I have a buddy who told me that using helium mix for gas will allow the load of the welder to be down while still achieving good weld characteristics. I know this is true, and the truth of it is not in question. What is, is the method of delivery. He said that I would need to regulators, 2 check valves, a "y" fitting, and 2 tanks. He also said to use about 60% helium to 40% argon. What is the problem with just getting an already mixed tank of argon and helium?

 

Is there any help for me here? The only people I can ask about this have no experience with it. I can't find anything online that answers my question either.

 

I've seen it done for welding thick aluminum on a machine that didn't have the guts to do it properly. It was a 50/50 ratio if I remember correctly. It didn't weld as clean as straight argon.

 

helium does leaves black particles in the weld pool. it is used to bring quick extreme heat to the puddle. like if you need to stick your tungsten way out to weld a hard to reach spot, it does the trick. it also works when welding al that is thicker than the capabilities of the machine. it probably has more uses, but that is what i have used it for before.

 

I know what it's used for, but I was told I would need a "y'' fitting to do it "properly". Maybe he was saying that so I could use it only when I need it? Thanks though. My thought was to also keep the load down on the machine; when welding cages or manifolds, to get some extra duty as well.

 

Custom mixed gas's are expensive - we had to have them made for our first high-def plasma that didn't have a gas mixing console - it's probably not a common mix 50% argon 50% helium.

To do it properly you have to emulate a manual gas mixing console. You need a way of making sure you have the same volume of gas at the same pressure for both. A gas console takes a known pressure then runs it through a flow rate gauge that you can adjust the volume of gas in relation to the other at a given pressure. It's not enough to assume that you are getting the same flow rate with a y fitting at the same pressure.

 

I would highly recommend against using helium for anything you are trying to accomplish.

(This statement is qualified with the assumption that he is doing welding for automotive or hobby fabrication)

 

im in canada but at work we use a premixed argon/helium for the heave material. there is a video on welding tips and tricks involving the everlast 185micro and they give a parts run down to add helium at the end of the video you can find it on youtube if your really serious

 

I used it before with very good result on my Syncrowave 200.

it does take less amperage to get to the same penetration, and clean very well too.

I used premixed gas, available from my gas distributor, the product was called Heliarc,
but this is just a trademark name from my provider.

I do remember the mix was 60 % argon 40% helium.

it was a great gas, particularly on Aluminium, but I kept sticking to Argon since it's cheaper and it does the job well, I don't weld's thick stuff regularly, so the duty cycle of my machine does not suffer from a constant overload, I was just not in need of heliarc, but i burned about 3 bottle of it with great result and I don't see any problem using it.

hope this help !

Kranked

 

I saw the "welding tips and tricks" video, it was very informative. Yes, I am a hobby welder; but for the sake of knowing, I am researching. I may want to weld something thicker, who knows? It's an inverter machine with 200 amps. The way I see it(I am no expert), if I can weld 1/4" aluminum @ 100 amps with less stress on the machine, why not? Thanks "Kranked"

 

Ive used helium "stain mix" for MIG welding stainless. I dont remember what the combination of gases was though. But it was only one tank.

 

Hello, all....long time, no see!!

From what I understand, helium is a better conductor of the arc, giving less resistance than argon.

Either way, I believe helium is said to weld 30% hotter than argon. As mentioned, too much argon will give black particles on the puddle...which is no problem if you're welding DC Aluminum

The mix I used most often was 70% argon and 30% helium. It is true what has been said about it being cheaper to get a Y inline, and essentially mix it yourself.

The drawback of helium is arc starts are not going to be as good. The high frequency doesn't seem to start up as well as with pure argon. I really wouldn't reccomend using helium unless you need to, because that slight bit of extra electricity is probably cheaper than the helium cost. That said, it is nice to weld DC aluminum with 100% helium, but it's more difficult on thinner materials and outside corner joints. Just as AC aluminum can be a bitch on a fillet weld, DC will do great at it, because it's better at focusing the heat in the middle instead of spreading it towards one or the other piece of metal.

 

Engloid? What the hell are you doing here man

 

So, speak more on the dc welding please? My fillet welds are the only place I am having any trouble. But the inquiry was simply for piece of mind. I just wanted to know.

 

Its great for welding thicker material or when porosity is an issue. You can make great welds with it, especially if it needs to pass xray. Due to the higher helium content, you need to run higher gas flow on your torch also.

I use He/Ar gas mix on car parts all the time, that are .125 or thicker mainly. Anything thinner I stick to pure argon. Unless im in a hurry and dont want to bother preheating the material.