On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 19:47:43 GMT, Ron Thompson
wrote:

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:37:41 GMT, "knowone"
wrote:

Appreciate your comments Bob.

As you probably know, the fan would be extremely easy to control by just
setting a bi-metallic thermostat on top of the transformer with some thermal
grease and one wire of the fan connected in series with the thermostat.
Normally, open, of course.

Can one not weld aluminum easily with the Dialarc h.f.?

k

I routinely weld aluminum down to .050" with my Dialarc HF, have
done .030 aluminum with it. Other machines would probably be better
if you plan to do very thin aluminum, but .050 and above are easy
with the Dialarc. I've also repaired broken aluminum castings,
like a pressure washer manifold and a trolling motor mounting clamp.
I'm just an amateur, but my welds look OK and they seem to hold up in
service.
I am absolutely thrilled to see this thread. I just bought a Dialarc HF on ebay
(#7590655192) and this is my second day playing with it. I did have to drive a
couple of hours to get it.
I have never even seen tig welding done before, and I am making passable fillet
welds without filler.
Of course, yesterday was a different story. I forgot to turn the coolant on
after a break and cooked the hoses to the torch. Now I'm glad I didn't cheap out
with a Chinese machine, as the local Miller dealer had the parts on the shelf.

I see that your machine came with pure tungsten and 2% Th tungstens.
If you're doing aluminum, I heartily recommend lanthanated tungstens.
They made a big difference for me.

http://www.aglevtech.com/LANTHANATED_Tungsten.html

I went with the 2% La (blue). I read somewhere that the 1.5%
formulation exists because it runs most like 2% thoriated so folks
won't have to re-calibrate their automated processes. Hell, I
re-calibrate my "process" everytime I pick up the torch, so I went
with 2% figuring more is better.

They do work well for me. They retain their shape much better than
pure tungsten does using AC on aluminum, so the arc stays stable.