Butt Welding Aluminum Pipes

[Rugar]

So I finally got the chance today to put the welder back together and got a chance to test it out and now everything sounds like it does in Jody's videos. Thank you for all of your help. now I will get some correct practice welding aluminum after I get some more gas tomorrow. Also another question I have is should I use 2% ceriated tungsten for aluminum or just stick with the 2% thoriated tungsten.

Awesome! Glad it was a simple fix.
I used 2% thoriated when I first got mine and didn't like it. But it was the cheap Radnor brand from Airgas (guess I should say expensive in price from Airgas, but cheap in the quality area), but it could have just been me just starting out. Since I have used Tri-mix (which is a hybrid mix) and 2% Lathonaided, both from Diamond Ground Products, and just recently Arctime from Arczone which is also a hybrid mix, and I cant really tell much difference between the last three. Once I get more experience I might, but for now they all seem fine. I'm going to try the 2% thoriated again now though just to compare it, since I'm welding more now then grinding electrodes like I was a month ago. LMAO

[sschefer]

Gerald, the turning point for me was what I found out about cleaning Al. Those cheap Radnors turned out to be not that bad after all.

[performance]

About any combination will be fine. Thoriated has been the standard for years, and still in most tests, show the best HF starting characteristics and general overall stability. Ceriated is something that MIller recommends on their products, however, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Lanthanated works well in ours, as well as Thoriated. I use thoriated. I guess if someone else was paying for it, I'd get lanthanated.

Its a common misconception to believe that the whole electrode is made of this as a "alloy". In fact the outside is actually tungsten, and a small shaft or core of thorium runs down the middle.

Here's some useful reading from a site "promoting" its own product, but cites from reliable sources, though it is highly summarized:
http://www.pro-fusiononline.com/tung...ioactivity.htm

[drifterific]

I went ahead and just stuck with the thoriated tungsten. Now that my AC switch is working I am getting good result. I was able to but weld some aluminum pipe together.

I did have a question though, will I eventually beable to tack weld aluminum together without filler rod? I saw my friend do it on his syncrowave but it would break easily when we would move the pipes to fully weld them.

But everything is working great and I hope the pictures of the connector will help anyone else that may have this problem in the future.

[everlastsupport]

I did have a question though, will I eventually beable to tack weld aluminum together without filler rod? I saw my friend do it on his syncrowave but it would break easily when we would move the pipes to fully weld them.

If the two base/parent metals are tight to each other (no big gap) and clean, you can tack them with a TIG by flowing them together. The thicker the better.

Run the heat back and forth and they will flow together. If one side is thinner you will want to keep more heat on the thicker side. When you see both side are melted/liquid normally they will pool into each other, use the heat from the arc to bring the together and make the tack as long as you need. They will follow the heat.

[drifterific]

Thanks for the tip mike. I was able to sucessfully weld an intake pipe together that had a decent sized gap. Of course I got to excited and didn't watch my heat as well as i should. But this was on a practice pipe that ive been running passes on.

[everlastsupport]

Thanks for the tip mike. I was able to sucessfully weld an intake pipe together that had a decent sized gap. Of course I got to excited and didn't watch my heat as well as i should. But this was on a practice pipe that ive been running passes on.

Aluminum can be a pain when you first start. The pool is harder to see than steel and SS. Thin aluminum adds another level to it. It just takes time at it.

Glad to hear you are getting there.

[Tritium]

Its a common misconception to believe that the whole electrode is made of this as a "alloy". In fact the outside is actually tungsten, and a small shaft or core of thorium runs down the middle.

I believe that the above statement is in error. Please see the link I have added from a tungsten manufacturer: (Particularly section 2.3.1)

http://www.diamondground.com/TungstenGuidebook2011.pdf

Thurmond