help!! 6061 aluminum help

By Kix

Date 06-24-2008 16:52

1st off, is the material clean? Is it anodized aluminum? What are your machine settings like, A/C balance, A/C Frequency if applicable, Gas flow, Tungsten color, Filler rod size and type? If you can get us some of these details, we'll be able to help you out a lot more. .025" aluminum is pretty dam thin to be getting your learn on with. ;-) Try some thicker material while in these begining stages.

By bozaktwo1 (***)

Date 06-24-2008 17:17

.025"? Wow. Are you using a WPS? I'll assume GTAW. First, if it was me, I would switch up to all Argon. I like the way pure Ar works on aluminum. Second, if you're not welding AC current, I would consider switching; AC with high freq. creates a cleaning action all its own, as long as it's balanced properly. The soot and impurities you see in the puddle can be a result of not cleaning properly, or dirty gas. Check your cleaning procedures; there are tons of tips in this forum to be found by simply searching. Puddle washout or blowout can be caused by too much gas flow. Try using a gas lens and dropping your flow. Too much gas is just as bad as none. And finally, like Kix said, to practice on thicker material is a good way of improving your technique; controlling heat input in such thin stock is a nightmare on a good day, so it's best if you have some experience first.

Good luck and good day!

By forest whitaker Date 06-24-2008 19:13

hey guys , thanks for the quick response , ive been welding for a bout 9 years , and really didnt ever think of turning to a forum for help. I just recently started having to do aluminum at work tho...

specs are : miller dynasty300 , 280amps , ac balance 70 , 1/8" ceriated tungsten , gas lens with #6 cup i tihink , and im burshing with ss brush , then wiping with acetone.

i think the bad gas was the ticket , i cracked a new bottle of ar/he mix yesterday , and thats about when i started having problems. welds were coming out great before that , but i didnt really notice till all the old gas worked through our lines.

Im actually welding .250 tho, sorry that was a typo. ;]

now im manually mixing argon from a doer [sp?] , with a bottle of helium , cause the local supply shop is out of premixed bottles , and its working alot better.

thanks again , and ill try to post / contribute more thaat i know people are alive on here..

=]

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 06-24-2008 19:36

Forrest,

Sounds about right to me.

But beware that 70 on your balence control. That setting on your Dynasty inverter is slightly more EN time than 100% max pen on a transformer machine like Synchrowave.

If you see peppery deposits on the weld face or have difficulty getting good wetting at the toes this may be reduced by backing off on the balence control. Try about 5% incriments.