problem adding alum filler

**jonesg** · 03-13-2011, 07:02 PM

I cut some 1/8th x 1 inch alum angle , wired brushed it clean and set against each other to form a box shape 6 inch long, square tube ya could say.
I hold it by hand and tack the end without filler, then the other 3 corners, looks good.

Then start the arc and autogenous let the 2 halves of the seam flow into ea other, looks really good so far, but when I try adding alum filler rod it goes to crap, looks like someone is flicking cig ash into it. Its all dirty blobs.

I can use the rod to lay a stack of dimes on the flat areas and its fine.

200pi set around 60 amps, hard to tell with the pulse jumping around.
1/8th tungsten, 1/16th alum filler. I get a sense my filler rod is too small because it melts before I can get it close enough.

**SICFabrications** · 03-13-2011, 10:25 PM

alright dood, you arent running hot enough to begin with.... second, you are right, the filler isnt big enough..... third, never autogenously weld aluminum , it WILL crack as the weld cools.... turn the flippin pulse off, you should be using the foot pedal.... what is your ac balance and ac frequency set at?

the balance should be set very close to "0" if its on the high end, you are spewing your tungsten into the weld and that will cause the undesired results that yer getting. peg the ac frequency and that will focus the arc well enough to get a very tight bead on that thin aluminum...... i will post up a pic of some 1/8 alum. angle that i welded friday outside, inside and flat on the corners for a sign frame....

turn the torch where it is aiming almost straight down at the aluminum, barely a lead angle, keep the filler close to the parent metal and well inside the shield gas blanket.

ive tried and tried without much success to film the actual weld going on in aluminum so that i can better explain this stuff, just cant seem to find a camera and lens that is capable of catching it all..... even tried using a passive and active shades from 8 to 14 to filter out the light.....

hope this helped

**jonesg** · 03-14-2011, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by SICFabrications

alright dood, you arent running hot enough to begin with.... second, you are right, the filler isnt big enough..... third, never autogenously weld aluminum , it WILL crack as the weld cools.... turn the flippin pulse off, you should be using the foot pedal.... what is your ac balance and ac frequency set at?

the balance should be set very close to "0" if its on the high end, you are spewing your tungsten into the weld and that will cause the undesired results that yer getting. peg the ac frequency and that will focus the arc well enough to get a very tight bead on that thin aluminum...... i will post up a pic of some 1/8 alum. angle that i welded friday outside, inside and flat on the corners for a sign frame....

turn the torch where it is aiming almost straight down at the aluminum, barely a lead angle, keep the filler close to the parent metal and well inside the shield gas blanket.

ive tried and tried without much success to film the actual weld going on in aluminum so that i can better explain this stuff, just cant seem to find a camera and lens that is capable of catching it all..... even tried using a passive and active shades from 8 to 14 to filter out the light.....

hope this helped

I have a problem with the pedal, it (or the machine) probably needs replacing, it goes full power no matter what the settings on the machine or pedal are set at.
Thats why I've been using pulse, but pulse is very hard to set without knowing some basic parameters to dial in.

I think you're right about melting the elctrode, its vanishing into the cup.!
My 1/8th tungsten has red paint on the end, the 1/16th tungstens are grey.
Which one is ideal for alum? I don't notice much difference except the smaller ones melt quicker.

I'll try it as you say, without the pulse and work in shorter sections to control heat, maybe go halfway then let it cool and work from the other end.
I'll have to get this pedal problem sorted, trouble is they're on the west coast and my schedule conflicts, I go to work as just they wake up.

**Gadget** · 03-14-2011, 11:07 AM

You should be able to contact Longevity when you get out of work. I suggest a phone call, it will probably be quicker.

**jonesg** · 03-14-2011, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by SICFabrications

alright dood, you arent running hot enough to begin with.... second, you are right, the filler isnt big enough..... third, never autogenously weld aluminum , it WILL crack as the weld cools.... turn the flippin pulse off, you should be using the foot pedal.... what is your ac balance and ac frequency set at?

the balance should be set very close to "0" if its on the high end, you are spewing your tungsten into the weld and that will cause the undesired results that yer getting. peg the ac frequency and that will focus the arc well enough to get a very tight bead on that thin aluminum...... i will post up a pic of some 1/8 alum. angle that i welded friday outside, inside and flat on the corners for a sign frame....

turn the torch where it is aiming almost straight down at the aluminum, barely a lead angle, keep the filler close to the parent metal and well inside the shield gas blanket.

ive tried and tried without much success to film the actual weld going on in aluminum so that i can better explain this stuff, just cant seem to find a camera and lens that is capable of catching it all..... even tried using a passive and active shades from 8 to 14 to filter out the light.....

hope this helped

OK, I set the dials as you said Pulse off etc, the welds are 100% better.

I find inside T joints are trouble but that might be the filler material being too small.
I can do the inside joint but it requires a ton of filler and takes a lot longer.
Doing a flat joint between 2 flat plates is no problem but as soon as the plates are at 90 degs, the inside seam is a lot more difficult.
Doing outside seam on square channel is no problem and I can zip right along compared to the inside (T or 90deg) corner.
And I measured my alum angle, its not 1/8th, its slightly thinner.

I'm finding alum tig to "LOOK" similar to silver soldering when the solder is flowed into the joint once the material is hot enough.

I'll have to call about my pedal, I can see where I need it now.

**SICFabrications** · 03-14-2011, 08:04 PM

glad that yer on the way to becoming a pro at aluminum.... you are right about it looking similar to silver solder..... the hting about the inside joints on alum is the heat coefficient. it does take more time, more heat and more filler to do the inside joints (or fillet weld) its just nature of the beast..... now then pulse..... i havent played with the pulsing features, cause i NEVER use pulse regarldess of how thin the metal is, but...... pulse amperage is what the machine ramps the amperage to when "on" pulse.... the pulse width is how long the machine stays "on" pulse and the pulse frequency determines how fast the machine switched between "on" and "off" pulse.... hopefully that will clear up some of those issues for ya too....

---------- Post added at 09:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------

in my honest opinion the grey banded (rare earth or tri-mix) tungsten is best for inverter based ac tig and orange for dc tig. you should really be using 3/32 tungsten unless yer welding either much thicker or thinner material.... i wont switch down to 1/16 until i get around .040 alum and wont switch up to 1/8 until after quarter inch thick material..... so, basically, 3/32 for anything from .040 to 1/4 inch material.... this is for AC, keep that in mind.... dc tig has its own set of problems and likes n dislikes

**jonesg** · 03-16-2011, 10:40 AM

Alright so far so good, in the meantime can I twist 2 filler rods together in an elec drill to make thicker rods?

**tigqk** · 03-16-2011, 01:39 PM

Why don't you try some 3/32 tungsten, you might have to go deeper into the pedal, but may have better control.I have tried twisting mig filler wire in a pinch but when you do that one side of the filler melts before the other and isn't as good as having properly sized filler but yes it will work and for the look you are going for may be better.Don't like pulse, would rather pump the pedal with adjustment at 9.