Everlast PowerPro205-Noob that can't weld aluminum. Please help!

[T_Money]

I got the PowerPro about a month ago. It welds steel beautifully. However, when I tried to do aluminum, I encountered tons of problems. At first the arc was jumping everywhere. Then I accidentally turned pulse on (low, 125 freq, ~50% bal, ~50% time on) and I was able to run a few good, clean beads on some 1/8 U-stock stuff. I tried butt welding that piece and some 3/4 square stock (~1/8 inch walls) and I had trouble, but I think that this is mostly my technique. I have some 1/4 inch bar-stock stuff that is (or at least appears to be) nice and clean, however when I weld it (this is from memory, but my settings were: Pulse: Off, Foot Pedal, Amps-150, AC Frequency: 100Hz, AC Balance: I tried 10%,20,30,40,50,60,70,and 90 and they had the dirtiness problem (I'll describe this more later) or it ruined my electrode, Start Amps:0?, End Amps:0, Pre-Flow:1 sec, Post-Flow: 3 sec, Up-Slope: 0, Down Slope: 0, Gas: 100% argon @ ~20cfm, tungsten: tried both pure, lanthanated, and rare-earth (green, blue, purple)) I end up with either this gross, sooty, massive ugly trail of ruined base metal or my tungsten gets destroyed, depending on my AC Balance setting. I am always running AC on 2T mode (not sure what the difference is between 2t and 4t, haven't bothered to look it up). I also try to add filler into whatever puddle i get but usually I somehow either touch the tungsten to the base metal, ruining it, touch it with the filler, ruining it, or touching the filler to the very vague excuse for a puddle and it melts into this big glob on the end of the filler rod which I then usually just flip around, do the same thing to the other end, stop my arc, and cut both ends. Any help on any of these things is appreciated. I have never TIGed before and I am told I should start with steel which I did. I'm sorry that you had to read all of this.

[Rambozo]

Aluminum does take practice, it is not as forgiving, but it will make you a better welder in all metals. Clean, clean, clean & practice, practice, practice, as many here will tell you. Aluminum has to be very clean. Use a stainless steel brush that you only use on aluminum, and wipe it down with acetone after. For 1/8" set your amps around 150 and then fine adjust down from that with the pedal. Start with no pulse. Frequency of 100Hz is fine. AC balance start at about 35%. Preflow you only need enough so that the starting blast has settled down. .5 to 1 second is usually enough. Post flow you need a lot more, for 150 amps and a 3/32 tungsten, figure about 10-15 seconds. You want argon flowing anytime your tungsten is red hot, or it will get an oxide layer and that will make the arc unstable and jump all over the place. Don't touch the tungsten into the filler or the base metal. I know, easier said than done, but if you do, you need to re-grind your tungsten to clean off the contamination. Argon of 15-20 CFH is about right with a #7 cup. Be aware that Everlast flowmeters are in liters per minute, not CFH so if that is what you have, cut CFH in half to get LPM, around 7-10 LPM. Stay on 2T for now. 4T is for use with the torch switch and slope controls. Leave them all zeroed out for pedal operation. Go check out weldingtipsandtricks.com for a lot of good videos of proper technique of aluminum welding. When you start it will take a little time and a little more amps to get the puddle started and let the cleaning action break up the oxide layer on the aluminum. but then once it starts to melt, you will need to back down some to avoid getting too much heat. Add the filler to the puddle, try not to let the arc melt it directly.

[redbeard]

Couple more quick tips on the tungstens, pure doesn't work well in inverter machines. Sharpen both ends and you will save time stopping to grind, even after much practice, you will still dive into the puddle from time to time.

[everlastsupport]

T-money, maybe post up pictures if you can. That will probably get more comments to your post.

[performance]

Also, it sounds as if you haven't downloaded and read the manual yet. That would help as a lot of your question(s) can be answered by reading it. We've added a lot of information.

If your filler metal is melting, then you have your torch angled too much. Stand it up. Don't try to put the filler metal under the arc. Put it in front of the arc, in the front edge of the puddle. IF you can put more than a penny under your electrode it is too much. NEVER use pure tungsten. Do not go over about 40% AC balance. Make sure you flow is set to around 7 or so. etc.