I know there about ten of these posts a day in this forum, and I did search, but I'm not really finding out what I need to know for what I am having trouble with

to give you an insight into what I am fighting with

for starters, the tig machine is a Miller syncrowave 180SD
1/8 tungsten, and I tried 1/8 and 3/16 filler
I'm working with 1/8 flatstock and a 1/8 peice of aluminum tube
I had the machine set at 70 amps

I can't get the arc to draw to both peices of work and be able to add the filler without either contaiminating (sp?) the tungsten or having the filler run away from the work or jump to the tungsten (I'm sure my filler issue is an angle issue) so I guess I'm looking for some tips on how to get the puddle going on both peices of work...everything I've tried doesn't work and I just threw my torch and broke the cup so I have until at least tomorrow to cool off and try this again

thanks in advance for any tips, I really appreciate it

 

I would crank the amperage up...also maybe try preheating the aluminum.

 

crank the amperage up to about 160 amps. Keep the torch about 20 degrees from vertical. Start your puddle and dip the filler rod and pull it out* still keeping it within the gas shield). Move the torch about a 1/4 inch and repeat the process. Sounds like your tungsten is too close to the material and when you feed the filler the puddle is making contact. Start by making 1 puddle , then 2 and 3 and so on.

 

3/32" tungsten should do just fine, ur filler is to big especially for that amperage.......... i do 1/8" aluminum all the time and i use 3/32 tungsten, 3/32" rod at about 85 amps but to get it started u may need little more ampereage so 100-110 should do


mike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by all_motor_mike &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3/32" tungsten should do just fine, ur filler is to big especially for that amperage.......... i do 1/8" aluminum all the time and i use 3/32 tungsten, 3/32" rod at about 85 amps but to get it started u may need little more ampereage so 100-110 should do


mike</TD></TR></TABLE>

^ same here except i use about 10-15 less amps.

92_civic - if you are welding the 1/8" sheet parallel to the tube start the arc on the tube and put some heat into it then move the arc over to the sheet... otherwise you will either melt the sheet or make aluminum blobs.

 

depending on what kind of weld you want, you might want to look at using a 1/16 rod. it goes fast, but your beads will be really tight. its a lot faster with smaller rod though, so if your not comfortable, you might want to stick with 3/32. you have a lot more control with smaller rod. also, you may want to try using a red 3/32 tungsten if you already arn't. sharpen it to a point as well. you'll get a lot more control.

do not pre-heat if your welding sheet. you want to keep all the heat out of it. infact, to keep things from warping, have a blow gun sitting next to you and after every bead, blow it off until you can touch it with your hand.

i had to weld winshield washer sparyer holes up in a supra aluminum hood the other day and thats probably got to be .032 or thinner. only way i could keep the warping down was a blow gun. i also used to weld .032~.050 sheet metal components for aircraft. even with that stuff being so thin, i would keep my amperage on 100.

your welding a little thicker, however i've had intercooler endtanks with .125 warp.

i would keep amprage at 150amps and peddle it. you'll probably be welding at 80~100 after the start.

 

thanks for the replys guys, I'll try more heat with the smaller filler...do you guys think I need the smaller tungsten?

edit: sorry I did try 1/16 filler...that seemed to work well, but I did not try the 1/16 tungsten, I do have the setup for it though if you guys think I should try that



Modified by 92_civic at 2:11 PM 2/14/2008