Problems finding the right tungsten

chustzy · Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:45 pm

Im new to tig welding aliminum the other day i welded some aluminum and normaly i have trouble starting a puddle . I finaly used pure tungsten and imediatly got a nice puddle and welds came out awsome . The only problem i had was after i run my bead and moved to the next one i couldnt start and arc . What i fould was i had to go back to the grinder and grind the ball off . Than i couldn start up agin and back to a nice bead . Is this normal to have to keep taking the ball off every time i go to start a weld . I am using a lincoln square wave tig 200 set to about 130 . I gusse my question is am i useing the right tungsten for my machine ?

Farmwelding · Mon Mar 27, 2017 7:35 pm

On inverters you really shouldn't use pure tungsten. Try 2% lanthanated or 2% ceriated both work well on AC and DC on inverters and transformers.

Olivero · Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:13 pm

The balling of the tungsten is actually considered a good thing when welding aluminum, It will keep forming no matter what you do, you shouldn't have a problem welding with it.

One thing I find helps on starting the arc sometimes is to just tap the metal with the tungsten while trying to start it with the high freq. almost like a scratch start.

Pure does suck, Whenever I use it in amps above 120, it tends to eventually drop the ball into the puddle, which really grinds my gears. I use E3 for everything now, lots of alternatives to pure.

Farmwelding · Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:45 pm

Alright I keep hearing and seeing about this tungsten balling stuff, but I have yet to ever have his happen to my tungsten. I run 2% ceriated 3/32" and I have used a range of amps from 30-180 and never a ball unless a dip the poor bugger. Am I doing it wrong or is it just ceriated being different and weird?

LtBadd · Mon Mar 27, 2017 10:28 pm

Farmwelding wrote:Alright I keep hearing and seeing about this tungsten balling stuff, but I have yet to ever have his happen to my tungsten. I run 2% ceriated 3/32" and I have used a range of amps from 30-180 and never a ball unless a dip the poor bugger. Am I doing it wrong or is it just ceriated being different and weird?

it's the pure tungsten that balls, because it's pure the melting temp is lower then the alloy versions of tungsten...ex thoriated, lanthinated or ceriated

Olivero · Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:51 pm

You are definetley doing something wrong...

Okay, maybe not.

Mine always balls up, when I used to use pure, it would ball up so quick, tried using it at elevated amps and it just dropped into the puddle and pissed me off. switched to E3 and it balls up as well. I have never not had mine ball up so I don't know how you are managing to avoid it.

Some people say cranking the welder to 200 or so and blasting a copper or brass piece with heat and letting it ball will do it. I never had to do that but I read that somewhere.

AndersK · Tue Mar 28, 2017 1:07 pm

Olivero wrote:I have never not had mine ball up so I don't know how you are managing to avoid it.

Minimal cleaning? Probably beyond practical unless on very clean metal.

Mine usually balls too but not extreme no matter what type I use: Thoriated, Arctime, Ceriated, Lanthanated or Witstar

chustzy · Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:00 pm

Is it normal to have to take to ball of to start welding agin ? Or to start an arc back ?

Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:01 pm

chustzy wrote:Is it normal to have to take to ball of to start welding agin ? Or to start an arc back ?

No, that's not normal. The arc should restart just fine with the balled tungsten, unless you're "sneaking up" on the amperage. This makes the arc wander quite a bit, as a ball, unlike a sharp point, doesn't direct energy in a particular direction. You have to use enough power to establish that "shortest route" through the ionized gas. Mash the pedal for a half-second and back off to the rate you want, and I think you'll have better re-starts.

Steve S

Mihtu · Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:45 pm

Seems the great tungsten death is all over the map,I use alot of 2% lanthinated, I really like E3,also Ceriated does pretty well,but I will say,once I figured out how to grind them right slot of my problems went away,especially on aluminum,I found that after grinding them,if I rubbed then back in forth in a straight line while turning them on a sheet of 400 grit sand paper they seemed to last longer,and weld better

Mihtu · Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:52 pm

That last post the spell check got me good!anyway this is my piece of sandpaper I use,I got the idea from an old timer who did power plant welding,maybe it's in my head,but it works for me!

exnailpounder · Wed Mar 29, 2017 5:26 pm

Mihtu wrote:Seems the great tungsten death is all over the map,I use alot of 2% lanthinated, I really like E3,also Ceriated does pretty well,but I will say,once I figured out how to grind them right slot of my problems went away,especially on aluminum,I found that after grinding them,if I rubbed then back in forth in a straight line while turning them on a sheet of 400 grit sand paper they seemed to last longer,and weld better

I have recently taken to using my polishing motor and some Tripoli to polish tungsten. Not a huge difference but noticeable. Over 150 amps you can grind any way you want and it works.

chustzy · Fri Mar 31, 2017 6:43 pm

Thanks for all the help i used 2% lanthanated and works perfict thanks for the help