I have an issue with welding aluminum. I usually weld steel for rollcages, etc. But recently we have been thinking about building custom aluminum peices. I use a thermal arc 185 tsw welder and i am welding 1.5mm thick sheet aluminum. any advice on welder setting would be appreciated. when i start a weld the arc will constantly flutter up to about 1/8 inch from where i am welding. I imagine that a/c welding will yeild this result to a point, but in this case it seems excessive.

 

Thats the HF usually. When you give it some more pedal it should straighten up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats the HF usually. When you give it some more pedal it should straighten up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea, thats how mine works pretty much my arc dosent flutter that bad at all though and i have the same welder. I see your in maryland where exactly in md are you?

 

a few thing's I know will cause fluttring...

if you are using a ball pointed thungsten with an advanced square wave patern, it will cause flutter. you need a pointed thungsten.

lack of Argon flow will cause flutter, but also carbon mark and brown haze all over the place...

A contaminated thungsten will cause fluttring of the arc too...

hope this help.

jp

 

My shop is in aberdeen, md (about 30 mins north of baltimore)

 

make sure to clean your aluminum with a wire brush to remove aluminum oxide before welding. aluminum will usually take a higher heat setting also compared to steel. what kind of tungsten are you using? 98% tungsten?