Best aluminum settings

[srp]

For everyone that has dialed in there Everlast welder to leave beautiful welds on aluminum, what are your settings? It will be interesting to compare the 30/70 to the 10/90 setups.

My 250EX is set at 40 hertz, ac balance 10%, pulser at 500pps, pulse time on 50%, background current varies with amperage needed but usually 50%, start amps 35, upslope 2.5 or 25%, Regulator at 7 L/MIN with large gas lens with short cup, red 2% thoriated ground sharp then a flat ground on the end about .050 diameter.

I weld the same parts over and over again so my setting do not change much, This is the setup where mine will weld like butter but I would like to try other setups.

[jakeru]

srp - got any pictures of your work with those settings?

Here are the settings that I like to use lately. Seems to really "wet in" the toes of the weld bead nicely. And of course, leaves a beautifully shiny weld bead as well.

Super200p (non-adjustable 60Hz AC frequency): 25% He gas mix, 20% EP AC Balance (the minimum allowed on the machine), no pulse, 1/16" 2% lanthanated tungsten, about 12-15 cfh total gas flow with a #6 gas lens.

(Post edited with picture added: )

[srp]

srp - got any pictures of your work with those settings?

Here are the settings that I like to use lately. Seems to really "wet in" the toes of the weld bead nicely. And of course, leaves a beautifully shiny weld bead as well.

Super200p (non-adjustable 60Hz AC frequency): 25% He gas mix, 20% EP AC Balance (the minimum allowed on the machine), no pulse, 1/16" 2% lanthanated tungsten, about 12-15 cfh total gas flow with a #6 gas lens.

(I'll edit this post with a picture later.)

I will get some lanthanated and try your set up, do you think me not having the 25% helium will make a difference?

I posted a pic of the aluminum parts I weld, I will post more later.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/Muffler1.jpg

[jakeru]

I will get some lanthanated and try your set up, do you think me not having the 25% helium will make a difference?

I posted a pic of the aluminum parts I weld, I will post more later.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/Muffler1.jpg

Yes, IMO, the shielding gas selection makes a pretty significant difference.

Those welds look excellent in consistency and heat control. You might notice however, compared to mine, (and that is also 1/16" 6061 aluminum tubing welded to 6061 1/4" plate with 4043 filler rod) that the toes are not quite wetted in to the same extent. It's also hard to tell from the photo, but also potentially a small amount of "graininess" in areas of your weld bead will go away with the Helium mix.

I'm interested if you do try the Helium mix, to hear what you think.

(PS - Keep in mind my Super200P doesn't allow 10%EP AC Balance... or else I might be using it.)

Also, I might have to play around with trying 300Hz pulsing (that's the highest pulsing frequency my machine can do) with the Helium mix... I haven't experimented with much pulsing in conjunction with the Helium mix yet.

[jp2code]

Good idea for a thread topic. +1

Maybe I'll have an aluminum setup soon, then I'll come back and check in on this again.

[Cippee]

Why do you own your bottle gunner? They said bottles over 80cf are only for lease. I don't want to get raped either so I want to know the deal before I get there.

[GUNNER]

Why do you own your bottle gunner? They said bottles over 80cf are only for lease. I don't want to get raped either so I want to know the deal before I get there.

Yes I do! I own 300cf bottles... They aren't cheap but it's a one time expense...

[sportbike]

Why do you own your bottle gunner? They said bottles over 80cf are only for lease. I don't want to get raped either so I want to know the deal before I get there.

Over 80cf? That is a pretty small bottle. I have a 155cf bottle that I own (Just got it filled / exchanged the other day). I believe larger than that may be lease only at the places I go, but I have never seen the cutoff be at only 80cf.

BTW, exchanging the 155cf was $36 and change including tax for a walk in.

[srp]

It seems to be a big deal to be able to weld together two pop cans, I figured I would see if the 250EX was up to the challenge. I set the main amperage at 250, frequency at 250 hertz and the ac balance at 10%. I was easily able to get around it without burning through anywhere. Didn't really seem all that hard with the 250EX. All I had was 1/16 filler rod, I may try again with some .024 or .035 filler rod and some other settings.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...luminumcan.jpg

[Cippee]

Yeah I'm going to lease a bottle soon because it costs alot less to get them filled.

[GUNNER]

Yeah I'm going to lease a bottle soon because it costs alot less to get them filled.

Not lease...... Buy if at all possible.... One time cost and DONE!

[Cippee]

ep is always going to kick the tungsten in the balls no matter what kind you have. The red thoriated tungsten holds up as good as any so 2% lanthanated is not a whole bunch of difference. I just like lanthanated because I have a bad habit of getting grindings in my eyes and lungs. Every time I get thoriated in my eyes I'm waiting to go blind. If they scanned me when I used thoriated alot I would probably get put in a decontamination chamber. Watch this its a comparison of the tungsten's. http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...odes-gtaw.html

[srp]

I feel violated if Airgas fills argon 300 bottles for 40 bucks in other states, I own my 300 bottle and they charge me 83.11 before tax and I did not even mention the 8 dollar hasmat charge. Our Airgas is the one that blowed up about 5 years ago, I wonder if that has anything to do it?

I tried Cippee and jakeru's settings today with argon and red tungsten, I laid down some pretty good beads with both of them.

The more EP I added, the more dingle berries I got on my red tungsten, does 2% Lanthanated get them as well, or as bad?

[jakeru]

I feel violated if Airgas fills argon 300 bottles for 40 bucks in other states, I own my 300 bottle and they charge me 83.11 before tax and I did not even mention the 8 dollar hasmat charge. Our Airgas is the one that blowed up about 5 years ago, I wonder if that has anything to do it?

I tried Cippee and jakeru's settings today with argon and red tungsten, I laid down some pretty good beads with both of them.

The more EP I added, the more dingle berries I got on my red tungsten, does 2% Lanthanated get them as well, or as bad?

2% lanthanated gets the dingleberries/protrusions if you push it too far; yep. *Especially* after you dip it into molten aluminum, and just keep on welding. If you put a fresh grind on it, and don't dip, it's pretty resilient but would probably eventually get the protrusions. I have a diamond disc I use to grind mine, I don't know that it matters though. How it compares vs 2% thoriated, I don't really know I haven't run the thoriated very much.

With all the gas cost talk and all, I just figured out how much I paid for my Helium fill... $120 for the 330 cf bottle filled up last July, 2011. Supposedly, the price was just about to go up after I got it, due to a "helium shortage" back then. But that's not the first time (nor the last) I've heard that. (More info on my Helium initial setup purchase/fillup in this thread:
http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...ghlight=Helium )

FWIW, my LWS quoted me $60 to fill a 330 with argon. So the Helium (99.9% pure variety) runs about double the cost of the Argon. I usually get my 155cf bottle filled with Argon for about $40.

[Cippee]

That is a beautiful wide bead I love it.

[srp]

I was hoping a lot of people would post there settings, I would like to have more than just one good setup. I welded many years with a Syncrowave at a fixed 60 hertz and 32% electrode positive and did like welding on it very much. Welding on a Dynasty for year and come up with the setup I use now. I would like to have a few more setups that are known to work so I don't have waste a bottle of argon at 88 dollars a bottle. Setups in the 20% to 35% electrode positive range is what I need for a less focused arc, that hopefully will not be hard on consumables .

Maybe I should have just asked everyone what settings they run and not which ones will leave perfect welds every time.

Nice weld jakeru.

[GUNNER]

I was hoping a lot of people would post there settings, I would like to have more than just one good setup. I welded many years with a Syncrowave at a fixed 60 hertz and 32% electrode positive and did like welding on it very much. Welding on a Dynasty for year and come up with the setup I use now. I would like to have a few more setups that are known to work so I don't have waste a bottle of argon at 88 dollars a bottle. Setups in the 20% to 35% electrode positive range is what I need for a less focused arc, that hopefully will not be hard on consumables .

Maybe I should have just asked everyone what settings they run and not which ones will leave perfect welds every time.

Nice weld jakeru.

Let's look at this in the order of importance. First, Call your gas supplier and explain to him that you have a wife/girlfriend for all your sexual needs and damn sure don't require him F*#king you !Thank you very much!! Seriously I pay 40 dollars a bottle for Argon and that's a 330 size bottle and 80 for Helium! I can't imagine what they charge for Helium if they are raping you that bad on argon! You really can negotiate a lot better deal on gas than that.. Oh don't think for a minute they don't try that crap on everyone because they do. Recently I got a little pissie with my gas supplier because he wasn't getting me service like I needed so I went shopping and the company I went to for a quote tried that same crap with me... I told them Ah... I don't think so and next thing you know they are at 40 on their argon and still a little high on the Helium at 100 and I passed on them.. Had a heart to heart with my supplier and life is good again.. They all get sloppy over time and they all try and slip your prices up & service down if you don't watch... Also buy your bottles every chance you have some spare change it really adds up when you rent them..

Now back to the settings.... I spent some time yesterday just trying different setting on my Dynasty... Started at 400 hrtz and ran a weld, dropped to 200, 100, 50, and to be 100% honest I could make it look the exact same no matter where I had it... I also done this same process with every wave shape it has as well.. I ran 80% EN since I was welding clean material that I wire brushed... and I also ran a 2 to 1 EN verse EP ratio which I know you guys with Everlast don't have access to... That helps a great deal with abuse on the electrode from the EP. Since I foot pedal I just set the amps to 300 and didn't mess with it any at all... To me it's the same as driving down the street in my truck. Just because it will run a 100 don't mean I have to press the gas pedal to the floor and do it. I set the machine to a max setting that I know is far above anything I'll need to weld whatever I'm doing and use what I need of the power at hand to do the job...... How this serves me well is ...... If I get into a corner or any situation where I need to add heat to make a tie in it's there and requires me to do nothing more than move my foot. This method works for me no matter what I'm welding from 4130 Moly to 6061 Aluminum... Now if I need a great amount to resolution on my pedal I'll set the max amps just above what I determine it will take for the job... This is a good general rule of thumb for my welding style... On the Everlast unit since it had such foot pedal control issues I did find that I was setting the pulse control and making a lot more test runs and running it flat footed on the max amps I had set. HOWEVER! and this is a pisser doing that... The test strips were never the same size heat sink as the actual part I would be welding so the numbers that worked perfect on the test were always cold on the actual part until after it heated up a great deal which is something I try to avoid allowing to happen in the first place! I find it's not the hot settings that cause me the most heat build up on a part, but rather the lower heat setting that require more time in one spot soaking the material with heat that warps the crap out of things! I much rather have the power on hand to start a puddle NOW! and take off laying down nickles over the other method! I'm concerned with two things. The finished product and the amount of machine time required after welding to get the flanges flat and bolt pattern to fit!

I do agree that the lower hrtz settings allow more visual control over the puddle somewhat.. I guess that's a good way to describe it? Keep in mind I'm 48 and in the last 3 years my eyes have started to get worse. I never needed glasses until 3 years ago for anything and now I need them to eat almost! LOL!!!!! Not that bad yet but to someone that always had good eyes needing glasses at all is a shock!

As for the settings I have said this several times since I got the Dynasty. It will weld no matter where it's set! Every time I've said this it has been met with personal attacks that quickly degraded the thread until finally a full blown fight had broken out, but it's a true statement for me...... Jody says it very well and often when he's making TIG videos ..... A welder that uses a foot control makes up a lot for the machine settings! His exact wording varies but that's what he means.. There's so much that years of experience can adjust for in an instant by adjusting torch angle, arc length, and a quick amp adjustment with the pedal one direction or the other... Although I only recently owned a machine with pulse controls I have pulse welded for years with my foot control! I can foot pulse a good steady 1 pulse a second and hit the same high/ low marks time after time! I suppose this explains why the foot control issue was so great for me on the EXT and maybe not as much for others and they had more issues with the hot start! Because I do depend on my foot control for so much if it don't work perfectly I'm not a happy camper! The issues that my EXT did have just happened to be right in my sweet spot for the style of welding I prefer and that amplified the issue in my case and apparently Todd's as well.. After several conversations on the phone we find that we have led a fairly parallel life in the work place..kinda funny and strange just how parallel it really is!

[jp2code]

Call your gas supplier and explain to him that you have a wife/girlfriend for all your sexual needs and damn sure don't require him F*#king you!

That's funny, right there.

[GUNNER]

That's funny, right there.

Well my remark was a little funny but the fact that his supplier is screwing his eyes out isn't funny at all it's very sad that they rape people the way they do..... Anyone that don't know what this stuff should really cost get's hammered in the tail !! Even at 40 bucks a bottle they are making money!

[jakeru]

Welding on a Dynasty for year and come up with the setup I use now. I would like to have a few more setups that are known to work so I don't have waste a bottle of argon at 88 dollars a bottle. Setups in the 20% to 35% electrode positive range is what I need for a less focused arc, that hopefully will not be hard on consumables .

Maybe I should have just asked everyone what settings they run and not which ones will leave perfect welds every time.

Nice weld jakeru.

Thanks much for sharing your experienced setup, and for the words of encouragement. Here is another weld bead I just laid the other day with my aforementioned settings. (same weld bead shown, with and without camera flash) This is about 1/8-3/16" thick material, hard anodized surface removed by customer prior to me welding. It seems like these droplets are shaped kind of like a row of little discs sitting on the surface, (rather than more hemispherically shaped mounds), which I think looks pretty cool.


On this one, I tried pulsing with my foot pedal just a bit with each drop. I felt like it helped me control the bead width and the pace of droplet adds a little better (sometimes I felt like I needed to slow down and let my feeding hand catch up.) Of course, timing and manipulation of the torch and filler affect the result as well. Sorry I can't share more details of this project, such as overall project pics.