Power Pro 205 Pulse Settings

[Ray C]

Hi. I'd like to try using the pulse settings for AL TIG welding but don't quite understand time/frequency settings. Ithink I have a handle on the other power-related settings pertaining to pulse. Here's what I'm trying to accomplish. I'd like to have a strong arc that lasts for about 1 second followed by a weak arc of about .25 second. The weak arc should be about 50% power of the strong one. I did a few moments of experimenting and didn't get the results I expected and rather than wasting argon, figured it would be best to check here. I'm using the foot pedal if that makes any difference. I'm confused about the time scale of the pulse frequency... Is it pulses per second, pulses per minute -what about the low and high switch that sets the scale of the frequency...

Any sort of starting-point settings would be really appreciated.

BTW: All the TIG welding is coming along fine.

Thanks

Ray

[performance]

Ray,
Each unit is a little different, since these are analog units.
I am not sure what you are wanting is even possible. Hz is cycles per second by definition. With the Pulse time on/ balance you adjust the amount of time the pulse "drops". The pulse amps is set as a percent of welding amps. The pulse really works best with the torch switch. Set your pulse amp time on and turn down the frequency as low as you can. Set your pulse amps for 50%.

[Rambozo]

Pulse switch low, Pulse Frequency .8, Pulse Amps 50%, Pulse Time On 80%.

That should give you what you want.

[Ray C]

Thanks, that's what I thought and I'd swear how I setup the machine last night -but then again, it was 1AM and maybe I had the switch on high instead of low. It was just a quick test. Was also thinking that pulse didn't function the same with footpedal but, it seems it should work with an overall adjustable Amperage.

Question: What are the higher pulse frequencies used for? At the higher level settings, it would not be humanly possible to take advantage of it as far as rhythm for laying down beads. Is there some process whereby a high frequency background pulse (akin to a carrier frequency) is needed? -Just curious.

Pulse switch low, Pulse Frequency .8, Pulse Amps 50%, Pulse Time On 80%.

That should give you what you want.

[Rambozo]

Thin materials, and welding near an edge are good places for high pulse frequencies. It lets you use a higher current to get good wetting and burn in, but still keep control of the heat put into the part.

[Ray C]

Yep, it's best for thin material or near edges. With the pulse set as low as possible, it was still too fast for me to get a rhythm of heating and dipping the filler. At higher frequencies, it seems to make the pedal control more forgiving. When you stomp on it, the heat sinks in and backing off to just the perfect heat is not as touchy when pulse is turned off. It took a good bit of fiddling around to make that little discovery but, I ended-up using that all weekend.

Thin materials, and welding near an edge are good places for high pulse frequencies. It lets you use a higher current to get good wetting and burn in, but still keep control of the heat put into the part.