New PP 205 Asking for help w/Aluminum...

Wow, what a difference.. Glad you got it figured out!

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Originally Posted by Ray C

OK, the problem is solved! See the picture of the torch right were my thumb is. The injection molding on the torch was askew at the back end and the two halves were slightly off and there was a very big piece of sprue (injection molding terminology for big bugger of excess material) on the brass fitting. Depending on how the gas circulates inside the torch head, the argon was leaking out the back or, creating a venturi and sucking in air. I took an exacto knife and evened-up the mold seam and happened to have a thicker neoprene O-ring to put on the end cap.

Impatient to give it a test, I grabbed the first piece of AL stock in sight, cranked-out the balance and laid down a few beads. It was a snap. Then I grabbed another piece and joined it. There's some crud in the weld because the surfaces were just quickly rubbed with some stainless steel wool. I had a hard time joining the two pieces because crud was coming to the surface I couldn't get both wet sides to mix. If the pieces were clean, it would have been a snap. Those are my very first TIG welds on AL... Woo-Hoo, I'm off to the races and get to play reindeer games with the big boys :D.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and if I got grumpy along the line, please accept my apology. Hope you understand but, I was giving this my best shot and was getting skunked big-time.

EDIT: Also, I was welding with a broken gas cup who's tip end was totally cracked off. Ordered new cups and will try some more when they arrive.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG4ZOwSw9CQ

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Originally Posted by everlastsupport

Make sure the back (black) cap on the top of the torch is screwed down so you do not see the o-ring on it. You should feel it when it seats. Check the regulator for any hairline cracks as well. Maybe cut the tungsten down and try one with the short cap that came with the torch.

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Glad you got it worked out. Were you using the short cap all along or found it when switching. Anyway, post up some of you new welds.

Found it when switching to short cap. That forced me to see something suspicious. I cleaned it up with an exacto blade and went back to the long tube/cap with a bigger O-ring. First shot, Bingo! Shiny weld pool. Was hard to manipulate it because the cone tip is busted all to heck and the arc was dancing a little due to uneven stream. Still though, day & nite difference and easy to do. Probably won't do much more until the supply of cups arrive. Will post more and possibly a video later on.

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Originally Posted by Ray C

Found it when switching to short cap. That forced me to see something suspicious. I cleaned it up with an exacto blade and went back to the long tube/cap with a bigger O-ring. First shot, Bingo! Shiny weld pool. Was hard to manipulate it because the cone tip is busted all to heck and the arc was dancing a little due to uneven stream. Still though, day & nite difference and easy to do. Probably won't do much more until the supply of cups arrive. Will post more and possibly a video later on.

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Good job.

Now your cups should last for years once you get up to speed.

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Originally Posted by everlastsupport

Good job.

Now your cups should last for years once you get up to speed.

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And the Tungsten... Was sure wondering when you said splatter was getting all over... you can practically TIG weld on your lap...

Sounds like now you will know how long the consumables last... A lot longer...

I haven’t read everyone’s posts (running out of time have to go to work soon) but from what I can see in the video … tungsten is out a little too far, hold a little more perpendicular (like a pencil) set your bal @35% and Freq. @ 100HZ (not like a Miller that uses 65%) for 1/8 set power around 115 amps + - … steady your hand … looks a little shaky and clean your work piece with a STAINLESS STEEL brush … do not use mild steel it WILL contaminate, make sure you are electrode neg ... i.e.. grounding clamp connected to the positive terminal.

OOPS guess I should have read the last post before I responded ... glad you got it figured out ... I basically read the first few posts and looked at the video ... sorry about that.

No prob. Any offer of help is a good thing. But yes, it's under control. Gas delivery was messed-up.

All the horror stories I heard about TIG seemed to be coming true but with the glitch out of the way, the very first bead came-out better than I figured it would. The joining weld wasn't so good because one piece was dirty and had a oil film on the cut edge from the bandsaw blade. Took a lot of moving the puddle around to get the sides to join.

On the beads, I wasn't tinking about what it would look like. I was concentrating on how deep the puddle is and watching to see how well the filler rod mixed with the puddle. I want to practice more and have been going-over in my mind how I want it to work out. I would like to experiment with a circular motion and push the filler when torch is at the back-side of the circle. Been practicing that motion with my hands but can't turn on the power until the gas shields and supplies arrive -and it seems like I'm waiting forever already.

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Originally Posted by Winky

OOPS guess I should have read the last post before I responded ... glad you got it figured out ... I basically read the first few posts and looked at the video ... sorry about that.

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Originally Posted by Ray C

No prob. Any offer of help is a good thing. But yes, it's under control. Gas delivery was messed-up.

All the horror stories I heard about TIG seemed to be coming true but with the glitch out of the way, the very first bead came-out better than I figured it would. The joining weld wasn't so good because one piece was dirty and had a oil film on the cut edge from the bandsaw blade. Took a lot of moving the puddle around to get the sides to join.

On the beads, I wasn't tinking about what it would look like. I was concentrating on how deep the puddle is and watching to see how well the filler rod mixed with the puddle. I want to practice more and have been going-over in my mind how I want it to work out. I would like to experiment with a circular motion and push the filler when torch is at the back-side of the circle. Been practicing that motion with my hands but can't turn on the power until the gas shields and supplies arrive -and it seems like I'm waiting forever already.

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Circular motion isn't really what you want to do. The puddle will always be a circle so that is what makes the curves. What is usually done is more of a forward and back motion, you push the arc forward and melt the base metal, then pull back just a little while you add rod. You also lift the torch just a little, like .020" this way when the puddle grows from the added rod, it will not grow into the electrode. Then wash that metal forward by pushing a little. Repeat as needed. If it's a wide gap you may need a little side to side weave as you go along, but again you concentrate the heat at the front of the puddle. The frequency will also have an effect on the bead width. Low=wide, high= narrow. A circular motion will usually give you too much time on the sides so your weld will end up sucked in a little too much.

Yeah, I will hold off on any dry practice until I can verify with a powered machine. It's not good to establish bad muscle memory but I do like going through the motions and experimenting with different holds and body positions.


BTW: You guys saw that video of me and probably think I'm ham-fisted and shouldln't be welding but reality is, I was many hours into getting frustrated with that gas issue and my steadiness and patience was shot. I researched TIG quite a bit and had a good idea of what I was getting in to. In that video I was just trying to quickly show how the surface was getting pitted and covered with slag/soot so, I was making no real attempt to hold steady -just holding close enough to strike arc and hold it long enough to show the spitting, dancing, pitting and soot issues... I had already tried a thousand times to hold steady but, never got past making a pool. I'm guessing that gas issue was causing gross amounts of oxidation that no amount of balance contol could fix so I stood no chance of making a pool.

... Now if those darn supplies would just show up!!!

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Originally Posted by Rambozo

Circular motion isn't really what you want to do. The puddle will always be a circle so that is what makes the curves. What is usually done is more of a forward and back motion, you push the arc forward and melt the base metal, then pull back just a little while you add rod. You also lift the torch just a little, like .020" this way when the puddle grows from the added rod, it will not grow into the electrode. Then wash that metal forward by pushing a little. Repeat as needed. If it's a wide gap you may need a little side to side weave as you go along, but again you concentrate the heat at the front of the puddle. The frequency will also have an effect on the bead width. Low=wide, high= narrow. A circular motion will usually give you too much time on the sides so your weld will end up sucked in a little too much.

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Originally Posted by Brian Ski

.... you can practically TIG weld on your lap....

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He's just using a figure of speech if there are any newbies reading this thread. Don't take this literally and start welding in your lap ... LOL

Good to hear you figured everything out, Ray C. Cheers.

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Originally Posted by undercut

He's just using a figure of speech if there are any newbies reading this thread. Don't take this literally and start welding in your lap ... LOL

Good to hear you figured everything out, Ray C. Cheers.

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Pretty close... You sure would never MIG weld while sitting at a chair at a bench... I do it all the time so far when TIG welding.

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Originally Posted by Ray C

All the horror stories I heard about TIG seemed to be coming true but with the glitch out of the way, the very first bead came-out better than I figured it would.

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For me I do a lot better than I expected... I am not perfect and have a lot to learn, but did pick it up easy... Knew something was up with the problems you were having... Sure glad you figured it out... Easy to shove it in a corner and not try again.

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Originally Posted by Brian Ski

... you can practically TIG weld on your lap...

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What do you mean, practically?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY2gMnMETnU

Note the "safety" short pants and the invisible gloves. I did forget to put on some flip flops, though.

I think it goes without saying, don't try this at home. Or if you do, don't come crying to me when it all goes pear shaped.

OK, the OP is fixed and figured it out (posts ago), we let it run on as it had some good info. But time to retire this one. Or cut it at a point and move to the chat lounge.

On a side note, I have had the same invisible gloves on when tacking small stuff in a hurry, not often. But safety is first, welder, grinder, saw, etc.

Just a quick update here... The new cups, thoriated rods and proper TIG gloves arrived and today was the first time welding with equipment in working order. Worked-out well enough. Here's the very first weld done on both sides of a butt joint with a very slight bevel on 1/8" 6061. 65 Amps, 100Hz, 35% balance, 4T with starting and ending amps at 45 and 4 secs pre and post flow. 1/16" rod. Arc force was set at 12 noon. Did a bend test and it wouldn't break. I also did some outside corners that came out well but struggled with inside corners. Just as I was wrapping-up, I think I figured-out what was going wrong with the inside corner... I think I was holding at too much of an angle.

Anyhow, I get the picture and need torch time but wasn't unhappy with the results. The weld looks slightly rough/etched... -maybe turn balance to 40%?

Quick question if you don't mind, I want to verify the gas line from the flow regulator can go directly to the inlet nozzle. Tank -> Flow Regulator -> Inlet on back. I'm assuming the flow regulator connected to the bottle has a pressure reducer built into it and it's preset at a sane pressure as not to blow-out the hose and guts of the machine. Correct?

Thanks...

Ray

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Originally Posted by Ray C

Just a quick update here... The new cups, thoriated rods and proper TIG gloves arrived and today was the first time welding with equipment in working order. Worked-out well enough. Here's the very first weld done on both sides of a butt joint with a very slight bevel on 1/8" 6061. 65 Amps, 100Hz, 35% balance, 4T with starting and ending amps at 45 and 4 secs pre and post flow. 1/16" rod. Arc force was set at 12 noon. Did a bend test and it wouldn't break. I also did some outside corners that came out well but struggled with inside corners. Just as I was wrapping-up, I think I figured-out what was going wrong with the inside corner... I think I was holding at too much of an angle.

Anyhow, I get the picture and need torch time but wasn't unhappy with the results. The weld looks slightly rough/etched... -maybe turn balance to 40%?

Quick question if you don't mind, I want to verify the gas line from the flow regulator can go directly to the inlet nozzle. Tank -> Flow Regulator -> Inlet on back. I'm assuming the flow regulator connected to the bottle has a pressure reducer built into it and it's preset at a sane pressure as not to blow-out the hose and guts of the machine. Correct?

Thanks...

Ray

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No need for anything more than the regulator...which does what it says and regulates not only the flow but the pressure as well.

Etching is more than adequate.

About 1 second or less preflow is all that is needed.

Arc force in TIG means nothing...it's for stick use only.

Looking much better Ray :cool: Good job!