['Stang]

Hello 'Stang,

Is this the model you have ; http://www.spawelding.co.uk/online-stor ... elmet.html

Do you have the same clarity on DC, i.e., no red flare around the arc ? Thank you.

Hey Kiwi! Sorry for the late reply. Been working long hours this week. That is the model I have. I can't give you and answer about the clarity on DC. I haven't tried it yet. I have a project going in the shop with some 16 gauge carbon tube tomorrow. I'll try it and let you know. I usually use my Miller or ArcOne on carbon. But I'll give the Easb a try tomorrow.

No worries 'Stang, many thanks for your reply. Funny, I just got myself some glasses with the same focal range as jims-wings , am looking forward to being able to see what I'm doing sometime soon !

Hey Kiwi. Tried the Esab out on DC today. Works great. You can watch the puddle turn red, and still follow the joint on the dark steel. I love that thing.

[Otto Nobedder]

Hi I am a new member, I have been welding for 45 years stick and mig but want to get into tig.
I will be buying a 6-13 shade helmet as sometimes i have a problem with seeing when useing the mig. my current auto goes down to 9, I also had a problem with bifocal glasses not being able to see at the required angle so I went to the optician and got a pair with lenses that give me perfect focus at around 14" (35cm) just a bit of a nusance when you stop welding and the workshop is a bit of a blur.

Welcome!

My solution was to have my work (safety) bifocals made with the "near" lens fully half-way up the lens, so I only have to look down a few degrees to have my close-up vision...

Steve S

[TwentyFourSeven]

Just got my 2% Lanthanated 3/32" electrodes in today also. Can't wait to give them a try.

[kiwi2wheels]

Is this the model you have ; http://www.spawelding.co.uk/online-stor ... elmet.html

Do you have the same clarity on DC, i.e., no red flare around the arc ? Thank you.

Hey Kiwi. Tried the Esab out on DC today. Works great. You can watch the puddle turn red, and still follow the joint on the dark steel. I love that thing.

Thanks very much 'Stang,I appreciate it. Now I go troll the net for prices ...

[Otto Nobedder]

Hi I am a new member, I have been welding for 45 years stick and mig but want to get into tig.
I will be buying a 6-13 shade helmet as sometimes i have a problem with seeing when useing the mig. my current auto goes down to 9, I also had a problem with bifocal glasses not being able to see at the required angle so I went to the optician and got a pair with lenses that give me perfect focus at around 14" (35cm) just a bit of a nusance when you stop welding and the workshop is a bit of a blur.

Welcome, "jims wings",

I think your introduction may have been lost in the many posts, and I hope you found good information.

Don't be afraid to share a little bit about yourself in our "introductions" section; I'm sure you'l get more help.

Steve S

[WTFH]

The weld has nice consistency and for someone who is just getting started it's very good. However it looks cold and judging from the puddle at the end it looks like you were bridging the root. By bridging the root of the joint I mean the weld was flowing to the toes but not in the root of the joint, this is a pretty common problem. When you start your weld make sure the puddle is properly formed by making sure the front edge is rounded like a normal puddle would be for mig or stick. This tells you the metal is hot enough to begin welding. Also be sure to keep an eye on is as you progress down the joint too. Just add a small amount of filler to start the weld to help the puddle form before you continue down the joint too. This will help you to not have to put a ton of heat in the to form initial puddle. I'm not sure what size filler you are using but a smaller filler diameter can help as well. You may end up having to push the filler into the puddle to get the size weld that you want but mastering that technique will benefit you in the long run. Hope this helps. keep up the good work you are off to a great start.

John

I also started practicing welding the gate trusses that go on either side of the gates. The aluminum is 1/8" I have about 6 hrs of practice. Here's my welds so far this is the best I can do. Anyone see anything that needs to be improved?

[TwentyFourSeven]

Sorry I forgot to mention I was useing 3/32 electrode with 1/8" filler rod at 140 amps.1/16" rod seems to disappear in to the work so fast I can't keep up with it. I like useing the electrode sharpened to a point but it quickly goes round. The arc is better with a point so that's why I got some 2% Lanthanated hopefully that holds a point better. It is taking a while to get a puddle going on the cold aluminum, starting on the edge is a bit of a bitch as it wants to melt away the edge of the flat bar before i get a puddle going. Thank you for the tips, I got another 4 hours in yesterday doing nothing but this same exact weld. I think I need a better regulator, the one I have doesn't seem to stay the same. It's changes a little by its self over time and I have to re adjust it every so often.

[TRACKRANGER]

Your efforts are admirable, but you might need to learn more about the theory of TIG welding Aluminum. The ball tip on the electrode is actually what is expected, but your choice of tungsten type may be misunderstood.

Lanthanted gives you good starting and arc stability, but Zirconiated might be better for AC welding aluminum, it holds the balled-end better (works in your favor for aluminum, especially for cleaning action), and is more resistive to contamination.

I personally wouldn't generally use Lanthanted over Zirconiated for aluminum welding.

If your power source has frequency control, perhaps increasing the frequency might give you better (narrower) control of the arc focus.

Just my 2 cents

Trev

[WTFH]

Sorry I forgot to mention I was useing 3/32 electrode with 1/8" filler rod at 140 amps.1/16" rod seems to disappear in to the work so fast I can't keep up with it. I like useing the electrode sharpened to a point but it quickly goes round. The arc is better with a point so that's why I got some 2% Lanthanated hopefully that holds a point better. It is taking a while to get a puddle going on the cold aluminum, starting on the edge is a bit of a bitch as it wants to melt away the edge of the flat bar before i get a puddle going. Thank you for the tips, I got another 4 hours in yesterday doing nothing but this same exact weld. I think I need a better regulator, the one I have doesn't seem to stay the same. It's changes a little by its self over time and I have to re adjust it every so often.

As far as electrodes go, 2% Lan. is just fine and the first choice of some and if you are using pure you will see a big difference in their current caring capacity or less balling of the tungsten. I always used Zirconiated because of its current capacity as compared to pure, which is worthless in my opinion. Lately I have been using E3 electrodes for both AC and DC welding and they are performing just fine but I have done no side by side comparisons with other electrode types. I have been sharpening my tungsten for AC for almost 40 years (man I feel old). This started when I had to weld this aluminum and at low amperage a big fat balled tungsten, the way I was taught, arc would wander all over the place. When you use a sharpened tungsten yes the tungsten will ball but a smaller ball performs better overall in my opinion. If you have AC balance on your machine put it more towards DCEN as you seem to have plenty of cleaning action going on this will keep the tungsten sharper.

Back to your weld. Before you begin to add filler just sit there for a bit to heat the metal up at an amperage that will not melt the base metal and every few seconds stomp the pedal to see if you are going to get a puddle started. Once the puddle is there off you go. As far as filler goes adding too much or using a filler that is to big will cool the puddle and just compound your problem. And for the 1/16" filler, you're right it will not make a big enough weld so rather than just dipping it, dip it and feed/push it into the puddle to form the bead size you want. A very handy technique to learn.

John

[TwentyFourSeven]

You guys are awesome and I appreciate all the words of wisdom. Haven't tried the Lanthanated yet but I'm hoping it will have a smaller ball on the tip which gives a sharper arc. I understand it wont stay like a sharp point but just hoping for a smaller ball. My machine does not have an AC balance (it does have dc- and dc+) but it does have cleaning/penetration balance. Right now it's set on auto but I might try turn the dial all the way to penetration to see how differently it welds. It also has pulsing but i seem to like tapping the foot peddle better because i can use it when i need it. When I was useing the 1/16 filler I was pushing it in to the puddle a lot and the stick would cause me to have to feed it extremely fast so that's why I switched to 1/8" and now I just dip it. Maybe I can use less power with the 1/16" filler. I will continue to experiment with each filler and electrodes. Another question I have is, why sometimes my weld comes out very shiny almost like a chrome finish on it and most of the time it looks normal like dull aluminum?

[WTFH]

You guys are awesome and I appreciate all the words of wisdom. Haven't tried the Lanthanated yet but I'm hoping it will have a smaller ball on the tip which gives a sharper arc. I understand it wont stay like a sharp point but just hoping for a smaller ball. My machine does not have an AC balance (it does have dc- and dc+) but it does have cleaning/penetration balance. Right now it's set on auto but I might try turn the dial all the way to penetration to see how differently it welds. It also has pulsing but i seem to like tapping the foot peddle better because i can use it when i need it. When I was useing the 1/16 filler I was pushing it in to the puddle a lot and the stick would cause me to have to feed it extremely fast so that's why I switched to 1/8" and now I just dip it. Maybe I can use less power with the 1/16" filler. I will continue to experiment with each filler and electrodes. Another question I have is, why sometimes my weld comes out very shiny almost like a chrome finish on it and most of the time it looks normal like dull aluminum?

If you have cleaning/penetration that is AC balance. Cleaning is more DC+ and penetration is DC- What kind of machine do you have? I will typically just use enough cleaning action to just barely extend beyond the toes of the weld.
The dull and shiny weld finish is it with the same filler wire, same class i.e. 4043, same manufacturer?

[TwentyFourSeven]

Lincoln precision 225. Yes the same filler wire I believes sometimes produces a very shiny weld.

[WTFH]

One of my former students has one of those machines, we were welding stainless with it last night. Nice machine, he loves it.

As far as shiny thing goes I have honestly never paid much attention I don't recall having it change using the same material and same filler. Could be the temp of the bead once the shielding gas is off of it, flow rate, now it's bugging me looks like I have a mission come Monday.

[TwentyFourSeven]

One of my former students has one of those machines, we were welding stainless with it last night. Nice machine, he loves it.

As far as shiny thing goes I have honestly never paid much attention I don't recall having it change using the same material and same filler. Could be the temp of the bead once the shielding gas is off of it, flow rate, now it's bugging me looks like I have a mission come Monday.

I will see if I can find some scrap pieces I was practicing on that came out very shiny.
My torch gets hot when I have the machine on 140 amps. I am useing a thick welding glove over a small leather glove on my hand and the torch is still pretty hot through the gloves. I may be switching to a water cooler down the road.

[WTFH]

I believe the shiny and dull thing was as I suspected. I had a few minuted to sit down and check it out. I was using a gas lens with a # 7 cup 20 CFH argon.
In the beginning a pretty normal weld and it was shiny, in the middle a lot hotter, you can see where I almost blew the top plate out, and not shiny kinda dull and the end was cold with lots of filler wire shoved in and it was really shiny. So I'm pretty sure a dull weld vs a shiny weld just means the bead was at a temperature when exposed the atmosphere would react and shiny was still in the shielding envelop at a reactive temperature. Assuming you have proper shielding gas coverage to begin with. Common sense I guess I just never paid attention to it because I never saw it change during welding.

[Otto Nobedder]

I believe the shiny and dull thing was as I suspected. I had a few minuted to sit down and check it out. I was using a gas lens with a # 7 cup 20 CFH argon.
In the beginning a pretty normal weld and it was shiny, in the middle a lot hotter, you can see where I almost blew the top plate out, and not shiny kinda dull and the end was cold with lots of filler wire shoved in and it was really shiny. So I'm pretty sure a dull weld vs a shiny weld just means the bead was at a temperature when exposed the atmosphere would react and shiny was still in the shielding envelop at a reactive temperature. Assuming you have proper shielding gas coverage to begin with. Common sense I guess I just never paid attention to it because I never saw it change during welding.

Yep, you've nailed it.

Steve S

[TwentyFourSeven]

Ah, ok. That explains it. Thank you.

[TwentyFourSeven]

Ok, been practicing some more on the gate frames. I am starting to do much better. My welds are getting more consistent and I am not leaving to much filler material to be ground down. I never knew I would enjoy welding as much as I do. I have given my work "the hammer test" beat the shit out of it. Bent the pipe back n forth and the actual pipe breaks every time before the weld. I have not had a weld crack or break yet.

[TwentyFourSeven]

Sorry for the double post with the picture link. I was trying to figure out what photobucket link was best to use.


http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p51/ ... 07b3fb.jpg

<a href="http://s125.photobucket.com/user/twenty ... b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p51/ ... 07b3fb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20140914_193019_zps1707b3fb.jpg"/></a>

[WTFH]

Lookin good!!

[TwentyFourSeven]

Thank you, there is no easy way to weld around the corner. It's all diffrent positions and I have to constantly change angles which means stopping and starting at least 3 times. I keep dipping the Tungsten by mistake here and there.

[Otto Nobedder]

Thank you, there is no easy way to weld around the corner. It's all diffrent positions and I have to constantly change angles which means stopping and starting at least 3 times. I keep dipping the Tungsten by mistake here and there.

You seem to have the initail problem solved. Everything else is just practice. Once the fundamentals are down, you'll be surprised how much simple practice improves your welds.

There's a "tipping point" where you begin to understand what's happening, and it gets easier from there. In a few weeks, you'll question why it seemed so hard at first...

Steve S

[TwentyFourSeven]

Its funny you say that because today after welding another 10 gates I wondered why it was so hard in the beginning because i kept burning through the pipe and ending up with just a big puddle of melted mess. What is it exactly that i am smelling when i weld? The gas doesn't seem to have a smell to it but as soon as I start to weld it stinks like someone is spray painting a car or using a cleaning product? Is it the corrosion protecting on the aluminum burning of or is it just the gas burning?
I still need a helmet that I can shade to #8 I am having trouble seeing when my foot is only half way down on the peddle.

[Otto Nobedder]

Its funny you say that because today after welding another 10 gates I wondered why it was so hard in the beginning because i kept burning through the pipe and ending up with just a big puddle of melted mess. What is it exactly that i am smelling when i weld? The gas doesn't seem to have a smell to it but as soon as I start to weld it stinks like someone is spray painting a car or using a cleaning product? Is it the corrosion protecting on the aluminum burning of or is it just the gas burning?
I still need a helmet that I can shade to #8 I am having trouble seeing when my foot is only half way down on the peddle.

One thing you'll smell with a HFAC arc is ionization... If you've ever been in a bar or bingo hall with a "smoke zapper", before the smoke gets thick, it's a similar smell. A little sweet, a little acrid, and not unlike the smell of "unscented" Febreeze...

Steve S

[TwentyFourSeven]

So it's the actual arc that causes the smell? I never would have guessed.