Tig welding aluminum on DC

[Shield Arc]

Thought I'd do a little playing around this morning. Dug out my Tig rig, hooked it to the V350-Pro. Left the V350-Pro on SMAW mode. 0.0 on the arc force, and 0 on the hot start. Ran 25-cfh of 100% helium.
Had a little trouble getting started until I realized my auto lens was not going to work. Had to use a #9 gold lens, then I could see. At first I thought I was sticking the tungsten, then realized the auto lens doesn't like 50-amp welding.
This is a lap joint on 10-GA aluminum, I used 1/8-inch 4043 filler rod. 3/32-inch Ceriated tungsten, no foot pedal, no high freq at all! I was shocked at how easy it was to get an arc going! But with out a foot pedal I could only weld about 3 1/2 to 4-inches before I couldn't handle it anymore. I cleaned the weld zone with a stainless steel wire wheel just before welding, used a Scotch-Brite pad on the filler rod as well.
This is how I sharpened the tungsten, a sharp point seem to work best.
Now before you guys start laughing to hard, remember I'm no Tig weldor, I'm only a structural weldor!
First picture is before I brushed the weld off with a stainless steel brush, second picture is after brushing. Third picture is after brushing also.

 

[k0ua]

That looks great. That is one heck of a lot better than anything I ever did with oxy/ace . I think most people would be well satisfied with that performance.

James K0UA

 

[Shield Arc]

Thanks James!
Well there is just no substitute for a foot pedal when it come to Tig welding aluminum, but it can be done. If a guy could put up with making short welds, then move to another location, or just wait until things cooled down you could get away with this. I've had this bottle of helium for about 10-years now, can't remember what it cost, and have no idea what helium cost now.

 

[k0ua]

One problem with Helium is how much of it is there in the gas wells of the world, and will we be able to keep getting a stable supply.. We cant make it like we do with distillation of air to make argon. I think the supply is getting a little tight. there is plenty of it on the sun!

James K0UA

 

[Shield Arc]

This book I have says you can go with 75% helium, (minimum) and 25% argon for DC Tig on aluminum.

 

[CNC Dan]

I think the supply is getting a little tight. there is plenty of it on the sun!

James K0UA

There isn't a shortage. There was a good article on NPR a while back.
Politics.
The US goverment is still selling off it's strategic reserve, and all the frac-ing going on is prouducing more.
Here is an article about it.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/_mo...-tech/why-is-there-a-helium-shortage-10031229

 

[Arc weld]

It is harder for welding supplies to get and the price has sky rocketed here. A 244 cu. ft. cylinder is $350 and a 337 is $450. Some of the dollar stores that sell balloons go ballistic when you tell them you don't have any to sell them and if you did, it's real pricey. One woman was blaming me and cussing me out because she had pre-sold balloons for a kids party. She even said she was very demanding. Then she said her balloon supplier was the one telling her helium was available. I told her her balloon supplier isn't the one that supplies helium but of course they want to sell the balloons.

 

[Shield Arc]

Member Furu brought his Longevity Stickweld 250 over this morning, I wanted to try Tig welding aluminum with his machine. If I didn't know any better I think I like the arc on his machine better than my V350-Pro. :shocked:

 

[ThomasH]

That's a pretty decent looking bead to me. What were the settings on the welder? In particular the pulse settings...

 

[Shield Arc]

No pulse! Both machines have adjustable hot start, and arc force. In both cases I turned them down to zero. This was done with just DCEN, CC machines, 25-cfh of 100% helium, with no way to control the heat but with travel speed. With the Lincoln I used 56-amps, with the Stickweld 250 60-amps. The Lincoln V350-Pro is a top of the line inverter, the Longevity Stickweld 250 is what I would call the bottom line in inverter welding machines.
Other than the cost of helium this is a cheap way to be able to Tig weld aluminum. :thumbsup: