[tweake]

was doing some aluminium tig welding today, welding up a small box, and was suffering from snot on the end of the filler rod.
nice shiny puddle, feed the rod, take it out and its got a long hunk of snot on the end of it.
whats the cause?

[Oscar]

was doing some aluminium tig welding today, welding up a small box, and was suffering from snot on the end of the filler rod.
nice shiny puddle, feed the rod, take it out and its got a long hunk of snot on the end of it.
whats the cause?

Too long of an arc, improper torch angle, improper filler rod angle, or you're too slow are the likely causes.

[tweake]

was doing some aluminium tig welding today, welding up a small box, and was suffering from snot on the end of the filler rod.
nice shiny puddle, feed the rod, take it out and its got a long hunk of snot on the end of it.
whats the cause?

Too long of an arc, improper torch angle, improper filler rod angle, or you're too slow are the likely causes.

while i weld like a trained rat, i doubt thats the cause otherwise i would have had that problem a lot.

i suspect at the moment that its either insufficient gas, bottle was really low. i assume i've run out as i started blowing soot but flow meter still runs right amount and there is a few psi left on the gauge.
or i'm sucking crud through from the back side. (failed to follow the 3 c's)

[Oscar]

Well I was under the assumption that you weren't low on gas, since you didn't disclose that important piece of information. You also failed to mention that you didn't properly clean clean clean.

[VA-Sawyer]

I saw the title, and thought you had sneezed on it.

[tweake]

well it was late and i was tired
bad weather today so snuck off and got some more gas.
hopefully i will test it out. but coffee first..............

[tweake]

I saw the title, and thought you had sneezed on it.

thats kinda what it looks like, bit like someones been picking their nose with the filler rod.

[tweake]

ok, so new bottle in, bit of scrap off the floor.
tack.......ewwww. gas reading lower flow than normal. bump it up, tack....ewwww.
wind up the gas a lot, run bead.....o yeah baby arc is way better and forces me to speed up. nice shiny ripples.

so i suspect marginal gas setting for the #5 cup, low bottle pressure probably screwing with the regulator.
combine that with open root (bad fit up) and poorly cleaned material, means a lot of oxides that cling to the rod in a trail of snot.
i think the #5 cup requires a bit more gas flow than what i'm used to with the gas lens.
so i might have to bite the bullet and get a stubby gas saver. the gas lens works well, just $$ to replace when a bit of aluminium gets fired up into the screen. the gas saver screens are replaceable, cheaper and available locally.

[Radishfever]

Have you tried the Chinese gas lenses they sell on Amazon and eBay?

I think I got a stubby gas lens kit from Welding City for under $15 through Amazon about a month ago. They have inexpensive Pyrex cups also.

With that said I did order some wedge collets from CK hoping they are better than the split collets that are the norm with the cheap kits. Need to change tungsten so often that I’m hoping it’s easier removing tungsten from the wedge easier than split collet. Had to use pliers several times to remove contaminated tungsten death gripped to a loosened collet.

Not sure if there is much of a difference otherwise between the expensive and cheap gas lens. Willing to be schooled on this because I’m just guessing [emoji13].




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[BillE.Dee]

Have you tried the Chinese gas lenses they sell on Amazon and eBay?

I think I got a stubby gas lens kit from Welding City for under $15 through Amazon about a month ago. They have inexpensive Pyrex cups also.

With that said I did order some wedge collets from CK hoping they are better than the split collets that are the norm with the cheap kits. Need to change tungsten so often that I’m hoping it’s easier removing tungsten from the wedge easier than split collet. Had to use pliers several times to remove contaminated tungsten death gripped to a loosened collet.

Not sure if there is much of a difference otherwise between the expensive and cheap gas lens. Willing to be schooled on this because I’m just guessing [emoji13].

Hey Kirk, just from what I've been seeing with the cheaper lenses..they sometimes fit and sometimes don't. Perhaps their qc isn't the best.
I have switched over to the wedge collets and find that when changing tungsten, I have to push the tungsten back into the backcap just a bit to release it and sometimes when re-installing tungsten the wedge is in the way and have to tilt the torch to get the tungsten to slide into the collet..BUT..for me a good move as they don't disfigure like split collets.
Bill


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[BillE.Dee]

Sometimes when I get in a hurry, it looks like the filler is gooey , but it snot.
as far as the chinese lenses, I've seen/heard complaints about them not fitting just right.
The wedge collets...when removing tungsten, you have to push the tungsten back towards the back cap to release it-no problems. They also seem to work better for me as they don't disfigure like the split collets.
Bill

[Radishfever]

Oh no,

Ordered wedge collets hoping it would be easier to remove contaminated tungsten over the split variety.

What I have noticed, my tungsten gets caught up in the split collet and I end up needing to remove tungsten with pliers almost every time I get contamination. And lately that has been about once every thirty seconds of welding or less[emoji13]

The dedicated tungsten grinder I built was not intended for keeping tungstens pure, but instead was built just to keep up with the volume of contamination from my poor habits[emoji23]

In all seriousness I’m happy I bought some wedge collets to try.

You are probably very correct about the cheap gas lenses not being perfect like the CK brand. Have not seen a good one in person yet to compare. I do use two o rings on the Pyrex and check before using so that air is not getting past them.


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[tweake]

Have you tried the Chinese gas lenses they sell on Amazon and eBay?

I think I got a stubby gas lens kit from Welding City for under $15 through Amazon about a month ago. They have inexpensive Pyrex cups also.

With that said I did order some wedge collets from CK hoping they are better than the split collets that are the norm with the cheap kits. Need to change tungsten so often that I’m hoping it’s easier removing tungsten from the wedge easier than split collet. Had to use pliers several times to remove contaminated tungsten death gripped to a loosened collet.

Not sure if there is much of a difference otherwise between the expensive and cheap gas lens. Willing to be schooled on this because I’m just guessing [emoji13].

i have not tried the cheap stuff.
i have seen quite a few comments about issues with them. not just sizes but also things like poor gas flow. someone cut one apart and it showed undersized gas port.
i would rather stick to good known quality. if that also happens to support jody thats great.

i have some wedge collets but only for full size. i remember they worked fine, just don't use them now as i prefer stubby size.

[Radishfever]

Believable and valid points. Only reason for trying them myself was to see the contrast between the gas lens and a standard cup. In the future it gives me a better perspective of what kind of higher end stuff to try later.

Definitely want to get CK level gear down the road.

Got the idea to try the cheaper gas lens sets from YouTube. Mike Festiva, I believe is the channel name.

The Pyrex is my favorite and combined with a nice hood it’s excellent. Had to adjust my hood to shade 11 for comfort. Have zero clue if the gas lens is quality or not. There are some little boogers on the screen that I try popping off with little success [emoji23]

This is coming from a guy who has recently had to use a 4.5” cutting disc to cut tungstens off projects because I couldn’t get the other end out of the collet. This has happened more than once[emoji13][emoji23][emoji106]


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[cj737]

Tweake - I have found a standard collet body with a #5 cup works best. Gas lenses really only add an advantage above a #6 cup.

I run 9-11cfh with my #5, sticking closely to the rule of 2xCup for CFH. It is also been my experience that with a #5, I have to stick with a 3/32 tungsten else I get a coverage issue of gas unless its an inside corner, or tight area. Seems (speculating) the gas flowing around the 1/8 in an open weld just has too much turbulence to create a clean shielded area.

Maybe you also had some breeze tormenting you that you were otherwise unaware of?

[tweake]

Tweake - I have found a standard collet body with a #5 cup works best. Gas lenses really only add an advantage above a #6 cup.

I run 9-11cfh with my #5, sticking closely to the rule of 2xCup for CFH. It is also been my experience that with a #5, I have to stick with a 3/32 tungsten else I get a coverage issue of gas unless its an inside corner, or tight area. Seems (speculating) the gas flowing around the 1/8 in an open weld just has too much turbulence to create a clean shielded area.

Maybe you also had some breeze tormenting you that you were otherwise unaware of?

i'm pretty sure it was a case of flow rate slightly to low and bottle running out making pressures a bit wonky.
with the new bottle its night and day difference.

cup wise, i have some new ones on order which will be interesting to test. so far the #5 cup works very well.

with 1/8 tungsten on small cups i think the gas velocity will get to high due to it leaving very little room for the gas to flow in, so will need to go up a size or two in cups for the bigger electrodes.
i found going to 1/8 once up in the 170-180 amp range to be quite good. 3/32 balls to well, 1/8 keeps a crayon shape at that amps. which i find makes the starts a lot easier.

[tweake]

its arrived
i hoped it would be here by last weekend, but alas its here on monday.
hopefully sometime this week i will start trying out and comparing the different gas lens and normal cup.
the CK D4GS332 kit (stubby gas saver) vers CK gas lens and #5 cup.

also got a miller METRIC welding calculator. looks very useful.

[tweake]

quick fire up of the tig today.
the stubby gas saver seams to handle more stick out and lower gas flow even with a #5 cup, compared to the 9 series #5 cup. downside is it is a little longer than the gas lens or 9 series #5 cup.