Ahp Tig welder 200x

[CNC Dan]

Like everyone else said clean with Acetone and stainless brush. Plus heat it up to 400-500 degrees to burn off any embedded oil and dirt.

And you may want to try running bead with no filler. This will leave a charred mess. Then brush again, and run a bead again. Repeat utill the soot goes away.

Somewhere Weldingtipsandtricks.com has a video showing this technique.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yep, acetone, and a new stainless steel wire brush. And never use that stainless steel wire brush on anything but aluminum again!

I use a big Sharpie pen and write on my wire brush handles... 'Aluminum Only'. There are a few other things I should use the big Sharpie for too... like our wedding anniversary... wife's B-day... Valentine's day... but I don't know where to write that so i will see it when it is time. :laughing:

 

[Big Barn]

I use a big Sharpie pen and write on my wire brush handles... 'Aluminum Only'. There are a few other things I should use the big Sharpie for too... like our wedding anniversary... wife's B-day... Valentine's day... but I don't know where to write that so i will see it when it is time. :laughing:

Mark. Do you have a spare room for guests? Perhaps on the bed's headboard ...?

Terry

 

[Fawken]

Here's some experimentation on fairly dirty 1/8" plate to test the effectiveness of brushing with the dedicated SS brush. Main amps 87, start amps 25, end amps 15, AC frequency 100hz, AC balance 30%, and post flow 4 sec. Weld one was moderate brushing, weld 2 no brushing and welds 3 & 4 vigorous brushing. Weld 4 & 5 was practice resuming a bead after cool down and I built it up on the end of weld 4 for that reason. Next time I'll turn the amps up a bit to account for the extra thickness:

 

[Fawken]

OK, my welds are looking tons better as I am learning to keep the torch steady and close to the work. Here is some Dr Pepper can welding just to test the machine on low (very low) settings. For this I found the AC frequency needs to be at about 30hz, amps at 20:

I made a small device out of a piece of broken fiberglass shovel that lets me advance the filler with one finger. Also keeps bare hand completely insulated from the filler. This helps me a lot as advancing filler with a glove on was driving me nuts:

 

[yomax4]

If your machine has wave balance you can mess with that to get good cleaning. Too much and it will eat tungsten so be aware.. Dr.Pepper can is now ready for a nice stack of dimes bead. Nasty coating on the cans.

 

[Fawken]

Yes it has AC balance which I have set low. In order to actually lay a bead I need to devise a way to rotate the can slowly on demand. This was mainly to see if I could get puddles started on the can and add some filler without punching through.

 

[ericher69]

Yes it has AC balance which I have set low. In order to actually lay a bead I need to devise a way to rotate the can slowly on demand. This was mainly to see if I could get puddles started on the can and add some filler without punching through.

You need this http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121659437330

Sent from my iPhone 5s 64Gb using TractorByNet

 

[Fawken]

You need this http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121659437330

Sent from my iPhone 5s 64Gb using TractorByNet

Yeah, no problem. $1800 to weld cans. Think I'll just give up drinking Dr Pepper. Seriously, if you need something like that it would likely be for making pump flanges and such.

 

[Big Barn]

Fawken, you can get by with a light duty bench positioner for under $500. U can buy a lot of Dr Pepper with the G note you save.

Terry