HF weld on aluminum

[Steved]

Hello:

I have an Econo Twin HF TIG machine. I know that HF is required for start up as well as all the time when welding aluminum.

My question is that sometimes if the tungsten is really close to the aluminum I can turn off the HF during the weld and the arc continues. Does this affect the weld of aluminum?

The sound emitted is lower and it would appear that the puddle is not as large or penetrates as well. These are just my observations and I do not know if this will still produce a decent weld.

Thanks for your input on this.

Regards,

Steve

[dyn88]

the problem with welding w/out hf on aluminum is that your arc can wander and also you cant be sure that you are establishing an arc at the base of each half cycle.