Hi All
Had to weld a mounting tab that had broken off a motorcycle oil pan last night. That meant welding overhead in tight quarters. Anyone have any tip to make that sort of job a little easier? It was tough to avoid contaminating the tungsten, and just seeing what was going on wasn't easy. I got through it ok, but I'm sure I could do it better/quicker/easier. Any tips for overhead TIG Ernie?
Pete
Get everything as clean as possible, and get as comfortable as possible, brace your hands as well as possible. Do correctly, TIG welding aluminum overhead should not be much more difficult than flat or horizontal, if it's comfortably accessible.
Yep, all done. I was wondering more about machine settings and electrode stickout, that sort of thing. I found it hard to keep the electrode clean, as the rod would drip onto the electrode if one was not VERY careful. And 'comfortably accessible' was not an option in this case, although I did the best I could. I'm sure that played a part in my troubles
Pete
Pulsing, either with a pulser or just by tapping the pedal will probably help the puddle to stay in place better.
Stuart
The only thing that can really help is a pulser, or just manually pumping the amp controller.
Changing te ballance can help, but there is a trade-off. Increased DCEN yields greater penetration, but less cleaning. Increased DCEP yields better cleaning but less penetration.
So as long as your parts are really clean, you can increase the DCEN for greater focus of the heat.
Thanks Ernie!
Pete
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