[jonlereux]

I have been trying to weld aluminum with a new miller inverter welder and new gas bottle I just purchased. I cannot create a weld pool and I have a yellow powdery substance around what looks like a lava rock type surface.
Do I have the wrong shielding gas? I asked for 100% Argon, but I am afraid it is not.

My settings are
1.AC
2.Frequency set @ 100-120
3.65% EN
4.AMPs 120
5.Tungsten 3/32 Thoriated ground to a point length wise
6. I have even ground the entire surface of one of the plates with a new flap wheel,still the same results.
Unfortunately I do not have another bottle of gas to try. I have tried welding 1/8 and 1/4 inch aluminum plate with the same results. Any help would be apreciated

[mister bobo]

what is the flowrate?

[jonlereux]

I tried adjusting flow rate anywhere from 15 to 22 CFH. Same results

[jpence38]

Not trying to be insulting or anything, but are you 100% sure that is aluminum? If you rented your bottle, it will have a sticker on it that tells you the gas type.

[Gary]

That looks like to me that you have a bottle of CO2 insted of Argon.. I had that type of result when I bought my TIG aand had a bottle left over from my MIG and that was the same sugaring crap that would come up. But check your gas , if you take it back to the supply they can just smell the gas difference between CO2 and argon. Argon has a wangy smell to it and co2 barely has a smell.
Gary

[jonlereux]

Thanks for the reponse,

Material is 6061 aluminum, dead soft, no anodizing. actually cut all of the pieces on the band saw. Bottle is a 1800 psi 55CF bottle and was purchased new. It was supposedly filled with 100% argon when I picked it up. Bottle has absolutely no markings on it whatsoever.
There is a yellow powdery substance around where the weld puddle would occur. I guess I will attempt this bottle on my Mig welder and see what results I get.

Will a company like Airgas clearly mark their bottles when they exchange?

[jpence38]

Yes, they are mandated by law to clearly mark every bottle as to its contents.

[johnnywgk]

dont know if it matters, but Thoriated tungstens are for steel, not Ali. (as far as i know)

[gurew]

the type of tungsten doesnt matter persay..there are types that are better...but thoriated is just fine. what you have is a gas issue....argon has a um..fishy type smell to it, i would stop using it and take it back asap for a refund/exchange...

[jonlereux]

Thanks for the reply.

It is a pain in the @$$ learning tig as it is, I dont need the wrong gas to complicate matters further.
As for the wrong tungsten, I have not heard that Thoriated is bad for Aluminum, is this the case? I have pure tungsten, but was told not to use them with my Dynasty.
If Airgas clearly marks the bottles with what gas is in them I will buy and exchange through them
I just happened to buy this bottle @ a local welding supply store and had it filled before I left. Asked for 100% argon, but who knows what I received, no markings, etc.

I am simply amazed what a difference the wrong shielding gas can make.

Lesson learned

[ogorir]

thoriated is probably the best for aluminum, but jody did a shootout a while ago and the 2% lanth held a point the best on ac. it's harder to find than the 1.5% lanth, which the thoriated beat. I'm not a huge fan of the ceriated, I've had splitting issues w/ 1/16" and 3/32" on AC around 80A for the 1/16" and 125A for the 3/32" with 2 different manufacturers of tungsten. the thoriated ones are VERY mildly radioactive, significantly less so than a radium-green watch dial, but there is that consideration. they're being phased out by osha health nuts. if you've ever lit up on anything galvanized w/o a fresh respirator, you probably increased your chance of getting lung cancer more than breathing a lifetimes worth of 2% lanth tungsten dust.

good thing, though, that the 'safer' option doesn't suck in this instance, unlike lead-free electronic solder...