Welding Tips and Tricks

im having problems welding aluminum. when I strike the arc my tungsten balls up really bad and I'm running thru electrodes like crazy . they are burning back into the cup. some welds look great then some are not great any help will be much appreciated.my machine is a 2013 powertig 185 using 3/32 1.5% lanathated electrode number 8 cup with gas lens . also welding 3/16 thick aluminum corner welds amps 130 .

Change the AC balance way down, you have way too much "cleaning action" or electrode positive. S/F.....Ken M

If E6M's suggestion does not help, you may have other issues...

Keep posting, keep us updated.

Steve S

ill try that and see I tried to post a picture of my settings but it wont let me upload says the file is to big . balance knob is about 3/4 to the right frequency knob is a little less

Some of those "balance" controls are labelled backward. Experiment.

BTW, to upload a pic, E-mail size is best. (640X480) You can do three to a post...

250K is the max size for a single upload, if I recall...

ill try it out and see what happens thank you and will let yall know

this any better

The pic came up, but it was more "thumbnail" than e-mail....

I couldn't make out any details...

According to the manual, that knob is set to full pen. Tungsten turning black at all?

Hi - found a better picture of your set -it appears you have the AC balance round at about 80% positive - most of these Chinese origin welders will give you the 65 > 70 % negative that you want as a starting point with the knob set around the 9 > 10 oclock position - anytime your balling tungsten badly it's a fair bet whichever way you thought the balance works it's the opposite ( mot counting gas issues or other overlooked factors )
Good luck.

yes turning black and blowing all the way back into the cup i'm new to aluminum tig so this is a learning curve with frequency and ac balance and I appreciate all the help and feed back im getting . what should my frequency be set at round about at least

countryboy1127 wrote:yes turning black and blowing all the way back into the cup i'm new to aluminum tig so this is a learning curve with frequency and ac balance and I appreciate all the help and feed back im getting . what should my frequency be set at round about at least

If it burns back but is clean it's polarity. If it turns all black you got a gas problem. Make sure all your fittings are good. Make sure it's 100% argon, look for any leaks, make sure the solenoid is firing and you can hear the gas coming out of the torch etc. What flow rate ya runnin?

For the freq setting, here's a vid from Miller. You can prolly get away with setting it at 100hz and forgetting about it till you get more familiar with everything else though.
http://youtu.be/8sWFkJYV7NU

my flow meter is in liters so im running it around 5 to 7 if I read correctly that means its about 10 to 14 cfh ill double check for leaks. on the start up my tungsten blows out and balls up really bad and when i do get an arc going its wandering and jumping from side to side ill try and upload some pics so i can show instead of just saying

here's what I get when welding guys crappy on the corner weld and some what ok on the same material just in the middle of plate I did find a small leak on my flow meter could that be causing all this or is it operator failure as well once again thanks for your help to everyone who offered their advice

You didn't, by chance, have this corner weld set up where an errant breeze could have hit the backside and blown through the gap against the shield gas? You have good weld right up to the problem, is why I ask. It doesn't take much air movement, when focused by a corner.

Steve S

no sir I was in my garage .

L per Sec to CFM conversion is just over 2, so you are right on there. I would try a little more flow. What are you using to cut / clean the ALUM? I have had issues with my lathe coolant causing problems if I don't wash the part after. Do you have access to another Gas cylinder?

Doesn't make much sense to have "crow shit on barbed-wire" in the middle of an otherwise passable weld.

With the "pepper" I see in the other pictures, it does seem like a gas problem... If the system is tight, you may well be dealing with moisture in the gas (poor product from the supplier). If it were the wrong gas (which happens), all welds would fail equally.

Steve S

Countryboy1127.

After repairing your leak ... how is welding?

Alexa

the aluminum was cut with a plasma the ground down with a flapper wheel to clean metal I did have a small leak I found im going to get a new bottle of gas on Monday and let everyone know how it turns out thanks again

@countryboy ... I welded with an Everlast a few weeks ago & the balance was opposite of a Miller or Lincoln. I would turn the balance down - which will give you LESS cleaning/balling/electrode positive. In this case, it's more of a cleaning knob than a balance knob ... Think of it as less cleaning to more cleaning as you increase it. Somebody commented that 9-10 would be a good setting & I take this to mean 9:00 or 10:00 on the dial, not 9 or 10 on a scale like a Miller where 10 is the max setting.

Here's how I set AC balance: start with a clean piece of aluminum. Turn to minimum cleaning - rotate to the left on your unit. Strike an arc & slowly add more cleaning until the puddle is clean & shines. Without enough cleaning, you'll see a thin film on the puddle or small pepper-like dots. The big thing here is that Everlast balance control is opposite of a Miller.

Beyond that, I would seriously look at the torch connections & consumables. I've seen an oily residue from the hose cause issues like this also ... As they use a lubricant to draw the cable in. From there, you want to check the gas hose & solenoid in the machine. If you don't know what to look for under the cover, simply hook your torch to the bottle & by pass the machine. Your gas will run all the time, so make it a quick check & shut it off again. A bad gas valve or a poor hose connection inside the machine can cause similar issues. This will let you know if the problem is internal without removing any screws.

Just some thoughts to add with advice from others - hope you find the issue!

Good luck!

"(...) Here's how I set AC balance: start with a clean piece of aluminum. Turn to minimum cleaning - rotate to the left on your unit. Strike an arc & slowly add more cleaning until the puddle is clean & shines. Without enough cleaning, you'll see a thin film on the puddle or small pepper-like dots. (...)"

=====

BDoubleU
Tanks.
Alexa

ps: Is BUU your ranch brand?

"B.W." (Pronounced "Bee Double-You") are his initials...

well to update I think It was bad gas welds are coming out 100% better thanks everyone for the advice. im sure ill need it again