im using a dynasty 350, orange tungsten with helium/argon mix at 125 amps, 65% balance, 200hz, no pulser. #8 cup, the material is 1/8th thick.
this **** is driving me nuts, im getting pretty close to really nice welds but the oxidation is ruining it for me. i've seen quite a few welds that had no oxidation/haz and havent been removed after the weld because i dont want to touch the welds after theyre down.

any and all help is appreciated.

here's what im working on:

 

did u wire brush it before u welded it?
last time someone brought me intercooler piping that was wire brushed at the ends
to weld it came out like that as well

 

Turn the balance all the way to penetration

 

^^Exactly how is that going to help with oxidation?

 

I think Russian is talking about the cleaning action. You can minimize it by taking the cleaning out and set it to more EN like K24em2 suggested or you can weld it on DC.

 

Maybe i'm not getting what he is saying. I know what Electrode Positive/Negative does, I own a Dynasty. Is he trying to eliminate the etched zone around the weld? Then yes more EN in theory would do that. I thought he was talking about the weld itself because it looks a little "dirty" and more EN would make it worse. Anyhow

 

ill try it with more pen balance tomorrow and see how it goes. thanks!

 

I'm not sure what you're after as far as appearance goes but I can tell you that the haze on the outer part of the welds is inevitable. That's the machine doing its job and cleaning the material.. You can however fine tune that to be as minimal as possible..

I also notice that your weld bead has a liitle haze in it as well.. Is that what you're talking about? You can certainly get rid of that..

Tell me you didn't copy their tank to a tee?

 

He's producing the tanks for them so no copying is going on

 

yes, im trying to minimize the haze/haz on the side of the weld along with trying to get the actual weld beads themselves to look clear.
^^ customer came up to me asking to produce a bunch of them for him as his old welder went MIA.

 

turn the balance to no cleaning, but you have to have very, very clean aluminum or the filler won't want to stick. you can also crank up you hz to the 3xx's to give you a tighter cleaner bead on the corner joints. if the aluminum fits perfect on the out side edge i run my dynasty at 400hz & 70% balance and i can get a perfect clean bead. i'll see if i can find a picture to post.

 

please do!

 

Why not fold the tanks in 2 U shape pieces instead of multiple bits? It's alot quicker to produce and alot less welding than the way you are making them now

 

i was told the customers prefer the welded look so im just doing what is asked of me.
but i def prefer 2 piece for faster production.

 

turned the balance up to 80%, wirebrushed the weld area right before welding, heres what came out:








i think this is my best aluminum weld so far.
150 amps, 200hz 80% bal no pulse.
a lot better but i still think it can be better, need to find better way to clean the area to be spotless...

 

Acetone at all?

 

brake cleaner

 

Try some acetone.

 

a few more

 

You do know brake cleaner is bad right? As in bad for your health.

There was an article on it.

Do you have all your pieces pre-cut?

 

^^^We have a shear at school that will contaminate brand new aluminum because it's old and mostly gets used for steel. Maybe the material is contaminated?

 

that article is older than dirt and the new brake cleaner doesnt have those chemicals in it.
yes all the pieces are pre cut, i believe plasma.
i use a DA sander with 120 grit paper to do the 'brushed' finish and clean the edges.

 

I <3 my brake cleaner... don't hate

 

could be your wire brush is contaminated

 

heres some new ones, getting there!