Help needed with tig aluminum ????

[fabric8r]

Hello Im trying to tig weld aluminum and its ben a while since the last time I did it. I have a few questions as to how to set up my welder.
1. If using my remote foot pedal remote amperage and remote contacture should be on right?
2. How do I set my High Frequncy Start / off / continues?
3. Which is the best gass to use Argon or 75 argon 25 carbon dioxide.
This is what im doing I set the welder on Reverse polarity to melt the tungsten into a ball. then I set the welder on AC And all im getting is like a bird Sh*t spatter on top of the alluminum when High freq is set on continues. with it set on Off all the tungsten wants to do is stick to the aluminum. I cant pull back and get a ark.
What am I doing wrong.
Thanks for you help.
Scott

[TJJ]

What machine?
Remote on
High freq continuous
AC mode
100% argon
pure tungsten or lanthanated or zirconiated

The bird sh%$ is probably wrong gas or no gas.

[fabric8r]

Its a Miller dialark 350 older machine. did you say both remote amperage and contacter on. I tried continues frequency and thats when I had the least success.
Thanks for your input.

[TJJ]

Not sure on the 350. I would suggest remote amperage on and contactor should be remote or off. The foot pedal or whatever remote your using should turn the contactor on also. You need continuous high freq to maintain an arc on AC with the transformer type machines.

[vicegrip]

Its a Miller dialark 350 older machine. did you say both remote amperage and contacter on. I tried continues frequency and thats when I had the least success.
Thanks for your input.

are you sure your h. f. is working at all when in continuous,

could be as simple as a bad switch !

[fabric8r]

Thanks for the help guys. Yeah High freq worked out ok. I had to turn the amperage up higher than I thought. And I also fixed the foot pedal it wasn't turning off all the way when I let off.
Here is how I set my machine up incase it might help others in the future. Pure argon gas 15-20 cfh, put in a tungsten either green"Pure" or brown"Thorated" with the end flat. then set the machine on reverse polarity+ and melt the tungsten just a little above a piece of alluminum till you get a ball on the end of your tungsten keep the torch down till the tungsten quits glowing so as not to contaminate it. Now your torch is ready, turn the machine to AC, Remote amperage ON, Remote contactor ON, High frequency set on continues. By the way this is using a foot pedal. otherwise remote contacter & amperage would be off.
Hope this helps and thanks again to those who helped me.
Thank you, Scott