Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello my name is Jamie, I was professional Arc welder in the City of New York for over 20 years with SMWIA. Certified in arc. Also certified with the AWS in arc and flux core in 3G-4G position in steel. Many years back I went to Nassau Boces welding school for I forget how many hours of training where I learned many forms of welding Arc,Mig, Tig, Gas welding, Brazing.
A few years back I bough a miller diversion 180 and re taught myself how tig weld aluminum and started a very small welding business repairing Harley Davidson heads and other aluminum parts.
I was doing ok with it until my diversion went under water in a flood.
I bought a dynasty 200 DX I believe the machine with all the whistles and bells and this machine is way more complicated than I can figure out hopefully with some advice from some of you I can get some where with it.

I haven't used the 200. I have a 280DX and love it.

I dont know if there is a differance in the two machines other than amps thats why I am here, to learn. Anyone that claims to know it all knows nothing.

If I remember specs from before buying, the 280 will go lower in amps than the 200. You can, though I haven't bought it get an update to make amplitude adjustable. EN & EP can have differing amperage. Being able to adjust frequency, and balance, together with a six times better duty factor will leave the Diversion in the dust welding aluminum.

LIke I said all I have have to do is figure out how to do and use all setting and where there are best suited? With my diversion it was simple and my welds were beauful with no porosity.
With most of what I do is weld a pass or three and then grind /flap disc out almost half of the weld I just laid down and right in the middle of my pass pin holes and pososity in the begining of the weld , I never had these problems with the other machine. I would go back to using it but as I said it went under water the last time my shop flooded.

Jamie,
I would set my balance to 72 and the frequency to 120 and you basically have the fixed settings of the diversion. I'm fairly sure that's the numbers that I've heard, either way it's a good starting point. Someone more familiar with the 2 machines can correct me if I have this wrong.

Len

Ill give it a try,How do I do that?

The 280 has Pro Set, does 200? Adjust from there to fine tune for your needs. Low frequency heats quicker for thicker aluminum. Higher frequency narrows the arc for thinner aluminum.
Lower Electrode negative increases cleaning action, penetrates less, and risks overheating the tungsten. Higher EN gives less cleaning, narrower etch width beyond the weld, less heating the tungsten, and deeper penetration.
Pulse puts less net heat into the work. Thin stock, or building the very edge of a piece will benefit from pulse.

The Diversion forced you to heat a long time to form a puddle, then when ready to weld, you have exceeded your duty cycle. The Dynasty allows you to hit it hard, form a puddle, gain penetration, then move!

Consider adding 1/4 helium for thick stuff. I like 4943 for many applications, 5356 for others.

I would love to go actually do this but this all sounds greek to me i have no idea what all that is and how to set my my machine to do this.

HI Jamie,
I have five Dynasty 280's and I love them! I don't know the differences between the 200 and 280! I hate to put this out there, but have you tried a RTM? (Read the Manual?).

Keep in mind some basics;
For TIG mild steel, your settings are going to be fairly basic
TIG aluminum will require you to be set on AC

Don't get too lost into functions like 'wave function', 'infinite bar tab' or 'Tuesday only mixed drink specials'. Take it one step at a time, and try it out at each step. You can do this!

Make sure you have your gas fully functioning, arc is complete and you should be ready to go! I will warn you that it can get complex when you get into everything that you can do with stainless; but cross that bridge when you get there!
Gary

If you operated the Diversion successfully with aluminum, go to pro set. This will approximate the behavior of Diversion, but more robust. I haven't found all the wave shapes useful, I mostly use soft square. Typically, with clean brushed aluminum, I use 80%.

Boomer63 wrote:HI Jamie,
I have five Dynasty 280's and I love them! I don't know the differences between the 200 and 280! I hate to put this out there, but have you tried a RTM? (Read the Manual?).

Keep in mind some basics;
For TIG mild steel, your settings are going to be fairly basic
TIG aluminum will require you to be set on AC

Don't get too lost into functions like 'wave function', 'infinite bar tab' or 'Tuesday only mixed drink specials'. Take it one step at a time, and try it out at each step. You can do this!

Make sure you have your gas fully functioning, arc is complete and you should be ready to go! I will warn you that it can get complex when you get into everything that you can do with stainless; but cross that bridge when you get there!
Gary

I have read and reread the manual and I cant uderstand a damn thing its saying. I know ac is for aluminum and DC is for steel.

Bill Beauregard wrote:If you operated the Diversion successfully with aluminum, go to pro set. This will approximate the behavior of Diversion, but more robust. I haven't found all the wave shapes useful, I mostly use soft square. Typically, with clean brushed aluminum, I use 80%.

I have no idea how to change the wave function of the machine or what pro set is? The book is absolutly useless to me on this.
Lets back up a bit I am using pure argon as I am suposed to Dark blue or gold tungsten 3/32 both lath I believe. As I am welding my puddle looks bright, clean and shiny, but by the time I am done with a pass it goes from shiny to very dull and dirty and looks like it is covered in a very fine fine powder almost while the bead structure seams to flaten out. Not get any wider just flatten out

Sorry, Jamie. I wish I had the same machine so I could talk you through it. I am going to check into see how similar the 200 is to the 280's that I have; maybe that will help you.
Sorry I couldn't do more!
Gary