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AC Balance setting confusion
I'm doing a little research on AC balance settings and I see recommendations for starting around 30 to 35 percent for learning aluminum welding. Other references suggest starting around 65 to 70 percent, which is just the kind of information a rookie does NOT need.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that some companies have designed the digital indication on their machine to measure the percentage of electrode negative time while others do just the opposite; i.e. the balance setting measures electrode positive time on some machines.
Said another way, a setting of 30 percent on one machine could be identical to a setting of 70 on another machine if they use opposite ways of expressing AC balance.
Have I figured it out correctly or am I still confused?
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
Originally Posted by
Mozella
I'm doing a little research on AC balance settings and I see recommendations for starting around 30 to 35 percent for learning aluminum welding. Other references suggest starting around 65 to 70 percent, which is just the kind of information a rookie does NOT need.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that some companies have designed the digital indication on their machine to measure the percentage of electrode negative time while others do just the opposite; i.e. the balance setting measures electrode positive time on some machines.
Said another way, a setting of 30 percent on one machine could be identical to a setting of 70 on another machine if they use opposite ways of expressing AC balance.
Have I figured it out correctly or am I still confused?
You are correct!
Lincoln 350MP
Millermatic 350P
Syncrowave 250
1969 SA200
HTP Invertig 221
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
Absolutely correct
Any normal AC TIG setup will have the balance skewed towards more electrode negative. So it might say, for sake of argument, 35% cleaning (EP) or 65% penetration (EN). It's the same thing, and all manufacturers choose one way to label it.
You soon find out if it's wrong way around, anyway. Your tungsten will ball up very quickly on more EP. It should stay relatively sharp, or at least melt back less than the diameter at higher amps, usually.
There are specialist setups on some machines where you'd run more EP balance, but there's no need to worry about that right now.
Last edited by Munkul; 11-23-2020 at 10:28 AM.
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
Here's an important thing to remember....
When you first start welding, especially Aluminum, and are researching all this stuff you'll find yourself in "information overload" sometimes Things like getting the exact right Balance, Tungsten composition & Grind, Cup size and the like are all subtleties you'll come to appreciate Later.
Don't worry too much about all that. You're not going to notice the difference between 25% and 35% now. You need to Weld,,, a Lot! The only thing to pay extra attention to right now is Cleanliness, again, especially with Alum. You don't need contamination giving you results in your welds that you otherwise wouldn't have. Use a Dedicated SS brush and Acetone on anything you're learning on!
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
Originally Posted by
Mozella
I'm doing a little research on AC balance settings and I see recommendations for starting around 30 to 35 percent for learning aluminum welding. Other references suggest starting around 65 to 70 percent, which is just the kind of information a rookie does NOT need.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that some companies have designed the digital indication on their machine to measure the percentage of electrode negative time while others do just the opposite; i.e. the balance setting measures electrode positive time on some machines.
Said another way, a setting of 30 percent on one machine could be identical to a setting of 70 on another machine if they use opposite ways of expressing AC balance.
Have I figured it out correctly or am I still confused?
Absolutely correct!
The manufacturers sometimes don't do a good job of making this clear, and some even make it more confusing (for no obvious reason). My Syncrowave 250DX has markings on the AC balance dial that go from 1 to 10 and even has wording at the 3 that says "Balanced Welding"....which sounds like a good starting point. In reality, 7 is more where you want to start. Balanced welding is 50% EP which is generally way too much. Maybe someone else has figured out why they mark it that way, but it doesn't make much sense to me.
Check out my bench vise website:
http://mivise.com
Miller Syncrowave 250DX
Millermatic 350P with XR AlumaPro
Miller Regency 200 with 22A feeder and Spoolmatic 3
Hobart Champion Elite
Everlast PowerTig 210EXT
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
Originally Posted by
G-ManBart
Absolutely correct!
The manufacturers sometimes don't do a good job of making this clear, and some even make it more confusing (for no obvious reason). My Syncrowave 250DX has markings on the AC balance dial that go from 1 to 10 and even has wording at the 3 that says "Balanced Welding"....which sounds like a good starting point. In reality, 7 is more where you want to start. Balanced welding is 50% EP which is generally way too much. Maybe someone else has figured out why they mark it that way, but it doesn't make much sense to me.
My take is that on the Syncrowave, and I have a 350, is that the balance setting of 3 they reference is for DC- welding. AC is where the 7 or 8 or even 9 at high amps is beneficial.
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
Originally Posted by
villageblacksmith
My take is that on the Syncrowave, and I have a 350, is that the balance setting of 3 they reference is for DC- welding. AC is where the 7 or 8 or even 9 at high amps is beneficial.
That's certainly possible. On the older non-DX Syncrowaves the AC Balance dial has "Set to No. 3 for balanced welding and DC Welding" although even older versions list No. 2 rather than No. 3. The DX versions changed the markings to "Balance/Dig" rather than "AC Balance" and keep the Balanced Welding reference to 3.
I just put it where I get the best results and don't think about it much, but it puzzled me a bit at first.
Check out my bench vise website:
http://mivise.com
Miller Syncrowave 250DX
Millermatic 350P with XR AlumaPro
Miller Regency 200 with 22A feeder and Spoolmatic 3
Hobart Champion Elite
Everlast PowerTig 210EXT
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Re: AC Balance setting confusion
that is why I like my Lincoln SW200, it is very intuitive to use with a minimum of functions to figure out. I had a gen 2 alpha tig for a very short while and while all the bells and whistles helped sell it I sure as heck don't miss em any. ( it blew up on about the 7th day or so while in stick mode )