Hi - was trying to weld 1mm mid steel with my lcd vision (think its chinese) acdc tig. The lowest i can set the amps is 18. Extremely easy to blow holes (have to move really fast not to). Not convinced the amp control knob on my pedal is working correctly as it sends the amps sporadic if i turn it up. So i just keep it on the lowest setting which reduces the initial amps to 18. But it just seems too much. Any one similar experience / advice?
Appreciated.
At 18A, that's almost too low for 1mm mild steel. Unless you are holding a super long arc which will also overheat your thin material really fast. You need to hold an impossibly tight arc. Try 0.9-1.0mm arc length. More than that and you're dumping excessive heat into the thin steel, which you do not need.
On inexpensive machines, despite their amperage setting to a very low amp number, many initiate the arc at 20 amps or above. This may be your situation.
You could lay a thicker piece of flat stock nearby, light up on it, then wick your arc over to the weld area. This may allow you to determine if the amperage really does lower or run at a lower rate than the arc start.
You could lay a thicker piece of flat stock nearby, light up on it, then wick your arc over to the weld area. This may allow you to determine if the amperage really does lower or run at a lower rate than the arc start.