Well, I don't think anyone here will be very surprised, but IT WAS THE GAS! I returned the bottle, mentioned that I thought it was contaminated, and they gave me a replacement without batting an eye. I guess I'm not the first person. As soon as I struck an arc I immediately knew that gas had been my...

Thanks for the prompt replies! Its an air cooled torch. I've checked, and double checked the gas lines, torch assembly (comparing to manual), as well as using different tail caps in case gas was leaking from the back. It blows air well, and I can blow dust around on the floor - so its flowing. I've ...

I'm at wits end, so here I am hoping for help in this forum. Bought this welder in 2011, and started learning to TIG weld aluminum. I had some success, and was slowly improving. Last year the machine didn't get used for TIG at all. This year I got a replacement bottle of identical gas (ALTIG which i...