PowerTig 185 Micro Suggestions ForInside Corner on .200 Aluminum

Looking for some suggestions on Inside Corner on some .200 Aluminum,( New material ) Trying to Centralize the arc and the tungsten seems like it is getting to far back into the nozzle. Was using a 6 or 7 nozzle flow at 10 lpm.
Had amps set at 150,AC freq about 10 o'clock, tried AC Balance at about 2 o'clock and it spattered turned back down to 11 o'clock and it was better. Tungsten is 3/32 gold lanthanated 1.5%.

Welds easy in flat position corners are a little tough ,the arc is not focused in one place.

You don't need that much flow, particularly in the corners where the argon will stay trapped. Your stick out should come to where the arc length is only about a credit card thickness's thickness.

I will try to lower the flow , It is a small corner where the angle laps onto another just trying to make a smaller fillet weld.Try it around 6 lpm or lower

Thanks

I tried changing the AC Frequency turned it too about 2 o'clock that kept the tip of the tungsten from burning back and helped centralize the arc.I also turned the Balance back to about 11 o'clock.Gas was reset to 6 lpm this is what i got, material .200 aluminum to .100 aluminum 90 deg corner,This was way back in my cart i am building and was not easy to get too.Attachment 7541

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Originally Posted by cbmkr

I tried changing the AC Frequency turned it too about 2 o'clock that kept the tip of the tungsten from burning back and helped centralize the arc.I also turned the Balance back to about 11 o'clock.Gas was reset to 6 lpm this is what i got, material .200 aluminum to .100 aluminum 90 deg corner,This was way back in my cart i am building and was not easy to get too.Attachment 7541

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Soot is usually caused by low argon flow... try 7 lpm.

You will get a much better idea of how the controls effect the weld if you start with two pieces flat on the bench then weld a little with each setting, only changing one at a time, before adding in the complexities of out of position, different thickness, and confined spaces. Then when problems crop up, you will have a much better idea of what adjustments need to be made to what controls to fix the issue, instead of just guessing. There is no one magic setting good for everything, or welders wouldn't add these controls. Having said that, different techniques can replace some of these controls, too. A good welder can get good welds from a simple machine, while all the bells and whistles in the world are no replacement for practice.

But it seems like everyone wants to run, without the bother of crawling or walking. ;)

BTW, you have a huge frosted band from way more cleaning than you need for new material like that. (Tip: you fix that issue with the AC balance control)

We tried a bunch of small pieces and got different results, that weld was not easy as you could just barely reach it. I did find out that the aluminum angles i bought from the scrap yard were there for a reason they did not meet metallurgical specifications. I had one piece that did not want to weld at all. And another that was perfect , like i stated in another post this type of machine is a lot different than what i used 40 years ago and will take a little time to get used too.