helium

[USARMY44B]

can helium be used on gmaw? im in the army and cost dose not matter.

[arc]

i would sat yes because it is a inert gas but unless ur welding alum i would have to say stay away from it. it costs more than argon or co2 much harder to weld and weld quality would be hard to get. a mig mix or or strait co2 is ur best bet 4 steel and argon or a alum mig mix is ur best bet. they add helium to mig gasses to help out with penetration on mild steel mig mixes. call ur local welding store to get the low down on these gas mixes.


im trying to remember all this from school so i might be wrong, been a long time since then sooo...plz correct me guys if need be.

[USARMY44B]

cost dosent matter and i dont have a lws the speacks english and most of my consumables come from come through the supply system.

[SundownIII]

USARMY44B,

Miller has a good write-up on the uses of Helium in their GMAW handbook (page 140). You should be able to download it, or you can order a copy thru the mail.

Basically, for short circuit, low alloy steel, a 60-70%HE + 25-35% Argon + 4-5% CO2 mix gives "minimum reactivity; excellent toughness; excellent arc stability, wetting characteristics, and bead contour; little splatter".

On alum, copper, magnesium, nickel, and their alloys an Argon + Helium mix is preferred on thicker sheet material (over 1/8").

In spray transfer, a 35% Argon + 65% Helium mix isrecommended for aluminum plate 1"-3" thick (because of higher heat output).

For plate over 3" a 25% Argon + 75% Helium mix is recommended.

Looks like an Argon + Helium mix is also recommended for some Copper, Nickel and their alloy applications.

At the present time, Helium is in short supply in the US. I think it would be used more except for the cost.

Hope this helps.

How do you plan to mix your gases. Best way, of course, is with something like the Smith Proportional mixer. If not, you're sorta just shooting in the dark regarding proportions.

Where in Germany are you. Spent a little time myself in Stuttgart (Ludwigsburg) as S3 of the 7th Engineer Brigade.

[DSW]

USARMY44B.

If you need to mix gases PM me. I regularly mix He for diving and transfill argon for dive suit inflation and can probably get you close with partial pressure mixing. Not to hard but you will need certain fill adapters, special fittings for Hp gas, etc. I can tell you where to get these thru an approved military supplier if needed.

[USARMY44B]

USARMY44B,


Where in Germany are you. Spent a little time myself in Stuttgart (Ludwigsburg) as S3 of the 7th Engineer Brigade.

im senior welder in 317th maint in bamberg germany


thanks for the info guys the reson i ask is because we just got in a few bottles for my tig and i have a job for pit covers im making them out of alum dimond plate and the oic wants me to mig them for time but my spool gun is for my hobart welding trailer. i think its older then i am. so i dont know how well its going to work if it is going to work. my plan was to tig it for the practice. when i did try it i noticed that the the heat with he likes a lower freq then argon. what i mean is on 200 htz the arc took longer to stablize and the bead was taller then normal and the consistacy was harder to mantain. but at 50htz it was perfect. any thoughts?


and DSW i would love to know that because i have alot of small o2 bottles id like to fill for my mechanics. thanx

[DSW]

I sent you an email and PM.

Just want to thank all of you over there for all you are doing to keep us safe.

[fun4now]

man i had a lot of fun in Stuttgart. i was with the 1/16 over there and 2/37 i think it was tankers. was way back when they first got the M-1's every thing was shiny and new.
had a house in Burblagin (who knows how to spell it??)loved the mas transit, always on time and you could get anywhere.
nice place, almost stayed when i got out.

keep in mind HE unlike argon, wants to rise. so ya need higher flow rates.

[chris2626]

Yes you can use helium to mig weld well I think what we have at work is like helium argon and carbon dioxide mixxed I think which supposely the helium helps the weld hotter without turning the heat higher on the machine but don't hold me to this. I've got a question about Helium. I know to weld aluminum you need AC but I thought my old welding teacher told me once that you could weld aluminum with helium have any of you tried this? and it may have been on DC I 'm really not sure though

Chris

[bigo]

I use a helium 97.5% argon 2.5% mix on s.s from 16 guage to 1" and it works nice , clean smooth and steady flow . i use it on the 10 to 16 guage m.s also welds about the same as the s.s, but on the thin ms my welder will key up to say 19 or 20 volts on the helishield, whereas to the same setting running co2 it pushes21 or 22, although i get almost twice the penetration on the helisheild which is nice charteristic of it on thin ms. i weld stuff that is constantly under a load or being torqued, and dont like it on thicker ms, as i beleive the arc is to soft, spray arc is nice with it but i like to really pour the heat and wire as the co2 lets the wire cut deep as your welding where the helium will burn your wire faster where in turnyour more app to undercut and not get adequete penetration if your welding 3/8 and half inch unbeveled. bevel the thicker stuff and run a bit cooler i imagine it would be a dream come truecompared to co2.