New to Aluminum welding. Need some help with an issue

[Krookz]

Hey guys!

I just started with my new tig welder this week. Iv been working on figuring out what im doing wrong. I cant seem to pinpoint it. Im cleaning the Aluminum with acetone and a stainless steel brush before welding. I have a good ground, 2% ce tungsten(3/32), and have tried a multitude of settings. High/low freq, more and less ep/en time with no luck. I was having some trouble with the amp's and the foot pedal, but that was resolved with time behind the torch.

What I cannot figure out; im having the puddle turn into a skinned ball, im assuming its oxidized aluminum, either when the puddle is 1st formed or as soon as I touch the filler to the puddle. The ball tends to stick to the filler rod when I pull it out, or it just sits where I leave it and its very hard to melt. I have attached some pictures for everyone to see. Any help would be appreciated, its driving me nuts!

Another issue im having, when trying to join 2 thinner pieces of aluminum they just peel back from one another. I thought this was from dirty base material but I cleaned it several times and am not sure...

[jakesporting]

It looks as if the tungston is being contaminated in some of the pics .

On a side note is the backside of the material clean also ?

What are you welding on top of steel table ? plywood ? In the last pic it looks to me what ever is under the two pieces is where the problem is.

What is your argon flow rate and you are using your machine in AC correct ?
Jake

[Gary]

A lot of that looks like contaminated argon. It is funny that some welds look like they are getting in the right direction then fade out. What are your argon setting? Also are you welding in any wind at all? That might be that when you are welding some are better than others because if the wind blows away your sheilding gas then you get the black no gas coverage. With the one picture that you where trying to weld 2 peices together it looks like way too many amps and blowing it out , and also could be jakesporting says if you are welding on plywood that will mess with your sheiding gas as well .
Also can you hear the gas coming out on the torch tip , as in pre flow and post flow , I wonder if you might have a loose argon line or a sticky gas solenoid on the welder.
Hope this leads you in the right direction to the problem..
Gary

[Gary]

Hey Krookz,
Just looked around and found that you have the 205 combo unit.
OK this is what I suggest to get started with settings.
TAKE OFF THE FOOT PEDAL
Use 2T setting to start
set pre flow to 2 seconds and post flow about 3 or 4 seconds
Aluminum will build up heat and need to be turned down after a few welds
Set your argon guage to 5 LPM
Set amps for aluminum approx 55 amps for .125 aluminum to start . It might take a few seconds to start a puddle but I am trying to figure out why you have not gas coverage.
Set ac freq to about 1 o clock and balance at about 9 oclock
and turn off the pulse.
Without the foot pedal that might help you get used to the amp control so you are not floaring the amps to get started abd blowing out the material.
Give those setting a try to rule out the foot amp control and report back
But it does look like a gas coverage problem, The aluminum from the pic does not look like it has clear anodizing on it but make sure its clean like you did.
Gary

[Krookz]

Thanks for the reply's guys. After I posted those pictures, I found out the barb side of my regulator, where the threaded part is... its cracked. Looks like a casting defect. As you were saying about the lost argon, it was venting at the tank. It was slow enough that I couldnt hear it until I stuck my hand around the nut. I dunked that end in water and it was a steady stream of bubbles. I had it set at 5lpm throuhout my welding. Im going to contact support tomorrow and see if I can get a new regulator or parts out to me.

To answer your questions about what im welding on. I have a clean steel table that I put together as my 1st project. The last picture has some sticky label stuff on the back, so im guessing thats it from what you guys are saying. The other pics are a subb-umper that was pulled off a truck. Its unpainted and un-coated on both sides.

I originally started with the foot pedal, then moved to 2T. It seemed it was the only way I could get a good bead going. Those welds below were with the pedal attached, for experiments. Once I get the regulator sorted out, ill try what you guys suggested and post back with results

[Gary]

Well glad you found the problem, it was not enough gas coverage.
Oleg will take care of your regulator pretty fast .
Gary

[Krookz]

Got the new regulator this weekend, and gave it a shot tonight. Was able to join some thin pieces of aluminum ok. Still need some practice, and fiddling with settings to get it right. Had alot of burn thru, so it was too hot. I did it all on 2T, im gimped with the foot pedal. I even welded a guys railing tonight, and he was more than happy with my job.

Another thing I noticed while messing around in DC. The foot pedal dosnt put out as much amps as it does in 2T maxed out on the dial. Is that a limitation of the pedal?

Thanks for all the help guys, im gettin there! Ill keep posting questions for my funky findings, and practice, practice, practice

[performance]

How high does the pedal go? It should go the same. Do you have a rheostat knob on your pedal?

[Krookz]

How high does the pedal go? It should go the same. Do you have a rheostat knob on your pedal?

Its the pedal that comes with the 205. It goes up to 10, and I put the pedal to the metal.