Argon... CHANGE OF SUBJECT.... Alushield ?????
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Don't you just hate it...... just starting the last weld on my exhaust and my cylinder of argon ran out.....

Bad evening.....

Edited by Rod S on 22nd Nov, 2008.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

not much worse than running out of gas right when your getting your hopes up of test fitting what you have made!

A royal pain in the ass!

Remember you wouldnt have this problem if you lived on the moon!

or had a bigger bottle.

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Do what I do - get a pub botttle of CO2,empty it (use it with the MIG) and then buy a decanting hose and fill it from the argon bottle - hey presto an emergency supply which should give you time to get e fresh bottle.

I like both the above ideas, so I was just looking at the BOC catalogue to see what the next size up cylinder is (makes sense to decant off a larger one plus I'm about to do a lot of aluminium for the inlet manifold etc.) when I spotted Alushield.

Anyone ever used it ???

Basically it's 30% helium, 70% argon.

We used it work once for a large aluminium fabrication but that was MIG.

The BOC catalogue says it's for TIG as well but our coded welders always swore by pure argon for TIG with aluminium and I have just followed what they used to do....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Interesting Rod,

IIRC the helium will give a hotter narower arc kernal so will be suited better to welding thick stuff, like 10mm plate.

theres info on helium in the miller cataloge.

Yes,

BOC do it in three grades; light, universal and heavy - helium content goes up with thickness.

They specify the light (30% helium) is for up to 6mm aluminium.

I'm tempted to replace my argon bottle wih this (they say it is fine for stainless too) but would like to hear from someone who has actually used it first !!!

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

TBH unless you are going to be doing alot of Heavy Allu welding stich with the Argon altho Alusheild is good on alloy and acceptable on S/Steel imo it is no good on M/Steel.

One guy I know swears by it. He isn't the greatest welder but it made it easier for him to get a bead on aluminum.

The helium just burns hotter than pure argon making it more useful on thicker aluminum which will stuck the heat away quick. I did not think it was recommended for SS... to easy to overheat and lose the SS properties.

Personally, I would stick to pure argon and 100% tungsten electrode.