pedal and pulse turned off.

Just for giggles I’ve been running beads on dirty old Ali - all of it is better than what you’re getting, so don’t waste too much time scrubbing things - your problem lies elsewhere, the right ac balance will take care of a lot of stuff.
Contamination is your issue, but from where? Have you been dipping the tungsten into the pool?
Try running a pool along without filler, yes it will sink, and possibly crack, but it should be clean. A bigger cup is better on the flat, you can rum more stick out, easier to see and more coverage. If the pool is dirty without filler and your not dipping, you have a gas problem. Is it defo pure Ar?

Any time i've dipped the tungsten i've switched it out for fresh, just resharpened 40 after so much troubleshooting

The cylinder is definately marked up as Pure Argon

What kind of arc length are you using, I had similar experience with contamination like that when I was learning from letting my arc length get too long while moving along.

somewhere between 1 and 1.5mm with a 1.6mm eletrode

I found you can run a lot more cleaning with Zirconiated than Lanthanated, when I was welding cast alloy.

i'll have to give them a try at some point but I don't think thats my issue here?

Is it a new bottle? Its rare, but not unheard of. Or have you put grease or anything on any of the fittings?

It's a new bottle, nope not greased any fittings or anything silly like that

Ran a few beads on steel just using some 0.8mm mig wire as a test

 

[voipio]

The steel beads look better, even though the they've have been run over pitted metal. Ali welds are fussier, when it comes to gas compositon, so it could still be a gas issue, although there could be some funky metallurgy going on with the ali, leading to constituent elements coming out of the alloy mix, and depositing on the surface.

 

[Brad93]

are you sure on the grade of ali? not anodised

 

[Brad93]

your balance needs to be 30-35% DCEP

 

[Misterg]

The steel beads look better, even though the they've have been run over pitted metal.

It might be the lighting, but they look very grey to me (indicative of a gas coverage problem).

 

[mike os]

Have you tig welded before or straight to aluminium?

 

[tom2207]

starting to think it may be an alloy ,,, try a fresh bit of metal ,,, its about all thats left

 

[AdventuresInMetal]

Have you tig welded before or straight to aluminium?

Well, i guess just consider me a total beginner, i've got about 3 hours or so of practice in on TIG on mild steel, spread out here and there over the last 5 months or so, i've mainly been focusing on keeping the torch height constant and not dipping the electrode (which ive got pretty good at, gone from dipping it twice a minute to maybe once every 30 minutes now), still got to master filler technique but i'm sure it just comes with practice, I watch hundreds of youtube videos on it which helps quite a bit.

starting to think it may be an alloy ,,, try a fresh bit of metal ,,, its about all thats left

That ali in the picture i posted today is a new peice from a different supplier.

I think i'm going to try and pick up another Argon cylinder to eliminate the gas as the problem, I wanted something a little more portable than a 50L anyway for some mobile jobs eventually, just wasn't expecting to need it so soon.

 

[Misterg]

How are you measuring gas flow? (Peashooter type gauge, or relying on the numbers on the pressure gauge?)

 

[mike os]

For 3h you are doing well ... don't expect to be even acceptable for a good while yet ..... just takes hours and hours of practice/ experience

 

[AdventuresInMetal]

flow meter added onto the regulator and a pea shooter at the torch for double checking

 

[chrismac]

are you keeping the filler wire under the gas cover too, not pulling it out the way to have a look at whats going on,

 

[AdventuresInMetal]

yes, the problem exists on welds without filler too

 

[carbon]

For me looking at your pictures I would just try a 2.4mm tungsten and more current approx 180amps and 120hz or a bit lower as a starting point with a fresh piece of aluminium that hasn’t been brushed or cleaned with any solvents. It needs to pool quickly, if you are having to wait a while for the pool to form the heat affected zone becomes really wide and it doesn’t weld very well in my experience.

 

[Cheesie]

Try a run without filler, that will eliminate, bad rods, I've just recently switched back to boc again, bad gas is quite common, i wouldnt get too hung up on frequency and balance and not enough gas is much worse than too much, you can weld aluminium with almost any tungsten, I have my own preference