Jasic Tig 315 Features: 7 Essential Ones to Master for Superior Welding Results

• 1
  AC Frequency Control Sets the Arc Cone
• 2
  Pulse TIG: Independent Frequency, Peak and Base
• 3
  AC Balance Decides Cleaning Versus Penetration
• 4
  Post-Flow Gas and Thermal Management
• 5
  Trigger Modes and Preset Memory on Repeat Parts
• 6
  Where the Jasic Tig 315 Is the Wrong Pick
• 7
  Which Jasic Tig 315 Control to Change First

The Jasic Tig 315 features an adjustable AC output from 20 Hz to 200 Hz. Frequency is not a power setting. It changes how the arc column behaves across the gap between tungsten and workpiece. At 20–60 Hz the arc is wide and soft, spreading heat over a broader spot. At 150–200 Hz the column narrows and stiffens, so the same current lands in a tighter area.

On thick aluminum, the wide cone is what you want. A 6 mm to 10 mm section pulls heat away fast, and a broad arc preheats the surrounding metal while you move. Running 200 Hz on that same plate concentrates heat at the surface and leaves cold edges that will not fuse cleanly, no matter how much current you dial in.

Thin aluminum behaves the opposite way. On 1–3 mm sheet, high frequency reduces arc wander and lets you place the puddle exactly where the joint is. It also cuts the heat-affected zone, which matters on parts that are machined after welding. A 2 mm bracket welded at 150 Hz often needs no straightening; the same part at 40 Hz usually does.

Treat frequency as a lever for arc shape, not penetration. Penetration comes from current, travel speed and the EN/EP split. Change one of those first when a weld is underfilled.

• 1
  20–60 HzWide arc, broad heat input. Thick aluminum, preheat-heavy joints.
• 2
  60–120 HzMiddle ground for general fabrication and mixed thickness.
• 3
  120–200 HzFocused arc, narrow HAZ. Thin sheet, edge welds, tacking.

Pulse TIG alternates between a peak current and a lower base current. The Jasic Tig 315 lets you set pulse frequency, peak current, base current and duty cycle separately. That separation is the point: you can hold enough peak current to melt the parent metal while the base current keeps the puddle from running away between pulses.

On stainless, a pulse frequency of 2–5 Hz with peak-to-base around 3:1 is a common starting point for parts where heat input has to stay low. Slower pulses give the operator time to see the puddle freeze slightly, then move. Faster pulses, in the tens to hundreds of Hz, make the arc sound like a steady buzz and produce a finer rippled bead.

High pulse rates are not automatically better. Above roughly 200 Hz, most operators stop seeing individual pulses and the arc behaves like a slightly softened continuous arc. If the job does not need that softening, running continuous DC and adjusting travel speed is simpler and easier to repeat across shifts.

The useful test is simple. Weld a scrap coupon with and without pulse at the same average current, cut it, and look at the heat-affected zone. If the pulsed section is not visibly tighter or the distortion is not lower, pulse is adding setup time for nothing.

• 1
  0.5–5 HzManual-feel pulsing. Thin stainless, cosmetic beads, repair work.
• 2
  5–50 HzGeneral distortion control on 2–5 mm stainless and steel.
• 3
  50–500 HzFiner arc, tighter ripples. Check distortion actually improves.

AC balance sets the ratio of electrode-negative to electrode-positive time in each cycle. EN time puts heat into the workpiece and gives penetration. EP time puts heat into the tungsten and breaks up the aluminum oxide layer. You cannot have maximum of both in the same arc.

A 70% EN / 30% EP split is a reasonable default for clean 6061 or 5052. It keeps the tungsten from balling up too much while still removing surface oxide ahead of the puddle. Push EN to 80% or higher and penetration improves, but the oxide film starts to outrun the arc on heavily oxidized or cast material.

Castings and material with heavy mill scale need more EP. Anodized parts are their own case: the coating is an oxide, and it has to be removed mechanically before welding regardless of balance setting. No balance knob substitutes for grinding or wire brushing to bright metal within about 25 mm of the joint.

The practical limit is tungsten life. The more EP time you run, the hotter the tungsten runs and the more often you stop to regrind or re-ball. On a production cell, that downtime is real cost. Set the lowest EP share that still gives you a clean, bright puddle edge.

• 1
  65–75% ENDefault for clean wrought aluminum, 2–8 mm.
• 2
  75–85% ENDeeper penetration on thick or tight-fit joints.
• 3
  50–60% ENCastings and oxidized surfaces. Expect faster tungsten wear.

Post-flow keeps shielding gas running after the arc stops. Without it, the hot tungsten and the still-molten weld pool see air, and you get a grey oxidized crater plus a contaminated electrode tip. On stainless, that crater is often the start of a corrosion site.

Set post-flow by tungsten size and current, not by habit. A rough working rule: allow about 1 second of post-flow for every 10 A of welding current, with a floor of 3 seconds. At 150 A on 4 mm stainless, 10–15 seconds of post-flow protects the crater and the electrode. Thin sheet at 60 A needs less.

Water-cooled torch control changes the thermal ceiling. A water-cooled torch lets you hold 200 A or more for long beads without the handle becoming unusable, which air-cooled torches cannot do on sustained work. The machine's thermal protection will cut output when duty cycle is exceeded, and that cut is a hard stop mid-bead, not a warning.

Duty cycle is where specs get misread. A machine rated at 60% duty cycle cannot run a continuous production bead at that current. If your parts are long seams or you weld most of the shift, either step up to a higher-rated set or plan the torch and cable size around the actual duty cycle you run.

• 1
  Post-flow floor3 seconds minimum, even on low-current tacking.
• 2
  Rule of thumbAbout 1 second per 10 A, checked against crater color.
• 3
  Water-cooled torchHolds high current on long beads without handle heat.

The Jasic Tig 315 offers several trigger modes: 2T for simple press-and-hold work, 4T for long seams where the operator wants to release the button and keep welding, and spot or repeat modes depending on the panel revision. 4T also frees the operator's hand to reposition the filler rod mid-bead.

On thin material, 4T reduces the number of times the arc starts and stops. Every arc start is a thermal spike and a contamination risk if the gas pre-flow is short. Fewer starts means fewer chances to lose the puddle edge.

Preset memory matters more than it sounds in a shop with several welders. When a job comes back six weeks later, the operator recalls the stored program instead of guessing at frequency and balance. That is the difference between a repeatable weld procedure and a rebuild from memory.

Memory does not replace a weld procedure specification. Store the settings, write down the current range, gas flow, tungsten type and joint prep, and keep the two together. The machine remembers numbers, not intent.

• 1
  2TShort beads, tacking, repair work.
• 2
  4TLong seams, operator needs a free hand for filler.
• 3
  PresetsRepeat jobs. Pair with a written procedure, not memory alone.

This is a 315 A class AC/DC TIG set designed for manual welding. It is not a substitute for a mechanized or orbital welding system on tube and pipe where the procedure demands recorded, repeatable travel speed and arc length. If your drawing calls for a qualified welding procedure with logged parameters, a hand-held set will not satisfy the auditor.

On production aluminum above roughly 8 mm to 10 mm, single-pass TIG becomes slow and expensive. A 12 mm aluminum plate welded in several TIG passes has a large heat input and heavy distortion. MIG or a different process is usually the better economic answer, even if TIG gives a cleaner bead.

The set also does not fix bad fit-up. A 1 mm gap on 3 mm aluminum will pull and distort regardless of frequency settings. If your parts arrive with inconsistent gap, the money is better spent on fixturing and part preparation than on a more capable machine.

Where it does earn its place: mixed-material shops doing stainless, aluminum and steel in low to medium volume, prototype and repair work, and any cell where one operator needs to switch processes without swapping machines.

• 1
  Wrong pickQualified orbital procedures, heavy aluminum, high-volume single-alloy runs.
• 2
  Right pickMixed-alloy job shop, prototype, repair, low-to-medium volume.