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Thread: Tig settings

  1. #1
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    Default Tig settings

    Hi I am new to this forum and tig welding. I am doing alright with mild steel and stainless but when I switch to ac to try my hand at that I just can not seem to get a base line on the setting that I can work off. Could anyone recommend some base line setting for ac aluminium that I can at least get going on

  2. #2
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    What material, what thickness, what machine... so many variables.

    More info needed. Tell us the entire spec on the machine set up as it stands, then tell us about the material.

  3. #3
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    I have a BOC 200 AC/DC and am just trying to get a puddle going with 3mm aluminium

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    Not an expert by any means so feel free to ignore me entirely, but a couple of things I've 'discovered' while AC TIG welding Al. Firstly, amps need to be (roughly) 20% higher than for steel. Secondly, if you try to ease up to operating amperage (slow increase on the pedal or what ever), it is difficult to get a good start. Get yourself set, floor it and then back off as the metal warms up. (Steel you can do that with, but Al does not seem to like slowly increasing heat)

    Michael

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    It would assist if you went through each of the settings for the machine (amps, frequency, cleaning etc.) and post the settings for them.
    What size cup, what size and type of tungsten.
    Photos of the results of your attempts would also help.

    As Michael says, with aluminium you generally want to start off hot, establish the silvery mirror puddle and then get moving and feeding.

    As a starting point, for 3mm ally you would be looking at 125 amps for a butt weld, 140-150 for a fillet. Between 8 & 10 7pm for the argon flow, 10-20% cleaning.

    If you change your location details to be a bit more specific there maybe someone nearby who could assist onsite if needed (or practical under the current restrictions)

  6. #6
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    If it's the new model 200 acca dacca, then this has some very neat features in a nice pacckage- adjustable pulse width, adj freq, High freq start, hot start, ramp down slope, post flow... all digital and accurate. I've been eyeing it off. On specs it beats the unimig razr at a better price.

    There was an old red box 200acdc probably 2005 vintage... that a workshop had some years back... don't know much about that one at all.

    3mm aluminium-
    Brush the oxide layer off first with a new, or dedicated stainless wire brush (brushing in one direction only to prevent grinding crap back into the fresh Al parent metal). Wipe with acetone and a clean rag if you can. Clean metal will weld best.

    2.4mm zirconiated tungsten (white tip) running DCEP on the machine.
    If you are running 5356 filler, generally aim to match the filler to the tungsten size.

    #6 or #7 cup if you are running standard stuff, gas flow to approx 8lpm gas flow at the nozzle.
    Run higher flows for larger cup sizes - general rule of thumb is the nozzle size is it's multiple of 1/16" - eg #5 is 5/16". Also the dia of the cup in mm is equal to the gas flow rate you'll dial in, and ADD 50% to the flow rate if you've got a helium blend.

    Torch angle approx 10 degrees off vertical. Add the filler wire low angle 15 degrees or so off the horizontal (perfect world- obviously not possible all the time). Remember to keep a tight arc- don't long arc it. If space constraints require long arc length- increase tungsten stickout up to 6x tungsten dia, and use a gas lens.

    Run AC current. Select an amperage around 125-145A for a Butt joint, or 140-160A for a fillet weld. YMMV.

    Hot start approx 25% higher than your preset, give it a second or so, and see how it goes. You want to get that pool going quick. You coudl up the % value and keep the time as is, or up the time at the same % amperage trim.

    AC frequency is the arc width and also has an effect on cleaning. Try starting about 120Hz.

    AC balance- This is the percentage of time the AC waveform stay in the negative or positive side of the waveform. Aim for a bias to the cleaning action of around 20-30% positive (cleaning action is at the compromise of arc penetration). In this setting the remaining percentage is negative, for penetration - ie 30% positive cleaning, 70% negative penno, etc).

    Pulse, if you have it, look at a what sort of bead width you want- you can do some tricky things with pulse current for the stackka dimes, if that's your thing. Also limits heat input into the job, prevents warpage etc.

    Down slope and post flow are best to prevent fish eyes/craters. Keep post flow at least 3 seconds (in my book), down slops 1-1.5s.


    Do a heap of searching the web for some useful info, get to know what the diff features of your machine do, and do some experimenting to see what works for you! Once you know what does what, it's just an exercise in muscle memory.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Commander_Keen View Post
    If it's the new model 200 acca dacca, then this has some very neat features in a nice pacckage- adjustable pulse width, adj freq, High freq start, hot start, ramp down slope, post flow... all digital and accurate. I've been eyeing it off. On specs it beats the unimig razr at a better price.

    There was an old red box 200acdc probably 2005 vintage... that a workshop had some years back... don't know much about that one at all.

    3mm aluminium-
    Brush the oxide layer off first with a new, or dedicated stainless wire brush (brushing in one direction only to prevent grinding crap back into the fresh Al parent metal). Wipe with acetone and a clean rag if you can. Clean metal will weld best.

    2.4mm zirconiated tungsten (white tip) running DCEP on the machine.
    If you are running 5356 filler, generally aim to match the filler to the tungsten size.

    #6 or #7 cup if you are running standard stuff, gas flow to approx 8lpm gas flow at the nozzle.
    Run higher flows for larger cup sizes - general rule of thumb is the nozzle size is it's multiple of 1/16" - eg #5 is 5/16". Also the dia of the cup in mm is equal to the gas flow rate you'll dial in, and ADD 50% to the flow rate if you've got a helium blend.

    Torch angle approx 10 degrees off vertical. Add the filler wire low angle 15 degrees or so off the horizontal (perfect world- obviously not possible all the time). Remember to keep a tight arc- don't long arc it. If space constraints require long arc length- increase tungsten stickout up to 6x tungsten dia, and use a gas lens.

    Run AC current. Select an amperage around 125-145A for a Butt joint, or 140-160A for a fillet weld. YMMV.

    Hot start approx 25% higher than your preset, give it a second or so, and see how it goes. You want to get that pool going quick. You coudl up the % value and keep the time as is, or up the time at the same % amperage trim.

    AC frequency is the arc width and also has an effect on cleaning. Try starting about 120Hz.

    AC balance- This is the percentage of time the AC waveform stay in the negative or positive side of the waveform. Aim for a bias to the cleaning action of around 20-30% positive (cleaning action is at the compromise of arc penetration). In this setting the remaining percentage is negative, for penetration - ie 30% positive cleaning, 70% negative penno, etc).

    Pulse, if you have it, look at a what sort of bead width you want- you can do some tricky things with pulse current for the stackka dimes, if that's your thing. Also limits heat input into the job, prevents warpage etc.

    Down slope and post flow are best to prevent fish eyes/craters. Keep post flow at least 3 seconds (in my book), down slops 1-1.5s.


    Do a heap of searching the web for some useful info, get to know what the diff features of your machine do, and do some experimenting to see what works for you! Once you know what does what, it's just an exercise in muscle memory.
    Awesome info mate that helps a lot

  8. #8
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    So is it the current model BOC 200ACDC? I'd like to know your feedback - looks like a little ball-tearer!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Commander_Keen View Post
    So is it the current model BOC 200ACDC? I'd like to know your feedback - looks like a little ball-tearer!
    Yeah mate the current model. Don’t know what sort of feedback I could give as its my first tig welder and only been using a tig for a week

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Commander_Keen View Post
    2.4mm zirconiated tungsten (white tip) running DCEP on the machine.
    Why would you ever run DCEP on a TIG setup, and why would you make a point using that config when running AC?

    Given that TIG machines assume you are running DCEN, when running DCEP the user will need to reverse the setting for AC balance.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by RustyArc View Post
    Why would you ever run DCEP on a TIG setup, and why would you make a point using that config when running AC?

    Given that TIG machines assume you are running DCEN, when running DCEP the user will need to reverse the setting for AC balance.
    Yeah, my bad. That should read DCEN. ie tig torch into the negative dinse socket of the machine. We all make mistakes, it seems. N and P are almost next to each other on the keyboard, right?!

    To be academic about it, and for the purposes of OP understanding 'why' the welder settings are what they are (there is no golden bullet), is that the electrode (tungsten) polarity goes a long way to determine the heat 'direction' (electron flow) from the torch into the job... Having the polarity about in DCEP when welding in DC will just melt the tungsten away and label you the workshop spastic. There was a day where you might be duct taped up on the gantry crane for such indiscretions... Probably the same days when it was called "heliarc welding".

    Like you alluded to, for AC the electron flow pulses in both directions (alternates). So you are essentially part time DCEP and part time DCEN. Tweaking the AC balance shifts the percentage of time the square wave will be in the EN and EP portion of the wave... The higher the EN proportion of the wave the more penetrating the arc will be. The EP portion is the cleaning action. So yeah, Technically you could run AC TIG with the torch connected DCEP (positive socket), but you'd have to be aware that the AC balance settings are back to front like you said... but then you run into the fact that some AC machines are not set to balanced AC- but are biased EP or EN, and then you'd have corresponding adjustability headaches, limits, etc. For example- fronius magic wave 230i you can adjust waveform from 15% EP to 50% EP only... Kemppi mastertig 235ACDC between 10 and 90% EP. EWM 230ACDC zero value on the rotary dial is 35% EP.
    So not all machines are equal. Just a case of having to RTFM.

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