Anybody ever have their welder just not weld aluminum anymore? When welding stuff last year sometimes it would look like ash was coming out of the weld, like bubbling and foaming out kind of like a "snake" firework. Well I took to it a local place and they played with it a bit and couldnt replicate it. Now its doing it all the time, had a buddy come over and give it a shot and we ran all the settings one way to another and nothing helped.





The machine is a few years old now and out of warranty, fearing that its toast. Tried both red and gold tungsten new and no real change. Tried a new ground cable but havent tried a new torch. Gas lense is fairly new, doesnt seem to be gas specific cause its done it on and off.

 

How is it on steel? If you haven't tried a new torch maybe see if you have any cracks in your backcap

 

I've capped the front with my palm as I touch the pedal, doesnt leak anywhere.

 

have you tried a different bottle of gas?

 

I got the same exact machine, mine was doing the same thing until I switched out my bottle! Are you using pacific tec or airgas?

 

I use central, but its done it on and off for over a year and I've had several bottles changed. I'll try have a buddy bring a bottle over to be sure. Before I had sent the welder to the place in seattle I had exchanged a bottle with central because I thought it was the gas and it didnt change. When you are trying to weld the arc is almost trying to blow filler away from you, the filler just ***** up and wants to roll away.

 

i have the same problem but i have a old school ECONOTIG

 

I know exactly what you mean all I did was go to air gas they filled my two bottles and I was good to go! does your stainless welds come out all gray, so we can eliminate the probability of the gas being the issue?

 

mine do some times
like its really hot no matter how clean my stuff is

 

I'll try some more steel out today and have a buddy bring over a bottle. I'll update later tonight.

 

Have you tried to crank up the amperange or have you tried to play with the balance setting? I have similar results when the current is too low or the balance does not match the material.

 

I was going to say the same thing. Maybe it is a AC balance issue or possibly a bad connection at the plug receptical?

Just a couple shots in the dark if you rule out cas coverage is not the issue

 

Fresh tank from airgas, same thing. Also gave it a shot on stainless and its all gray. Used just enough heat to get some 1/16 filler to melt and had post flow on for 8 seconds. I did two small pieces without filler and they barely have any color even with the long post flow. Both pieces welded with red tungsten.




Settings have been run through the whole range as I said in my first post. The problem has been off an on for a year and now its all the time. Usually I could just turn the machine off and come back to welding a week later and could get it to work, just now its doing it all the time.

 

Took it to central welding and we swapped out all the pieces on the torch so he could make sure it wasnt leaking. The oring on the back tore when he took it out so he thought it was leaking even though it held pressure. Seemed like it was better for a second then started doing it again. We then changed the torch, and all was good in the world again after that. Welded a few test pieces with no signs of a problem, I got another torch that was similar in size to my current one ordered and should hopefully be welding again tomorrow.

 

I did mention torch! lol

 

We'll see if it was the real cure, I'll bump this thread if it does it again. Torch is a ck-9 that has been abused hard for a few years. New torch is same size rated for 125 amps instead of 90. Hopefully it can handle the heat better.

 

Did the torch solve the problem?

 

I'm in the hospital right now but I'll fire up the welder when I'm back home and let ya know for sure. It fixed it when I was using it at the welding store so I assume it should be the same at my house.

 

Cooling is critical. CK-9 is a gas cooled torch I see. I would check gas pressure out of the machine, your cables, and then your torch in that order.

I had a dynasty 350 that stopped welding for **** and it was a contaminated water pump that wasn't recirculating water correctly so the torch would overheat immediately. Took them 2 months to sort that out at a miller service center.

 

swap the regulator with one that works fine off a different machine.
also swap the gas hose.
dont weld in windy areas.