Best aluminum settings

For everyone that has dialed in there Everlast welder to leave beautiful welds on aluminum, what are your settings? It will be interesting to compare the 30/70 to the 10/90 setups.

My 250EX is set at 40 hertz, ac balance 10%, pulser at 500pps, pulse time on 50%, background current varies with amperage needed but usually 50%, start amps 35, upslope 2.5 or 25%, Regulator at 7 L/MIN with large gas lens with short cup, red 2% thoriated ground sharp then a flat ground on the end about .050 diameter.

I weld the same parts over and over again so my setting do not change much, This is the setup where mine will weld like butter but I would like to try other setups.

srp - got any pictures of your work with those settings?

Here are the settings that I like to use lately. Seems to really "wet in" the toes of the weld bead nicely. And of course, leaves a beautifully shiny weld bead as well.

Super200p (non-adjustable 60Hz AC frequency): 25% He gas mix, 20% EP AC Balance (the minimum allowed on the machine), no pulse, 1/16" 2% lanthanated tungsten, about 12-15 cfh total gas flow with a #6 gas lens.

(Post edited with picture added: )
Attachment 5242

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Originally Posted by jakeru

srp - got any pictures of your work with those settings?

Here are the settings that I like to use lately. Seems to really "wet in" the toes of the weld bead nicely. And of course, leaves a beautifully shiny weld bead as well.

Super200p (non-adjustable 60Hz AC frequency): 25% He gas mix, 20% EP AC Balance (the minimum allowed on the machine), no pulse, 1/16" 2% lanthanated tungsten, about 12-15 cfh total gas flow with a #6 gas lens.

(I'll edit this post with a picture later.)

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I will get some lanthanated and try your set up, do you think me not having the 25% helium will make a difference?

I posted a pic of the aluminum parts I weld, I will post more later.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/Muffler1.jpg

That is a beautiful wide bead I love it.

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Originally Posted by srp

I will get some lanthanated and try your set up, do you think me not having the 25% helium will make a difference?

I posted a pic of the aluminum parts I weld, I will post more later.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/Muffler1.jpg

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Yes, IMO, the shielding gas selection makes a pretty significant difference.

Those welds look excellent in consistency and heat control. You might notice however, compared to mine, (and that is also 1/16" 6061 aluminum tubing welded to 6061 1/4" plate with 4043 filler rod) that the toes are not quite wetted in to the same extent. It's also hard to tell from the photo, but also potentially a small amount of "graininess" in areas of your weld bead will go away with the Helium mix.

I'm interested if you do try the Helium mix, to hear what you think.

(PS - Keep in mind my Super200P doesn't allow 10%EP AC Balance... or else I might be using it.)

Also, I might have to play around with trying 300Hz pulsing (that's the highest pulsing frequency my machine can do) with the Helium mix... I haven't experimented with much pulsing in conjunction with the Helium mix yet.

Good idea for a thread topic. +1

Maybe I'll have an aluminum setup soon, then I'll come back and check in on this again.

I was hoping a lot of people would post there settings, I would like to have more than just one good setup. I welded many years with a Syncrowave at a fixed 60 hertz and 32% electrode positive and did like welding on it very much. Welding on a Dynasty for year and come up with the setup I use now. I would like to have a few more setups that are known to work so I don't have waste a bottle of argon at 88 dollars a bottle. Setups in the 20% to 35% electrode positive range is what I need for a less focused arc, that hopefully will not be hard on consumables .

Maybe I should have just asked everyone what settings they run and not which ones will leave perfect welds every time.

Nice weld jakeru.

I use 120 hz 75% en and don't pulse unless I'm near a edge or working on a very small part and don't was a puddle of aluminum when I'm done. I have experimented with pulse alot on aluminum and don't find it as productive as when on dc. When I need a small arc I crank up the hz. Like the inside of a boxed joint. To get into the corner I use around 200hz or higher. High frequency ac kills my ears though. It buzzes with a swarm of angry african bees. If I'm doing a butt joint I go lower to 50 hz or so. It is a wider bead and fills in nice.

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Originally Posted by Cippee

I use 120 hz 75% en and don't pulse unless I'm near a edge or working on a very small part and don't was a puddle of aluminum when I'm done. I have experimented with pulse alot on aluminum and don't find it as productive as when on dc. When I need a small arc I crank up the hz. Like the inside of a boxed joint. To get into the corner I use around 200hz or higher. High frequency ac kills my ears though. It buzzes with a swarm of angry african bees. If I'm doing a butt joint I go lower to 50 hz or so. It is a wider bead and fills in nice.

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Not counting when welding close to an edge or welding a small part that will heat up fast. I use lower frequency's like 35 to 40 hertz, at that frequency the filler rod seems to flow smoothly and is easy to see. When not on pulse it is even easier to see. When one or both parts are thick, I use low frequency's and sometimes go up to 20% EP. When both parts are thin, I will weld at 110 hertz and 10% EP, this setting is not what I would call a sweet setting but will get the job done.

On one of the 250EX's, putting the start amps at 35 keep it from spudering and give it a clean start with not contamination.

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Originally Posted by srp

I was hoping a lot of people would post there settings, I would like to have more than just one good setup. I welded many years with a Syncrowave at a fixed 60 hertz and 32% electrode positive and did like welding on it very much. Welding on a Dynasty for year and come up with the setup I use now. I would like to have a few more setups that are known to work so I don't have waste a bottle of argon at 88 dollars a bottle. Setups in the 20% to 35% electrode positive range is what I need for a less focused arc, that hopefully will not be hard on consumables .

Maybe I should have just asked everyone what settings they run and not which ones will leave perfect welds every time.

Nice weld jakeru.

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Let's look at this in the order of importance. First, Call your gas supplier and explain to him that you have a wife/girlfriend for all your sexual needs and damn sure don't require him F*#king you !Thank you very much!! Seriously I pay 40 dollars a bottle for Argon and that's a 330 size bottle and 80 for Helium! I can't imagine what they charge for Helium if they are raping you that bad on argon! You really can negotiate a lot better deal on gas than that.. Oh don't think for a minute they don't try that crap on everyone because they do. Recently I got a little pissie with my gas supplier because he wasn't getting me service like I needed so I went shopping and the company I went to for a quote tried that same crap with me... I told them Ah... I don't think so and next thing you know they are at 40 on their argon and still a little high on the Helium at 100 and I passed on them.. Had a heart to heart with my supplier and life is good again.. They all get sloppy over time and they all try and slip your prices up & service down if you don't watch... Also buy your bottles every chance you have some spare change it really adds up when you rent them..

Now back to the settings.... I spent some time yesterday just trying different setting on my Dynasty... Started at 400 hrtz and ran a weld, dropped to 200, 100, 50, and to be 100% honest I could make it look the exact same no matter where I had it... I also done this same process with every wave shape it has as well.. I ran 80% EN since I was welding clean material that I wire brushed... and I also ran a 2 to 1 EN verse EP ratio which I know you guys with Everlast don't have access to... That helps a great deal with abuse on the electrode from the EP. Since I foot pedal I just set the amps to 300 and didn't mess with it any at all... To me it's the same as driving down the street in my truck. Just because it will run a 100 don't mean I have to press the gas pedal to the floor and do it. I set the machine to a max setting that I know is far above anything I'll need to weld whatever I'm doing and use what I need of the power at hand to do the job...... How this serves me well is ...... If I get into a corner or any situation where I need to add heat to make a tie in it's there and requires me to do nothing more than move my foot. This method works for me no matter what I'm welding from 4130 Moly to 6061 Aluminum... Now if I need a great amount to resolution on my pedal I'll set the max amps just above what I determine it will take for the job... This is a good general rule of thumb for my welding style... On the Everlast unit since it had such foot pedal control issues I did find that I was setting the pulse control and making a lot more test runs and running it flat footed on the max amps I had set. HOWEVER! and this is a pisser doing that... The test strips were never the same size heat sink as the actual part I would be welding so the numbers that worked perfect on the test were always cold on the actual part until after it heated up a great deal which is something I try to avoid allowing to happen in the first place! I find it's not the hot settings that cause me the most heat build up on a part, but rather the lower heat setting that require more time in one spot soaking the material with heat that warps the crap out of things! I much rather have the power on hand to start a puddle NOW! and take off laying down nickles over the other method! I'm concerned with two things. The finished product and the amount of machine time required after welding to get the flanges flat and bolt pattern to fit!

I do agree that the lower hrtz settings allow more visual control over the puddle somewhat.. I guess that's a good way to describe it? Keep in mind I'm 48 and in the last 3 years my eyes have started to get worse. I never needed glasses until 3 years ago for anything and now I need them to eat almost! LOL!!!!! Not that bad yet but to someone that always had good eyes needing glasses at all is a shock!

As for the settings I have said this several times since I got the Dynasty. It will weld no matter where it's set! Every time I've said this it has been met with personal attacks that quickly degraded the thread until finally a full blown fight had broken out, but it's a true statement for me...... Jody says it very well and often when he's making TIG videos ..... A welder that uses a foot control makes up a lot for the machine settings! His exact wording varies but that's what he means.. There's so much that years of experience can adjust for in an instant by adjusting torch angle, arc length, and a quick amp adjustment with the pedal one direction or the other... Although I only recently owned a machine with pulse controls I have pulse welded for years with my foot control! I can foot pulse a good steady 1 pulse a second and hit the same high/ low marks time after time! I suppose this explains why the foot control issue was so great for me on the EXT and maybe not as much for others and they had more issues with the hot start! Because I do depend on my foot control for so much if it don't work perfectly I'm not a happy camper! The issues that my EXT did have just happened to be right in my sweet spot for the style of welding I prefer and that amplified the issue in my case and apparently Todd's as well.. After several conversations on the phone we find that we have led a fairly parallel life in the work place..kinda funny and strange just how parallel it really is!

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Originally Posted by GUNNER

Call your gas supplier and explain to him that you have a wife/girlfriend for all your sexual needs and damn sure don't require him F*#king you!

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That's funny, right there. :cool:

Yeah I'm going to lease a bottle soon because it costs alot less to get them filled.

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Originally Posted by Cippee

Yeah I'm going to lease a bottle soon because it costs alot less to get them filled.

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Not lease...... Buy if at all possible.... One time cost and DONE!

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Originally Posted by jp2code

That's funny, right there. :cool:

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Well my remark was a little funny but the fact that his supplier is screwing his eyes out isn't funny at all it's very sad that they rape people the way they do..... Anyone that don't know what this stuff should really cost get's hammered in the tail !! Even at 40 bucks a bottle they are making money!

Why do you own your bottle gunner? They said bottles over 80cf are only for lease. I don't want to get raped either so I want to know the deal before I get there.

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Originally Posted by Cippee

Why do you own your bottle gunner? They said bottles over 80cf are only for lease. I don't want to get raped either so I want to know the deal before I get there.

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Yes I do! I own 300cf bottles... They aren't cheap but it's a one time expense...

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Originally Posted by srp

Welding on a Dynasty for year and come up with the setup I use now. I would like to have a few more setups that are known to work so I don't have waste a bottle of argon at 88 dollars a bottle. Setups in the 20% to 35% electrode positive range is what I need for a less focused arc, that hopefully will not be hard on consumables .

Maybe I should have just asked everyone what settings they run and not which ones will leave perfect welds every time.

Nice weld jakeru.

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Thanks much for sharing your experienced setup, and for the words of encouragement. Here is another weld bead I just laid the other day with my aforementioned settings. (same weld bead shown, with and without camera flash) This is about 1/8-3/16" thick material, hard anodized surface removed by customer prior to me welding. It seems like these droplets are shaped kind of like a row of little discs sitting on the surface, (rather than more hemispherically shaped mounds), which I think looks pretty cool.
Attachment 5273

On this one, I tried pulsing with my foot pedal just a bit with each drop. I felt like it helped me control the bead width and the pace of droplet adds a little better (sometimes I felt like I needed to slow down and let my feeding hand catch up.) Of course, timing and manipulation of the torch and filler affect the result as well. Sorry I can't share more details of this project, such as overall project pics.

I own all my own bottles, too. My argon is one of those medium sized units, but the Oxy and Acetylene bottles are the full size versions.

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Originally Posted by Cippee

Why do you own your bottle gunner? They said bottles over 80cf are only for lease. I don't want to get raped either so I want to know the deal before I get there.

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Over 80cf? That is a pretty small bottle. I have a 155cf bottle that I own (Just got it filled / exchanged the other day). I believe larger than that may be lease only at the places I go, but I have never seen the cutoff be at only 80cf.

BTW, exchanging the 155cf was $36 and change including tax for a walk in.

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Originally Posted by sportbike

BTW, exchanging the 155cf was $36 and change including tax for a walk in.

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Again my 330 bottle of Argon is 40 bucks out the door! This is at 2 different suppliers.... Airgas is one of them and they are a national company and the other is local owned 3 stores in the state and they do 40 on a 330 Argon as well.. I do business with the local guys because I have used them for over 20 years same sales man the whole time....