tonights tig practice a complete bust

[revkev6]

I've really been slacking off on my practice lately. I moved into a new position at work recently that has my stress and time maxed out. Tonight I had it all planned out. the wife was going to her friends "food of the month selling party thing" or something, so I was home with my son who is asleep by 7:30. I had received a bunch of good clean 1/8" aluminum scrap cut off's from a sheetmetal shop, I had a fresh tank of gas, a brand new 1/8" gold tungsten, a couple lengths of 5/32 40403 rod, a baby monitor just in case and a couple good hours to kill. I was EXCITED to sit back down at my table and run some beads.



but I got nothing. I couldn't run beads for whatever reason tonight. I feel worse than starting from scratch. I haven't welded aluminum since spring and I'm paying for it. tomorrow, I will be putting together a list of supplies I need and ordering up a restock. If I'm going to practice, I'm going to do it with enough supplies to change things up and keep going!

even worse was when I switched back to steel to make myself feel better I swapped the cables around but forgot to flip the ac/dc switch. took me a full minute before I figured that out. what a putz! I cut my losses and called this session a bust!

next time I'll get it.

[parkour]

Uh, you swapped the cables around? I've never heard of that, I'm pretty sure you just leave the torch in the (-) connector. Maybe that's what caused the less than optimal results. Did the tungsten stay needle sharp, or did it ball up and the arc wonder all over the place? Enough gas flow? Was the aluminum clean, really clean? I don't think there would be a problem welding steel with AC; it's just not needed.

[Steve]

Your practice was not a total loss. You learn a lot when making mistakes and I have made tons of them. I learned a lot from them and continue to do so. I think learning from mistakes are a better way to learn than doing everything perfectly the first time.

[sportbike]

Yeah, with tig I've never switched the electrode. Only when stick welding.

Also, if you are having difficulty with aluminum, try some nice clean material and just do some autogeneous welds on the surface (run a bead on the plate with no filler) to get back in the groove (no pun intended) of pushing the puddle. Then introduce the filler metal. One thing to remember is that every time you dip cold aluminum filler into a molten puddle, you remove heat from the puddle to melt the filler. (sometimes helps to understand that when trying to troubleshoot welding issues)

[revkev6]

I am really glad I posted up about my misadventures. For whatever reason I thought the last time I welded aluminum I had to swap the leads. Just went and double checked the manual and you guys are correct. Actually makes me feel better that it was a mistake of my memory more than anything else!

[ogorir]

you're reversing your AC balance settings by reversing the leads, so it's no wonder theoretically, that'd be the only difference I can think of.

[revkev6]

you're reversing your AC balance settings by reversing the leads, so it's no wonder theoretically, that'd be the only difference I can think of.

I did mess with the balance as it seemed like the tungsten would heat up and not hold an arc...... probably adjusting it the WRONG way doh!

[67cudafb]

Are you sure you didn't hit your head when the honda got away, that be my excuse and I sticking too it.

[revkev6]

Are you sure you didn't hit your head when the honda got away, that be my excuse and I sticking too it.

lmao, you think like I do! I couldn't even blame it on beer!

[Steve]

One big thing to remember when welding aluminum is that it can get too hot. Sometimes you have to let it cool down in order to not burn through.

Another thing to watch is the first part of the weld. The tig weld will be smaller as the material is not up to heat as the end of the weld is. It seems that the weld puddle spreads out more as the weld progresses. So what I do is a little bit of back stepping for the first few inches as the material is cold. That allows it to heat up and look like the rest of the weld.

Aluminum welding will make you a better all around tig welder as aluminum magnifies the problems with set up and your method.

[revkev6]

One big thing to remember when welding aluminum is that it can get too hot. Sometimes you have to let it cool down in order to not burn through.

Another thing to watch is the first part of the weld. The tig weld will be smaller as the material is not up to heat as the end of the weld is. It seems that the weld puddle spreads out more as the weld progresses. So what I do is a little bit of back stepping for the first few inches as the material is cold. That allows it to heat up and look like the rest of the weld.

Aluminum welding will make you a better all around tig welder as aluminum magnifies the problems with set up and your method.

I was using clean 1/8" aluminum plates that were about 6" by 10". I was actually having some issues getting a stable arc. I wiped them down with acetone before I started.

I'm pretty sure it was mostly "me". I do have a little practice from early spring where I could lay decent beads. I need more rod and tungsten before I can really get back to it and trial and error what works better.

[performance]

Revkev6,

You're one of the few who didn't call in and blame it on the machine when this happened. I'd like to thank you for using this forum to discuss the issue, showing how this forum can work for customers, as it was intended. Again, thanks. Its great for us....and for our customers.