Weld bead appearance. How to set up welder?

So I now have a CK130 to use and I'm laying down some AC beads and have a pretty good rhythm going but can't seem to get the ripples defined and I think it's with the AC balance setting. Here is some pictures of a couple beads.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...ngissue002.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...ngissue003.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...ngissue004.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...ngissue007.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...ngissue009.jpg


Hoping you guys can give me some guidance on how to setup the welder....

First, these welds do not look bad at all to start. Looks like you are laying the filler rod or dipping too fast to get the stacked up look. If you want the stacked look, it would help if you were using the machine in pulse mode but not required.

Run the pulse rate at about 0.7-0.8 sec. You will need to adjust the pulse amps (need more current for peak amps) and duration (30-40% should be good) but this will help with the rhythm.

You can get the same result by not dipping the filler material at a slower rate. Basically the stacked look is freeze marks, the faster rate you dip filler rod the more freeze marks for a given travel speed.

Looks fine to me (although you could probably get better at focusing a camera :-) )

Not sure wat you are asking? The settings of teh welder aren't really what makes weld appearance change as much as the operator. Most of teh features / settings are really not even used or beneficial for most welding.

AC balance controls how much of the waveform is positive or negative. If the material is clean, you can likely turn it the whole way counterclockwise as the oxide layer will be easily broken up.

Ac balance still confuses me a bit. Since different brands display it differently. So I have my ac balance set at 35% but is that 35% DCEP or DCEN?? My beads have the stacked dime look but are actually extremely smooth and I didn't know if that was because I need more amps, or maybe more DCEN. Maybe its because I'm using 3/32 tungsten and only have 1/16 aluminum fill rod left. I'm starting to think my fill rod is just too small for the welds I'm doing. Maybe with 3/32 or 1/8 fill rod I would get more definition I. My ridges...

Also DCEP gives more cleaning while DCEN gives more penetration right?

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Originally Posted by sw2x

Ac balance still confuses me a bit. Since different brands display it differently. So I have my ac balance set at 35% but is that 35% DCEP or DCEN?? My beads have the stacked dime look but are actually extremely smooth and I didn't know if that was because I need more amps, or maybe more DCEN. Maybe its because I'm using 3/32 tungsten and only have 1/16 aluminum fill rod left. I'm starting to think my fill rod is just too small for the welds I'm doing. Maybe with 3/32 or 1/8 fill rod I would get more definition I. My ridges...

Also DCEP gives more cleaning while DCEN gives more penetration right?

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For Everlast, % is DCEP. Bead look is from your technique. Also with only 1/16" filler , that won't chill the puddle down much so you might not get much by way of freeze lines. Automated TIG will have totally smooth beads, as well because there is a constant feed of wire, not dipping. The welds are still just as strong. For things that get polished I will often use a small wire fed constantly to make smooth welds that polish easily. With thicker wire you would get more texture. Whether that is a good thing or not is up to you.

Yes, DCEP gives more cleaning, and DCEN giver more penetration.


Sent with smoke signals using an old saddle blanket.

Very Nice:D
Turn up your Downslope aTad to get rid of your Craters at the end of your welds

If you look, the unit has a + and a - to keep you straight about the direction of polarity. The welds are fine, except your restart. Don't complain. Being smooth is just a product of a little too much heat. A stack of dimes look is not required to make a perfectly sound weld. If you 'll go and watch some of Jody's welding videos, you can see how he manipulates the torch with a slight step back and raise of the torch to create that look. Again, don't worry about it. It has nothing to do with a sound weld.

Yea, I know its a sound weld, everything I'm welding is mainly for aesthetics... I'm trying to get more consistant. They are 100 variables in my welding equation and I'm trying to narrow down what changes I can make for a better appearing weld. I'm going to try more dcen and larger fill rod and see what happens. I've found with the 1/16 I struggle to feed enough wire in to the puddle to get a good looking ridge in the weld bead. Maybe 3/32 will be the key and I don't have to change my technique. I also think because I was used to a old miller transformer machine, I'd formed my technique to the way it welded and could produce the type of welds I want, and the inverter Everlast has a ton of features, and I'm finding it more difficult to dial it in. Probably entirely a technique problem. But changing the ac balance and frequency definitely throws a monkey wrench in the mix in my hunt for the perfect looking weld bead.

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Turn up the Frequency if you don't want that wide appearance. I'd go to 1/8" filler on that edge.

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Originally Posted by performance

Turn up the Frequency if you don't want that wide appearance. I'd go to 1/8" filler on that edge.

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I'll give that a try. but I think I'll change one variable at a time so I can see what makes what difference.