TIG Aluminum Question

LtBadd · Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:27 pm

Hi, I've welded a lot of Al, however for the past 15 years mostly stainless and other alloys, I have a project to weld 1" square tubing, 1/8" wall. Is 150 amps enough to do this? I'll need to buy a machine and seeing the duty cycle of (for example) the Thermal Arc 186 I'm wondering if this machine would be up to the task.

Thanks
Richard

Blaze659 · Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:46 pm

How much are you paying for the Thermal Arc? It has a low duty cycle even at 150 amps. Go to the Everlast site and see the prices of their machines. You probably can get a stronger machine or at least one with a way better duty cycle to Tig with. 150 amps will work because the tubing is so small and heats up quick. But really look at Everlast, you might be able to afford a pulse tig machine. I have the 250Ex and its awesome. Jody tested it and gave it good praise. I've welded everything from thin sheet metal to 1/4 inch wall steel with it and it does great.I just welded 1/8 inch wall tube to 1/4 inch plate. Good luck!

LtBadd · Wed Nov 04, 2015 11:26 pm

Blaze659 wrote:How much are you paying for the Thermal Arc? It has a low duty cycle even at 150 amps. Go to the Everlast site and see the prices of their machines. You probably can get a stronger machine or at least one with a way better duty cycle to Tig with. 150 amps will work because the tubing is so small and heats up quick. But really look at Everlast, you might be able to afford a pulse tig machine. I have the 250Ex and its awesome. Jody tested it and gave it good praise. I've welded everything from thin sheet metal to 1/4 inch wall steel with it and it does great.I just welded 1/8 inch wall tube to 1/4 inch plate. Good luck!

Thanks, the Everlast looks a lot better

Poland308 · Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:14 am

I personally have a thermal arc 186. I've never tripped it out yet. Even maxed out.

LtBadd · Thu Nov 05, 2015 6:07 am

Poland308 wrote:I personally have a thermal arc 186. I've never tripped it out yet. Even maxed out.

Hey Josh, thanks for the input

TwentyFourSeven · Thu Nov 05, 2015 8:26 am

I weld 1/8" Aluminum Tube all the time. When i do I weld all day none stop to get as much done as possible. I have a Lincoln Precision Tig 225
150 Amps was enough to melt the tube with Pure Argon. Problem I had was hitting duty cycle all the time because doing production welding I was never giving the machine a break. Even at 140 amps I was hitting the duty cycle 50% of the time. I was getting nothing done in a days work. When I turned the amps lower than 140 I could not melt the tube.

Before I go spend thousands on a bigger machine I decided to try Helium mix.
I got a Y line made up from the local shop, bought a cheap regulator to try this Helium mix everyone talks about. I now have both tanks purging just a very small amount of gas, just enough to barley move the guages. The heat diffrence is unbelievable. I am now welding all day long melting 1/8" Aluminum with 110 Amps and never hitting the duty cycle anymore. Keep in mind this is with the smallest amount of gas i can get the guages to flow. if i turn the Helium up more I was melting the stuff on 90 amps. Mixing Helium saved me spending thousands on a big machine and it doesnt take much Helium to make a big diffrence. I now melt the metal much more at 110 amps that i have to move faster or the melted beads of fill try to turn in to a river..lol
The best tungsten I have found that hold a nice shiney balled tip has been the white sticks. All the other tungstens (red and blue) splintered and never held a good tip.3/32 #7 gas saver cup.

LtBadd · Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:36 pm

TwentyFourSeven wrote:I weld 1/8" Aluminum Tube all the time. When i do I weld all day none stop to get as much done as possible. I have a Lincoln Precision Tig 225
150 Amps was enough to melt the tube with Pure Argon. Problem I had was hitting duty cycle all the time because doing production welding I was never giving the machine a break. Even at 140 amps I was hitting the duty cycle 50% of the time. I was getting nothing done in a days work. When I turned the amps lower than 140 I could not melt the tube.

Before I go spend thousands on a bigger machine I decided to try Helium mix.
I got a Y line made up from the local shop, bought a cheap regulator to try this Helium mix everyone talks about. I now have both tanks purging just a very small amount of gas, just enough to barley move the guages. The heat diffrence is unbelievable. I am now welding all day long melting 1/8" Aluminum with 110 Amps and never hitting the duty cycle anymore. Keep in mind this is with the smallest amount of gas i can get the guages to flow. if i turn the Helium up more I was melting the stuff on 90 amps. Mixing Helium saved me spending thousands on a big machine and it doesnt take much Helium to make a big diffrence. I now melt the metal much more at 110 amps that i have to move faster or the melted beads of fill try to turn in to a river..lol
The best tungsten I have found that hold a nice shiney balled tip has been the white sticks. All the other tungstens (red and blue) splintered and never held a good tip.3/32 #7 gas saver cup.

Thanks for the info 24-7, I'm not surprised that the helium did the trick for you. Did you also max out the AC balance for penetration to achieve this?

Richard

TwentyFourSeven · Thu Nov 05, 2015 9:32 pm

Yes, I always weld on full. Buy the biggest machine you can afford.

Oscar · Fri Nov 06, 2015 9:09 pm

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I had read that "helium won't turn your welder into a monster", but it sure seems like it. Wish I had more aluminum projects to try this out on.

TwentyFourSeven · Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:59 pm

Oscar wrote:Thanks for taking the time to post this. I had read that "helium won't turn your welder into a monster", but it sure seems like it. Wish I had more aluminum projects to try this out on.

I had my doubts. Im happy I tried it. Huge diffrence, If I use a little to much Helium I cant burn my filler rod down much less than 4" without burning the shit out of my hand with my normal thin glove that I can normally burn down to about just over an inch without Helium. I still have to use a little argon with it because just strait Helium provides no shield and burns black sut marks.

LtBadd · Sat Nov 07, 2015 8:46 pm

TwentyFourSeven wrote: I had my doubts. Im happy I tried it. Huge diffrence, If I use a little to much Helium I cant burn my filler rod down much less than 4" without burning the shit out of my hand with my normal thin glove that I can normally burn down to about just over an inch without Helium. I still have to use a little argon with it because just strait Helium provides no shield and burns black sut marks.

If I win this project I may bite the bullet and get the Dynasty 210DX, it has the duty cycle to get it done.

Richard