Mostly been doing steel and recently did some 1/4" 6061 Aluminum and bluntly have not been having good luck with tuning in settings. Before I waste a bunch of material thought I would reach out to the community and see if anyway had any advice on a good starting point settings wise.
I’ve had great success with my Everlast 82i. I’m not sure which machine you have, but here are my settings. I also use nitrogen instead of air for cutting aluminum, which shouldn’t affect the settings for 1/4" T6 or 5000 series aluminum.
- 60 amps
- 70 amp tip with shielded consumables
- Cut height : 0.062"
- Pierce delay: 0.7 - 1 second
- Pierce height: 0.12"
- Feed rate: 46 inches per minute (ipm)
- Gas pressure: 75 psi at the torch while cutting
I recommend applying a little MIG nozzle gel on the torch tip and cup. This will help prevent molten aluminum from sticking to the tip, which can throw off the torch height control (THC).
Good luck!
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A good reason not to use smart voltage when cutting aluminum, providing you know the voltage setting you need.
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The voltage that the VIM ‘claims’ it is when cutting at your nominal cut height, anyway…
It’s not likely you’ll need THC when cutting 1/4 material anyway, unless you’re cutting narrow strips.
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