After my disaster with the Cobel welder, I've finally had time to try the R Tech on Alloy.

Tried to simulate the 1st job I have, modding a cast manifold.

Not stacked dinner plates yet, but welcome any feedback...


allyweld1


allyweld2


allyweld3

Ali needs clean metal, old manifolds will always be full of rubbish which bubbles up as you progress, It looks like you have dwelled instead of dipping and moving on, try less power and go slower.

Cut a decent V in the work and fill rather than trying to butt weld thick material, apart from that its stuck together so although not pretty functional so has done it job

Looks capable for the job intended.
To repeat others, it really is a matter of cleaning the job first. Some alloy (GSXR sumps for example) will not weld cleanly however much you clean it, because it's of such poor quality. Winding up the gas a bit might help, worth a try, if shielding is an issue (looks quite oxidised as well as contaminated).

I have the R-Tech Tig 251. If you have power to spare, try winding up the 'cleaning' pulse segment. If this saps the power, you might want to put the manifold in the oven for a preheat.

I bet you are pretty pleased with that, I would be, that looks a great first off with a new welder.

There is only one method for doing Ali. Practice practice practice.

Aslo I don't know if you are aware but you will have a much easier time if you use welding rods specifically for cast Ali

Which model are you using?

By the way r1_pete, that wheely bin is going to shift when you finally have the bike carbs fitted to it!!!!

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I'll give things a try over the weekend, I can't believe how close to Oxy Acetylene welding TIG is, I did years with that, and find I can maintain a real steady arc.

I'm using 4043 rods, the ally is 3.2mm thick, and the rods 1.6, I think 2.4s would be better.

Its the 161 ac / dc set, R Tech have been really good, wouldn't sell me the 200 to use on a domestic 240v supply, they said it would pop fuses above 160 amps. Also had a suspect foot pedal, they had a new one with me within 24 hours.

And the weight of that wheely bin yesterday when I dragged it up for emptying it could do with a boost

A weekend of practice coming up, good job I've plenty of gas.

Cheers.

Pete.

Yep 4043 are the ones you want although you have done the typical beginners thing and gone for too thick welding rod. With Ali once you have got the hang of managing the weld pool so that it doesn't run away from you getting bigger and bigger you will find using a thinner rod changes the weld pool temperature much less making heat control an easier task.

The typical mistake is that most beginner's with Ali have trouble managing the heat and the arc which results in melting the rod before you get it near the weld pool, the typical mistaken response is use a thicker rod which actually makes things harder rather than sticking with the thinner rod and correcting poor technique

clean, and clean a bit more.

also try a bigger gas shroud??? dunno what size you're using? if the set has frequency control, try upping it to narrow the arc, also keep a tight arc. bigger tungsten ground to a dull point might help on the ticker stuff???

black portion at the top of the tube may be lack of post gas/gas coverage?? try fiddling with the balance to see if it makes a difference? More EP will help cleaning but will put a strain on your tungsten.

practice, practice, practice..............anyone can stack some dimes on a nice clean flat plate, its the stuff you're doing which tests you............in at the deep end eh!!! best of luck

join in over here, lots of useful info and some top welder types:
Welding Forum

[Edited on 31/5/13 by clanger]

[Edited on 31/5/13 by clanger]

[Edited on 31/5/13 by clanger]

Some good advice given by others here.
Best thing I got for my R-tech welder was a set of gas lenses.
Much better gas coverage.
Also watch out for losing gas coverage at sharp edges where the gas spills over the edge and creates turbulence.

If you haven't seen it already, visit "Weldingtipsandtricks" on youtube, best photography of the actual welding process using the camera behind a welding lens, also excellent tips and a very down to earth guy.