Thread: TIG Welding Aluminium back for more Q's

i watched the whole video, he makes it look so easy, i think the thing thats busting my balls is all my settings on my machine, i tried the settings suggested last in this thread by turning the knobs on the ones not being used to minimum and it wouldnt weld so even though im not welding in pulse mode my pulse knobs are still working my machine sucks!

Well to look on the bright side Gazza. You managed to reset your machine to produce a half decent weld, thats a plus.
You are close to success, just a couple of tweaks and a bit of practice and you will be there. Tig welding is great, but it does like to be set correctly, particularly for ally.
Don't give up.

here are some steel welds i done on 5mm used 111amps i found the steel to weld with ok penetration, was a walk in the park, no regrinding needed just arc'ed up and away i went nothing fancy or flash looking but im happy i actually got a weld that looks like ok penetration so im happy with it

i also welded up a aluminium live bait tank for my boat

Originally Posted by WelderMick

You're running a bit cold and your AC balance is a bit high (too much electrode +ve). If you adjust the AC balance back a bit this will give you a bit more heat and reduce your cleaning width a little - just fix that one thing and I reckon your settings will be good. Maybe just a few more amps too - suck it and see.

Did you try this?
Your settings were pretty much right.
Yeah the guy made it look easy (and with a bit of practice it is), but he probably edited out the frustrating bits too... In recommending that video, I really just wanted to draw your attention to how he props his hands (the wooden block), his torch angle and what he's saying about puddle formation from around 7:55 onwards.
He was a bit over-zealous with cleaning up the metal - but a good lesson there - clean metal welds better whether we're talking stick, mig or tig.

this was halfway thru the process of building the aluminium bait tank

Originally Posted by WelderMick

Did you try this?
Your settings were pretty much right.
Yeah the guy made it look easy (and with a bit of practice it is), but he probably edited out the frustrating bits too... In recommending that video, I really just wanted to draw your attention to how he props his hands (the wooden block), his torch angle and what he's saying about puddle formation from around 7:55 onwards.
He was a bit over-zealous with cleaning up the metal - but a good lesson there - clean metal welds better whether we're talking stick, mig or tig.

i dont know which knob is AC balance mate

Originally Posted by gazza2009au

i dont know which knob is AC balance mate

It's called 'clean area width' on your machine, so what I was saying is you needed to turn this down a bit from what ever setting you had it on when you did that ally weld.
Nice work putting the sheet bender together... nothing more satisfying than making something like that then using it to complete a project.

i now have the opportunity to buy this welder Welders, Arc Welder, Tig Welder, Welders For Sale, Welder Repair, Plasma Welder, Aluminium welder Australia but first i need to sell my current welder, so back on ebay it goes but unfortunately i had to add on the extra $100 the new tig torch cost me

I know you're trying to limit the number of controls/buttons/options to make it simpler, but personally that welder doesn't have some things that I would want:

- downslope
- postflow timer
- stick welding

My advice would be to stick with what you have until you feel you've outgrown the machine and have a good handle on what you need and what you don't. Why give up on your current machine now, when you've just about got it sorted?

Originally Posted by WelderMick

I know you're trying to limit the number of controls/buttons/options to make it simpler, but personally that welder doesn't have some things that I would want:

- downslope
- postflow timer
- stick welding

My advice would be to stick with what you have until you feel you've outgrown the machine and have a good handle on what you need and what you don't. Why give up on your current machine now, when you've just about got it sorted?

i feel im still miles away from doing decent welds, i think over 50% of my screw up's are from me not knowing the settings, if i get the little everlast machine there is only 3 dials how could i go wrong?

in life i like things basic but im always lured into the deep end lol

It depends on whether you want the flexibility to tackle a range of projects, of if you're happy to be limited by your machine. Lack of flexibility is fine as long as you know what the key features are that you need.

I am firmly with welder mick on this one Gazza.
Your biggest difficulty in achieving good welds at the moment is you. Sorry if that appears blunt, but the biggest issue is your lack of practice and I would expect that the results you got from a $10,000 Kemppi would not be much different to your Mishto.
Remember a while back I mentioned the fact that one of the most common TIG machines once was the old EMF Pie heater. They were not AC balanced, not square wave and were not handpiece controlled. They did however weld nicely once a skilled operator was in charge.
Even with your AC balance or cleaning width out a bit, you could do very acceptable welds. Practice is what you need and you can't buy that.
I did suggest keeping a little notebook a while back to keep track of your settings and to find the ones that work the best.
The little Everlast is a reasonable unit for sure, but I reckon we will still be having the same conversations if you get that one. You did a reasonable job on the steel welds, but some signs of inexperience were present for sure.
The best option would be a TAFE course, but you posted earlier that this wasn't an option, so we are all doing things the hard way somewhat.
What I see, looking at your work is a lack of puddle control, probably caused by a fear of melting the job - which everyone has when they first start out. I see an unsteady hand, Mick's suggestion off bracing yourself on some blocks would solve that. I also see some quite reasonable sections of weld. If you could improve your consistency then all would be good. There are few magic bullets in the welding game and the only way to become a good welder is to practice. I would imagine that some welders here would have hundreds of thousands of arc hours experience under their belts, so for your hundred or so hours with no formal training, you're not doing too badly. Stick with it and you will get there.

ive sold my machine on ebay will be picked up next weekend, im not sure if to buy another tig machine or buy a mig spool gun machine, can a mig spool gun weld 1.6mm aluminium sheet?

Gazza, do not buy the mig for 1.6 ally. 1.6 and even 2mm is pulse mig territory and a good pulse mig at that.
If I were working sub 3mm sheet product, the tig would always be my first choice, particularly where tanks were involved.
A decent pulse mig will not be cheap and you will face the same issues you faced with your tig welding. You expected results too soon I feel.