Quote:
Originally Posted by GregWeld
Aluminum is welded in AC not DC
IF it's an "inverter style" TIG then you DO NOT ball the tungsten.
And don't use GREEN tungsten --- use Ceriated or thoriated. (Red or Orange)
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My experience on Al was almost 15 years ago while in high school. The machine I used previously was not an inverter machine and balling the tungsten seemed to be normal for the time. I am using DC since this is mild steel with a 3/32 Ceriated tungsten.
I think I found the majority of my issue last night. I'm now remembering that there's no such thing as too clean of a weld. I was running a steel brush over the joint, but hadn't been cleaning up the majority of the mill scale.
Years of mig welding has made me a little lax when it comes to cleaning the weld. I believe the majority of what I thought was balling was actually contamination from spray building up on the tip.
I came to that conclusion when I noticed a little porosity in part of my weld. At the same time realized there were a few small sparks flying from the puddle. Once I broke out the flapper wheel and got rid of the mill scale on the front, and back, of the parts in question the process was 100x improved.