Current Control during arc start

I have been TIG welding thin (0.030") aluminum this morning and when the arc is lighting up, if it is on the work, it will blow a significant piece of the joint away. Starting the arc on the filler rod or a runoff tab is a way to avoid this. Once the arc is established, the current control works well and I have to increase the current significantly to start the weld. I think it is because the machine (Syncrowave 250DX) takes a while to shift from arc start to current control. This is not a new situation, the machine has always done this.

Does anybody else with a Syncrowave have similar issues? Is this a common thing with transformer machines? Is this the excuse I need to get a little inverter welder? Other than this, the Syncrowave has been a great machine for me.

Thanks in advance, BobH

Reply to
BobH
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It never occurred to me that it might be the HF, I always assumed HF was all voltage and no current. I dug up the manual, and there is a section called Syncrostart (4.8) and it looks like I can turn the start down a notch. This will have to wait for a morning to check out, summer has arrived for real in Tucson and it is 100+ in the garage right now.

Do the little Thermal Dynamics inverter machines do well with thin metal work?

Thanks, BobH

Reply to
BobH

My Syncrowave 250DX is similar. Miller tends to have really powerful high freq generators. On my older analog Syncro 250 you could dial down the high freq with a knob down at the bottom of the front panel.

I just checked the online manuals for the Syncro 250dx's and there really is no way to dial down the high freq. on these models. I haven't been welding aluminum pop cans in a long time so it hasn't been an issue.

The trick to welding pop cans was always to turn your high freq down as far as possible.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

The Syncrostart adjustment solved the problem, at least for 0.030" aluminum. You hold the "Start Mode" button down when you turn the power switch on and hold until the software rev display clears on the meters. You can set it to 1, 2, or 3. 2 is the ship default, 1 is for thin metal and 3 for thick. AC, DCSP, and DCRP each have it's own value for the start mode.

After setting the start mode to 1, I repeated the outside corner welds that were a problem last weekend and the problem is completely gone. I was able to start the arc at the very end of the weld and move inward with no burnthru issues at all. I am really impressed with this.

Thanks, BobH

Reply to
BobH

I will give it a try on mine.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

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