TIG problem: Any suggestions?

69427

The Artist formerly known as Turbo84
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Clinging to my guns and religion in KCMO.
Got a problem pop up trying to TIG some aluminum projects (alternator bracket, air filter base, seat brackets). Everything was going well the other day when I was working on the bracket until I noticed I was running out of argon. I shut down the machine and headed out to get a new tank of argon. The next day I needed to modify the steel tensioning bracket for the alternator, so I changed the settings and electrode, and proceeded to start welding. The bead/joint area immediately looked like shit. I didn't have time to figure out WTH happened, so I ground it all out and MIG'd it. Later in the day I started to get back to the aluminum parts. I reinstalled the correct electrode, set the polarity (AC), current, and flow levels, and hit the pedal. The (shitty) arc just pitted the crap out of the aluminum without getting any reasonable puddle. I changed the cleaning/penetration ratio setting on the waveform, and tried again. Still nothing but damage to the "intended bead" area. If I was an expert welder I would think that I got a bottle of something that's not argon in that tank (it's definitely marked argon, though). I'm not discounting that I'm missing something or doing something wrong, but I've never run into this problem before. Before I take the tank back for a replacement, do any of you TIG guys have any suggestions on what's going on here? The machine is a Miller with only about 20-30 hours on it.

thanks,
Mike
 
Mike, I going to ask my welder buddy, he done all that shit professionally....

hang on, I try....copy paste and email....

:flash:
 
John read the copy paste of your post....and he is 95% sure you got a bottle of BAD GAS....


which is typical around holiday season.....

:goodnight::crap::hissyfit::crylol:
 
Does your machine have a ground hookup for DCEN and DCEP? IT should be in DCEP (or a switch setting), DCEP will melt your electrode in DC welding and in AC it could mean that the polarity settings in the wave form are swapped.
Sounds like you are getting a lot of cleaning and no penetration. What settings do you have? Square wave? Balance? 0 line? freq? Duty Cycle? ????
What machine do you have? Are you SURE you got argon? Any blackening of your alu weld???
 
Does your machine have a ground hookup for DCEN and DCEP? Just one common ground cable for TIG/Arc welding. IT should be in DCEP (or a switch setting), DCEP will melt your electrode in DC welding and in AC it could mean that the polarity settings in the wave form are swapped.
Sounds like you are getting a lot of cleaning and no penetration. What settings do you have? I adjusted the cleaning/penetration setting to both extremes with minimal improvement of the intended weld area. Square wave? Yes Balance? Yes 0 line? ? freq? 60 Duty Cycle? ???? ? What machine do you have? Miller Synchrowave 180SD Are you SURE you got argon? The tank is labeled Argon, but my curiosity is if it was misfilled. Any blackening of your alu weld???

It won't weld. It just pits the crap out of the aluminum. I can't get a decent puddle to form anymore.
 
Does your machine have a ground hookup for DCEN and DCEP? Just one common ground cable for TIG/Arc welding. IT should be in DCEP (or a switch setting), DCEP will melt your electrode in DC welding and in AC it could mean that the polarity settings in the wave form are swapped.
Sounds like you are getting a lot of cleaning and no penetration. What settings do you have? I adjusted the cleaning/penetration setting to both extremes with minimal improvement of the intended weld area. Square wave? Yes Balance? Yes 0 line? ? freq? 60 Duty Cycle? ???? ? What machine do you have? Miller Synchrowave 180SD Are you SURE you got argon? The tank is labeled Argon, but my curiosity is if it was misfilled. Any blackening of your alu weld???

It won't weld. It just pits the crap out of the aluminum. I can't get a decent puddle to form anymore.

I hate it when I can't even get a good puddle, anymore....

:hissyfit::crylol::cry:
 
Does your machine have a ground hookup for DCEN and DCEP? Just one common ground cable for TIG/Arc welding. IT should be in DCEP (or a switch setting), DCEP will melt your electrode in DC welding and in AC it could mean that the polarity settings in the wave form are swapped.
Sounds like you are getting a lot of cleaning and no penetration. What settings do you have? I adjusted the cleaning/penetration setting to both extremes with minimal improvement of the intended weld area. Square wave? Yes Balance? Yes 0 line? ? freq? 60 Duty Cycle? ???? ? What machine do you have? Miller Synchrowave 180SD Are you SURE you got argon? The tank is labeled Argon, but my curiosity is if it was misfilled. Any blackening of your alu weld???

It won't weld. It just pits the crap out of the aluminum. I can't get a decent puddle to form anymore.

Maybe a stupid question, but did you actually listen for gas flow at the torch??
 
Does your machine have a ground hookup for DCEN and DCEP? Just one common ground cable for TIG/Arc welding. IT should be in DCEP (or a switch setting), DCEP will melt your electrode in DC welding and in AC it could mean that the polarity settings in the wave form are swapped.
Sounds like you are getting a lot of cleaning and no penetration. What settings do you have? I adjusted the cleaning/penetration setting to both extremes with minimal improvement of the intended weld area. Square wave? Yes Balance? Yes 0 line? ? freq? 60 Duty Cycle? ???? ? What machine do you have? Miller Synchrowave 180SD Are you SURE you got argon? The tank is labeled Argon, but my curiosity is if it was misfilled. Any blackening of your alu weld???

It won't weld. It just pits the crap out of the aluminum. I can't get a decent puddle to form anymore.

Maybe a stupid question, but did you actually listen for gas flow at the torch??

Not a stupid question at all. I've forgotten to turn on the gas on my MIG a couple times over the years, and if the weld looks like crap or the arc sounds odd, I check to see if I'm out of gas or forgot to open the valve. In this case with the TIG, I have plenty of pressure in the (new) tank, and I can hear the flow at the torch, and also see the regulator gauge slightly move when I push and release the pedal.
 
Good news.

Finally got the problem resolved. After striking out finding any obvious problems in the machine, I disassembled the torch. I looked at the collette and collette body, and something didn't look right. It appeared that the collette had wedged too far in, and the collette body gas holes were not evenly open. I thought this might explain why I could hear gas flow, but it seemed like the arc was unprotected (the arc was pretty ugly at the time). I drove to the local welding supply shop (took me an hour as they're located in the bowels of an "interesting" neighborhood downtown) and bought all new internal parts (thankfully reasonably priced) to remove any possible worn/defective parts from causing issues. To my relief, the arc was smooth and reasonably quiet, compared to the nasty sounds before. Managed to then get a bit of welding accomplished to partially salvage the day.

To all, thanks for your help and questions to help me focus on the details here.
 
I suggest you switch to a gas lens instead of a collet body and holder. You will get much cleaner welds with a gas lens
 
Evens out the gas flow for a much more even gas shield and you can use less gas, the arc is much more stable and the welds are vastly improved. I only use lenses on aluminum.
 
Mike, If you want to, I can PM you my pro welder's phone number here in Jax....you can talk to him one on one in the evenings.....not a issue for him....

lemme know....

:sos:
 
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