so i just bought the miller Diversion 165 tig welder and i love it. ive been mig welding for around 4 years. im really enjoying the whole thing. ive messed around on alot of aluminum and i think im doing pretty good for teaching my self. having problems on stainless though. cant get any color out of the weld. im using 1/16th 308l filler rod for stainless and 3/32 for aluminum. heres some pics of the aluminum. having trouble doing T-joints. cant get both side of the material to puddle. let me know what you all think, and what i can change!

 

if it is heavy aluminum, try preheating it first.

 

its 4mm thick. do they not look good?

 

they look great for just starting out.

 

I'm about a day ahead of you learning but did SS first and now I'm going to alum when I get another chance to head out. One thing that got me at first on the T joint was the torch angle, you don't want it at a 45 to the corner, you want the torch more vertical. I hope that makes sense!

 

The thing with T-joints and aluminum, it's difficult to get the puddle started on both parts. In order to do this, you need to create a bridge between the two, to help transfer the heat to both plates. What I often do is get a puddle formed on the bottom plate, then dip some filler into it, and then melt that towards the top plate. Once there is a connection between the top and bottom plates, you should no longer have trouble. It sounds more complicated than it is. It takes 2 seconds, and it just becomes routine.

Let me know if this helps.

 

hey thanks! thats what i tried but my torch angle was way off im guessing. any advice on welding SS? my welds always turn a metal color rather then having golds and colors

 

any other opinions?

 

SS you want to make sure you clean prep the weld area well. Also make sure you have plenty of Argon coverage. Make sure as you weld to allow the material to cool in the shielded gas. You'll pic it up.. Its just take practice. heres something I welded like 3 years ago..

 

yeah im making sure the area is very well prepped. i use a SS wire brush, and then i clean it with acidtone. and clean my filler rod. yet no matter what i do i get NO color to the weld. its just like a metal color rather then colored. i juat dont understand clean welds btw

 

Your not going to get any color on aluminum....Unless i read what you are saying wrong on SS you will see color

 

i cant get any color on SS. i know aluminum will not color lol

 

No color in SS means too much heat, or not enough gas coverage. Try this...strike an arc, dip your rod 2 or 3 times, then let off the pedal, but keep your tungsten right over the weld. You should get color this way. If not, your way too hot. Once you get that down, youll realize how much to heat to put into it.
Great job for only doing it a few days by the way!

Kyle

 

Do you have a gas lens? If not, theres your problem with getting color on SS.

 

no i do not... for my torch would this one work?
http://store.cyberweld.com/wegasleme4se.html

also would i need a new cup? i have a #7 that came on the torch

like i would need that gas lens and this cup?
http://store.cyberweld.com/wegaslealtig.html

thanks for the help im a noob

 

thank you sir! great info! and yeah i feel im doing pretty good on aluminum for teaching my self lol i think the problem was not the heat, but me not having a gas lens

 

good job

 

thanks! i feel im doing pretty well. gota get a gas lens and some new stainless to mess around on. then new pics will be up!

 

you definately do not NEED a gas lens to get a proper weld with SS.

I have only been tigging for a few weeks but from what I have learned, no or dull color means too much heat. try running a fusion weld with no filler, should always be a nice gold/purple color. now do it with filler. it should be the same color as the fusion weld. ALWAYS keep the filler rod inside the gas, always.

I would practice on mild steel first, its ALOT cheaper. also with steel, you have to do small sections at a time to prevent overheating.

as suggested already, you must add some filler to get the alum to come together on a t joint. It took me a day to figure that out. once you get it going though, MOVE FAST. if its not almost chrome looking, you overheated it.

what are you using to sharpen your tungsten?

 

im using a normal grinding wheel just for tungsten. no matter what i do i dont get color. when i do a pass with no filler i get color, but never with filler. i REALLY cant go any colder or it will not puddle even with pre heating the surface. i think its gas... thanks for your info. still wana call my welder a pos? i would say a harbor freight tig is a pos. anything miller is great in my book

 

do you use the grinding wheel for other things? you need a dedicated wheel ONLY for tungsten.

what size SS are you welding on? i still do not think you need a gas lens as I still get a good colored bead on SS without out, although not a pretty weld, it is still the right color. I actually could not get a decent weld at all when doing a T joint with a gas lens, the cup is just too bulky to get a proper torch angle. obviously there would not be a problem when doing all other things besides a T.

 

i use the wheel for tungsten only. im welding on a 16g pipe.

 

16g would be tubing, not pipe. and that is probably the most difficult thing to weld. I would start on some plate first. once you get good with that, IN ALL POSITIONS, then I would move on to pipe and tubing. try some butt-welds in 1G position as that mimicks what you would be doing on the pipe, but on a easier, flat position.

 

16g wall thickness on a 3 inch pipe...

 

pipe usually goes by schedule I thought.

either way, its still the hardest thing to learn on.