Ball Your Tungsten for Aluminum, Even Though it's WRONG. how to tig weld aluminum

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Thank you SO MUCH for watching! TAKE MY FREE ONLINE TIG WELDING CLASSES👇 www.pacificarctigwelding.com/

[@nathanmarsh2699]

Great content. I have an older Miller transformer machine and have balled my tungsten for 40 years. That’s the way I was taught and it has worked well for a long time. Balance is everything…

[@DirtyDovi]

This'll be a fun and informative one for sure! I learned to TIG weld on a gigantic industrial Lincoln [Square Wave?] - Water cooled torch, - Usually run full tilt [We manufactured HIGE I-Beams] Anyways, after playing w/ ridiculously thick steel, they threw some aluminum at me.. YUCK!! *I was waiting for the metal/puddle to turn red, but NOPE - Kept blowing through.. Finally - It all clicked. Man, that was fun! While it lasted.. Off/On w/ my DC only TIGs over the years until' recently: Scored a PrimeWeld TIG 225X [Hence why I'm here now, and dude.. I'm really enjoying and appreciating it! ] It's 1:00+ in the AM.. 7am can't come soon enough! 🤘😁 Sam -

[@IR-74]

How important these lessons and reviews are. Your explanation, my friend Justin, is unlike the machine notebook. Professionals or technical experts and professionals like you do not take explanations from the machine notebook or manual. Because you have reached a level where you are inventing new ways and methods for us that we have not seen before, and you are helping us in all of this. Thank you for what you provide. I love watching everything new you offer, my teacher....🎉Before I forget, happy birthday to your son and many happy years and a long life🎉

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Haha great comment, thanks for the well wishes, the birthday present went over great! This comment really means a lot to me. There is so much I would like to share with the community, it's something I love doing to help contribute because I didn't have much to help me learn when I first started. Really awesome to hear that my videos have been able to share some of this with you, experiment and see what you like best! Thanks so much for watching and have a great weekend!

[@borashid3371]

Pardon, my friend. We wish you all the best on your path, because you are one of the distinguished and hardworking people in this field. Your friend from Dubai, Abu Rashid ​😊​@@PacificArcTigWelding

[@christellejaco]

I was in despair, welding upside down outside on my sailboat bimini frame on clear anodised aluminium, getting really shitty welds...then I saw this episode... I did exactly like you recommend with fantastic results! Thanks Dusty!

[@CloveHitchCory]

I've never seen a balled tungsten. this channel is awesome. I'm learning so much. god bless you bro

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

I really appreciate this comment! Happy that this was able to share a bit of information, experiment and see what you prefer for yourself! Happy welding!

[@CLNracing]

Dude, thank you for this. I was taught to ball in school 12 years ago, then was persuaded not to ball by the masses, then I started following your videos and was really confused, especially confused how you obtained such a perfect ball. Simply cranking up the balance on AC does not create a perfect ball on these machines. I am taking notes. Thanks man!

[@Karpofcarp]

Honestly first for aluminum I always did sharp with a barely blunted tip but after trying it with a ball after a while I really liked it especially with green tungsten

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Interesting! Really great to hear that you have tried it a few different ways, everybody finds something that they prefer working with, great to hear that you have had some good results! Thanks so much for checking out the video, have a great weekend🙂

[@ajsorensen2585]

Dusty you are THE man!! Thank you so much, it's one thing I noticed you always have on your tungsten and I could never get it quite like you have it! Love all the tips and advice, you inspired me to get into TIG, Thank you again 😎

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Hey buddy great to hear from you! I really appreciate the comment, and that's great to hear that the video was something that could help! Let me know how it goes! It might take a few tries to get the feel for it, but with proper grinding it should be pretty straightforward, happy welding and have a great weekend!

[@dcsensui]

Thanks for showing how it's done. As for people arguing or criticizing what you're doing, they just need to see what your welds look like. I want my welding to look like yours. So I'll do whatever you do to give myself the best chance of success.

[@DaveLabo]

I tried sharpening the tungsten the way the manufacturer suggested with poor results no matter what tungsten I used. After trying the mini ball trick my tungsten is perfect after many starts. Thanks for the tip. It really helps.

[@andrewfraser8974]

20+ yrs ago here in aus we were taught to ball the tip for aluminium, we used a copper plate though, using the same settings we'd weld the material/ joint with.

[@paulkurilecz4209]

Thank you. I will give it a try. The misshapen electrodes that you showed with the spikes and blue colors is what mine currently look like after welding at high amperages.

[@samsquatch6238]

Thank you for this video! I’m needing to up my aluminum game for a new job. I will definitely be signing up for the online course. Thank you!

[@ls2005019227]

I'm not generally a "baller"......but essentially, balling creates a more durable tungsten, protecting against the deformation caused by higher (DC+) balance settings. Excellent video, thanks!

[@johnmoriarty6158]

Can you do an episode about the puddle sinking? What about when the puddle gets agitated and the sound changes. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@Romalleyweldz]

Alot of this is specific for an everlast machine. Which run great but can be daunting to someone new. My inverter machine has specific setting for using a pointed tung and also a setting for Ball

[@ThePipelineman]

Thanks Dusty 😊

[@Mason-q5e]

Tell your son happy birthday 🎉🎉 and thank you for teaching me how to set my machine

[@21gioni]

I like using the ball tip like you have mentioned.

[@djscurge]

Thanks for this! I've been waiting for this video for a while. QUESTION: What metal do you suggest balling on? I'm assuming it should be the metal we are going to be welding to prevent cross contamination, but I would like to know for sure.

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Honestly as far as getting results, I don't find one is particularly better than the other. Just ball on something that you don't care about having a small puddle form on, copper, stainless, chunk of spare aluminum, whatever you have laying around. I used to have students looking for something to use and they would end up bawling on one of their hammers or something😂 Whatever works I guess! Thanks so much for checking out the video, have a great weekend!🙂

[@jpete190]

If your welding on Aluminum >.250 I would urge you to try using DC straight polarity and Helium gas, pointed 2% Tungsten. The heat input is double what you get using AC. The aluminum melts instantly. I did it this way for years, wire brush using a high speed SST rotating style brush to Rmv the oxidation, then degrease w/alcohol. You don’t get a visible change at the weld puddle, it just sinks in a little because it’s melting, then start feeding the filler. High penetration welds almost instantly.

[@jbrazil3761]

Just found your channel a week ago awesome tips you provide 👏🏼. I started welding AC in January and my work is only with engine heads on water gallery corrosions. I don’t use a pedal, what amperage do you recommend to do the ball on tungsten? I do the balance method 3rd option. On the video it shows 30ish to 40ish Amperage. Using 2.4mm tungsten blue and white color. Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷😃.

[@toxictraveller1892]

Solid explanation. Love your stuff. 👍👏

[@MrNigel1340]

Thank you for the information on balling Dusty, very helpfull.

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Awesome to hear! Let me know how it goes, hopefully you get some good results and can experiment with a few preparations of your own to see what you prefer! Thanks so much for checking out the video and have a great weekend!

[@MrNigel1340]

@@PacificArcTigWelding Thank you and the same to you.

[@dopamim4131]

I am about to enter a vocational high school majoring in welding, what should i learn before the school start?

[@michaelogden2359]

Always great videos thank you for the info and your time...

[@TamLe-vv9ic]

Hello. I'm Vietnamese and I'm learning aluminum welding. I don't know English so I don't understand everything you said. Can you help me write down the steps to make a tungsten ball head like in the video? Thank you very much!

[@DadBeard-pi2oy]

Hmmm?? I need to try this on my Primeweld 225.. Thanks!!

[@mikeembasado668]

Dusty I love your videos. I am obsessed. I want to join your school but I’m having a really hard time picking a machine. I have mig welder. I want strictly ac dc tig. It’s a decent amount of money for me to lay out but I want to do it. I’m inbetween the primeweld 225 and the everlasting 210ext. I know everlast sponsors you, but it’s double in price. Am I really going to benefit enough from having the everlast over the primeweld to make the price worth it? Want to be able to weld from thin to thick

[@giuseppeadamo5917]

Hi, thanks for your videos. I have a question about welding aluminum: when the ball that forms on the electrode, instead of being shiny white, is reddish or shiny blue, what does it mean? I'm waiting for your answer. Thank you. A cordial greeting from Italy. GA

[@annmdarwin4273]

I've done my TIG Weld test last Thursday. I had trouble welding aluminum. Galvanize not to bad. And it's surprising because I got the job lol 🫣👀

[@maltalian2]

Bit late to the party for commenting but I’ve been watching you since I was in high school Just one question, does it matter what material is under the tungsten when balling? Does it have to be aluminium or can it be any material underneath? Thank you Dusty! You’ve literally taught me everything I know

[@Romalleyweldz]

Copper or any non ferrous metal is best.

[@TheOneAndOnlySame]

Huh...excuse my ignorance (?) but.. The tungsten will ball up in the first few seconds of alu welding anyway. I've never welded Al and kept a pointy tungsten for more than 10 seconds So, might as well be balling it up preemptively in a controled and clean manner yourself rather than letting it dance away while you're trying to weld Good video , thanks 👍

[@Hnkka]

You ball it by your self before anything because you have the control on it. Perfect ball every time

[@Romalleyweldz]

Wrong it depends on your settings and what type of machine the old syncrowave yes but not inverter machines. They have a specific setting for ball on the miller dynasty.

[@JonathanHahn-li2mq]

I have a lincoln 180i and it's set up different so I hope I can figure it out according to the second example you gave

[@SovereignLivingMan]

What settings do y'all use on your welding hood?

[@michaelshenoy6050]

Thanks for doing this video. I was one of the people who asked you to do cover this very topic. I tried purposely balling my tungsten before but couldn't get it to look quite like yours. So I just blunted the tip like those inverter manuals tell us to do it. I'll be trying your technique this weekend being gentle on the pedal. I am curious what shop manual were you referencing? I too have an Everlast welder (MTS 275) and it didn't talk about a method to ball the tungsten for Al welding. Though I found their manual to be technically sound and very informative and I read all 100+ pages of it. I hate to be that guy, but the manual excerpt you showed talked about power, heat and ultimately "amperage" going into the tungsten. Technically that's not entirely correct (heat IS being carried into the tungsten, yes, but current/amperage is actually flowing into the workpiece). Electrons, which are a negative charge, flow from -ve to +ve and electrons do indeed bring the majority of the heat and thereby making the tungsten much hotter than the workpiece. But current which is a measure of +ve charge flow actually flows in the opposite direction of electrons and vice versa.

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Great comment and great explanation! Let me know how it goes if you give it a whirl, happy welding and have a great weekend!

[@jerrysherwood2886]

How about telling me what I should do on my miller diversion. Can't change the ac balance...

[@wolfywolfhowl]

I do not believe your mentioned your base material for "balling" I was taught to use a piece of brass or copper, I keep that same piece of copper for whenever I want to ball and not once does it deform or pit the copper and heats up perfect for the excellent ball.

[@stuartgray5877]

Most important thing he said that MOST people will ignore and then be irritated: "Whatever you use for Tungsten preparation ONLY USE IT FOR TUNGSTEN PREPARATION". There's no better way to drive a new welder crazy than contaminate the tungsten or the workpiece. Some welding you can get away with welding through paint or rust or other crap. NOT with TIIG Aluminum.

[@7628739]

My machine balls it no matter what,.. I have a snychrowave 250, and I pulse with my foot pedal haha! I quess drumming helps

[@Ma_X64]

Ball appears by itself once you turn your machine to AC.

[@basiedp]

Something not related to this vid. What kind of lights being used in workshop as i have led tube lights and helmet darkens the moment i want to weld. What am i doing wrong please. What can be adviced to keep inside dry as breathing fogsup on lens inside.

[@scottjones8664]

I point my tungsten for welding AC, and it instantly balls up and seems to run okay. I've never been able to keep a pointed tungsten on AC. I use a miller syncrowave 350LX and I am usually welding 1/4 inch or thicker. I use an 1/8 green tungsten because the 3/16 that I normally run for steel deforms and flutters before I can even get a puddle. Am I doing something wrong?

[@colesmith3683]

That is pure tungsten, it has a significantly lower carrying capacity relative to most other types of electrode. I would consider using Lanthanated 2% (blue) because it will work equally well on ac or dc.

[@scottjones8664]

@colesmith3683 Thanks for the tip, I'll try to see if I can get some of those. I've been wanting to try some of the different types of tungsten, but I only weld at work, so it can be hard to get stuff other than what they keep on hand.

[@colesmith3683]

@scottjones8664 your work only has green tungsten, and you are welding steel and aluminum??

[@scottjones8664]

@@colesmith3683 we also have gray, which is what I use for steel.

[@fafa8447]

Goods job

[@bonovoxel7527]

"U nuh s'pposed to doo-daaat!" 😂

[@MidEngineering]

If it works, it ain't wrong!

[@ps3dropzone187]

Been welding for about 30 years now i use a ball every time aluminum I have tried a point and it does not weld as nice as a ball

[@greymane_gaming3435]

25+ years here and I ball every time too... it's because we're old and that's how it was done back when we had to dodge dinosaurs on our way to school... :D

[@ps3dropzone187]

@@greymane_gaming3435 hell yeah

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

We are all Ballers! Really awesome to hear what you all use for your set up, whatever gets the job done!💎 Have a great weekend and happy welding🔥

[@ps3dropzone187]

@@PacificArcTigWelding old airco 350 amp I do aluminum rim wheel repair every day I used to be a boilermaker

[@jedhatcher252]

It can or can't be done on the Lincoln square wave 200?

[@jpete190]

Can be

[@kricketscreations4887]

The easiest an fastest way is just to crank up the balance ball it then turn the balance back down

[@sharkeyist]

How ever did we manage before inverters and the internet....

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

RIGHT?? I had to learn on an old clunky dinosaur of a machine (which I actually still love using) and no KZbin! Happy that I can contribute these videos, thanks so much for watching!

[@sblack48]

Get balling….giggiddy

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Giggity giggity🔥 Thanks for watching the video, hope you have a great weekend!

[@jacobwells618]

🪙🪙💙💙 Thank you for always bringing the facts and trying to calm the trolls‼️🤙

[@PacificArcTigWelding]

Haha there's no calming them, but just doing my part to contribute to those who are willing to learn through the videos. I really appreciate you watching, hope you are well my friend!🙂

[@gregwilkins7649]

🎱🎱🎱🪙🪙🪙

[@kevinheiman5615]

Dude needed to answer one question and lost me before he could even do it. Talk like a lady bro too much

[@chauvinemmons]

I don't know where people come up with this garbage about not balling the tungsten if you want a messed up weld use a sharp tungsten and get what you deserve