[exnailpounder]

I am wondering if anyone else has had this happen. When I am welding and getting to the end of a weld and I start to back off on the pedal or feather it a little, sometimes the arc will act like I have just dipped my tungsten, that flash that we all know so well, but I haven't dipped. Its almost like a current interruption or power spike or something, there is a split second of dark and then it returns to normal, I am good about grounding to the work if at all possible and it doesn't happen all the time. I am wondering if there is a problem with my power or welder or????? It happens on DC and AC . Could my tungsten be spitting into the puddle? I mostly use 1.5% lanthanated for everything.

[big gear head]

You might have a dead spot in your pedal. I had this happen a lot at work. We would run the welders around the clock 7 days a week and the pedals would get worn out. If you know someone who will loan you a pedal for a few hours you could test this.

[Braehill]

Jeff,
if in fact you suspect the pedal, you can check it with a multi-meter for resistance the whole way through it's range. There's a pot in the pedal (Miller's 5K I believe) and should have a linear resistance from floored to off. If the pot is bad it will go to open at some point in it's range. This is easier to check than it is to type up. You should be able to get a pin out from Miller to see which wires go to what.

Len

[geo]

Might be your arc length.

The reason I say that is I catch myself sometimes lifting a bit as I back off the pedal. On my Everlast that creates a spitting intermittent arc. It's gone if I keep the arc tight as I back off and the end of the weld stays cleaner if I drop the arc as I back off.

[exnailpounder]

Jeff,
if in fact you suspect the pedal, you can check it with a multi-meter for resistance the whole way through it's range. There's a pot in the pedal (Miller's 5K I believe) and should have a linear resistance from floored to off. If the pot is bad it will go to open at some point in it's range. This is easier to check than it is to type up. You should be able to get a pin out from Miller to see which wires go to what.

Len

Thanks Len, I am going to call the shop I got it fromand see if they have a link they can send me for a diagram. The post below yours mentions arc length and I might start there in the morning as I have a small stainless repair and see if it happens again and if it does if I can reproduce it. I never had this problem with my Syncrowave 200 but I have this problem sporadically with my new 210 so arc length at the end of a weld is a possibility. Thanks for the help!

[exnailpounder]

Might be your arc length.

The reason I say that is I catch myself sometimes lifting a bit as I back off the pedal. On my Everlast that creates a spitting intermittent arc. It's gone if I keep the arc tight as I back off and the end of the weld stays cleaner if I drop the arc as I back off.

You may be on to something. I haven't been tig welding in a few months as I was busy with something else so it could be that I am just out of the groove but I never had this happen with my transformer. My welds look good and the flash doesn't effect the quality of the weld at all but I have to weld some thin stainless in the morning so I will pay more attention and see if I can see what the circumstances are that cause this...my luck is it won't happen again...like taking your car to the mechanic and trying to describe that funny noise and he thinks your nuts Thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate it!

[GreinTime]

@exnailpounder if he's think of your nuts, you may be able to get a sweet discount

[Rick_H]

I would also try a different torch, may be a power cable issue?

[exnailpounder]

Today I found out that my problem does not occur at higher amperages and I was able to make it happen welding on 18ga.stainless by lengthening my arc a tiny bit. I spoke to my LWS about how to test my pedal with a multi-meter and they want me to bring it in as it is new and under warranty. I have a feeling it is the nut behind the torch..me...who is lengthening the arc as I am backing the power down in thin material. Its not that big of a deal and doesn't affect the weld so I guess I have picked up a bad habit and need to practice more on thin stuff.