[Al5608]

Hello, new to the forum and new to tig welding . Have a question. Practicing welding on some 4130 chromoly tubing using 3/32 tungsten. I don’t remember which one it was, but I know it was recommended for welding chromoly. I had my world are set to 80 amps. Within about 10 seconds of welding, the end of the tungsten would get a ball on the end of it. I was not touching the tungsten to the filler rod or the tubing. It starts off welding pretty nice, but as I’m welding that ball gets bigger and bigger and the ark seems to wander around. It also seems like the weld, and I am sure I am using the wrong terms for this, but the world looks really dry if that makes any sense. It’s fused in, but it’s like it’s welding way too hot? But if I try and put less amps to it, there’s no weld Puddle to dip the filler rod into. Sorry if none of this makes any sense I’m totally new to all this just trying to learn, probably the hard way... lol

[cj737]

Make sure you are welding in DC, not AC current. Also, make sure you have sufficient gas flow, like above 15 CFH and using straight (100%) Argon, not 75/25 mix.

[Poland308]

Is your tig torch hooked up dcen?

[Arno]

As the sharp tungsten tip is still protruding from the metal 'ball' I'd still have to say that it's likely base or filler metal that's deposited on the tungsten for some reason.

If you grind the ball on the end down is it softer than the tungsten or give a different spark? Then it's definitely metal deposits.

To find out where it's coming from you'll likely need to set up some test pieces and first do some runs without filler to see if it stays clean and then start with adding filler and see under what conditions the deposits happen.

Bye, Arno.

[HREFabLLC]

Definitely make sure you are on DC, not AC as mentioned above. That looks more like contamination from either dipping the tungsten in the puddle or sticking the filler rod. Cut it off, grind it sharp, and ensure you're welding on DC.