Concerns noted, but confident no chance of any acid residue left. There is probably a higher risk while working with a cast repair that had unknown exposure, and that's something that would be seen fairly often in a welding shop I would imagine. Competent and experienced shops have cleaning and pre...

Watch any of these videos and you’ll have a decent explanation:
https://youtu.be/C__jEUfqUys?si=WVMDfZYJrX2m_OAu
https://youtu.be/YTCnv1RV-Ns?si=jr-Bi_U_xyuX_YHv
https://youtu.be/0BFmhDZnILU?si=DDWmO7HIsfDr81Jt

I have 2 thoughts: first is, why immerse the tungsten in acid? A quick regrind and twist with a ScotchBrite pad turns tungstens back to a bright shiny level. Heck, I don’t even polish mine up 99% of the time. Second, I can’t imagine that introducing acid into a plasma arc has benefit, in fact, it ma...

Yep, it’s interesting how much Chris dispels the old myths about aluminum welding.

I should have been more specific and said "with any MIG process", since this is what the OP was initially referring to. I know one can use different gas mixes to get into spray mode, and I have personally cut-n-etched pulsed-spray penetration on a ¼" T-joint, and while adequate there...

Also, if you are doing ½" once in a while, having 300A on tap will serve a whole lot better than a 200A-class machine. Not sure how you would even do ½" in any capacity with a 200A MIG using any process, unless you pre-heat perhaps? You run multiple passes or a different gas mix to get in...

i don't think "keeping oxide layer under assault" is a thing. once its cleaned its under gas coverage and not reforming. If the electrons are switching at much higher rate, then the oxide layer is constantly being eroded (hence, assaulted) otherwise with higher freq you get more times its...

Scribe parallel lines 3/32” apart. Let that width be your guide as a drill. There is no standard answer. It ALL depends upon the application, joint configuration, etc. But to learn and practice, make yourself stay consistent on your travel speed, movement, and torch angle. Those scribed lines help i...

I turn up the frequency to prevent overpenetration. This an example of a debated topic. With a frequency of 400Hz, I can get the same, if not better, than at 90Hz. How? Why? To understand that you have to examine what the frequency is actually doing to the electrons and the switching from EP to EN....

There is much debate about which frequency is best to weld aluminum with. For me , my experience stems from a top tier engine builder who welds up aluminum blocks, very large industrial boxes, etc. He demonstrated to me that the higher the frequency, the better the outcome. It is his contention (and...

I found this topic on Google and thought I'd join the conversation. I ' m a hobbyist welder, learning more about TIG welding techniques and eager for advice! Are there any tips on how to best set up the machine for welding 1/4-inch aluminum with limited amperage? If you provide more details about y...

There’s no “reliability” issues with inverter machines unless you buy some of the offshore made products. Even then, it’s a lottery as some folks use them with zero issues, others have hateful experiences. But the same is true with any machine whether it’s a budget brand or a top name. Top name tend...

Nice!

Glad you got it sorted and for very little cost.

Tensioning wire on a MIG is a bit of a Black Magic trick. My Miller has both a wire tensioner (at the roller) plus the spool tensions on the drive. I don’t know the Lincoln, so I don’t if it’s the same. But I had ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS recently after a buddy borrowed my unit and then unbeknownst to m...

I would do as cj stated, but, I'm missing why the machine works better running .030 wire and seems to go totally nutty with the .023 wire. Wish you the best and do keep us posted. I have a multiprocess Miller and when swapping wire diameters, I have to switch the roller. It has 0.35, 0.30 and 0.24 ...

Call one of their service centers listed on their website https://mylincoln.lincolnelectric.com/n ... uage=en_US and have them order the part. You’ll need your serial number to ensure they get the correct revision of the machine.

Not really. On/off is a binary setting whereas pulse is a synergic function. They seem similar, but at a technical level they’re quite different. Pulse allows peak time, background amperage, cycle rate, etc. Stitch functions are “I’m on for xx seconds and then I’m off for x.xx seconds”. If that’s wh...

You could braze the lead to carbon steel, then weld the carbon steel to the stainless. Lead won’t stick to stainless without an intermediate layer.

I run 5-10cfh. Again, the whole point is to protect the stainless.

Is there a particular size of purge block that you've found handy? I figure a fairly small one could be just moved and clamped in position. A larger one might just waste gas. How much gas do you think a 1"x1"x6" piece of tubing is going to "waste"? You're not wasting gas, y...

Timmy_Tiggs wrote: ↑Mon Oct 14, 2024 8:10 am I wish we had scrap steel here. Plenty of aluminum, but I've brought scrap steel from my home shop.

You don't want to use steel for a purge block, use ally.

There’s a wide variety of easy DIY blocks you can make. For corners, use ally angle iron.2 pieces to make a tube. Seam weld them together. Cap both ends with some simple flat stock. Drill a hole for the purge hose. Then on the corner of one of the angle irons pieces, mill a thin slit or drill 1/8” h...

With a 50M samples/second CRO, you would be hard pressed to resolve a pulse that is 40ns wide. Those in the image are much narrower than that and you are not likely to see 5kV unless HF start is operating. One reason some like to use an analogue CRO is that there is no aliasing - just a drop in amp...

For welding pipe, that makes sense. For welding tables, sinks and conveyors, it wouldn't. That's why these things are welded without purging. Not be a contrarian, but I’ve welded tons of sinks and counters and made purge blocks to suit the application. As I said, not always required or possible, bu...