Welding Tips and Tricks

I have an Alpha TIG200X and get porosity on starts & stops, found a couple leaks in the torch, was able to repair one and not the other, in the process of dealing with AHP to get a replacement, another thing I noticed is when I purge gas & step on the pedal with the torch in the air it makes a buzzing sound like its arcing inside the torch, never used any machine that would do that usually I remember just hearing gas flow. Anyone experience issues like this? Also the tunsgten forms a weird formation on the tip that resembles a witch hat after only one bead and not dipping.

How long have you set pre- and post gas ?
Try 0,5 s pre and 4 s post to see if start and stop improves. Dont move torch away while post gas flows.

That build up I think comes from dirty material but a picture would help you get more answers.

What material are you welding?

I believe the pre-flow is programmed in the machine and not adjustable, post flow i usually have set around 4-5 seconds, welding mild steel, usually 1/8" thick & 3/16" thick coupons, I will have to get some pics together, what about the torch arcing away from the work piece?

The sound you hear is probably the HF unit in the machine trying to ignite.
Move away as long as your hose allows and listen

It's weird though cause other machines I have used with high frequency start like lincoln's or miller's I don't remember them ever doing that, but that set aside I have been cleaning the material with a flap disc then wiping down with acetone, cleaning the filler rod with acetone, sharpening the tungsten to a sharp point and still get porosity mostly on starts & stops and the weld looks like a dull gray not nice & shiny

Unless AHP have improved the model recently I think you are mistaken about pre-flow - it does not have any in built or pre programmed - it's common on many POS Chinese machines - I've sadly had to weld with several & to get pre-flow you use the post flow ! IE hit the trigger away from the work momentarily - then let off so you get post flow - now move the torch to the start of the weld within your post flow time & you have gas cover - if you don't do this then the arc starts as the gas solonoid is energized & you won't have gas flow fast enough so tungsten will suffer & you'll likely have porosity even if you have a good torch with no leaks - just something you live with at the price point - the noise you mention I think ( as others have said ) is HF - all the Chinese machines I've used do it - especially away from any ground - often if they don't initiate instantly they do it & you need to let off the power & ground the tungsten & try again.

Hope you get it fixed . If not, look into a CK . I had a weird problem last year , thought it was my torch, CK sent me a whole new outfit no questions asked . Everything pointed to a crack in the brass head ...eventually I found the prob and it wasn't the CK20 . Needless to say, i'd recommend CK , they stand behind their stuff .

Yeah your right there is no pre-flow on this machine, but come to think of it I remember using post-flow to shield the area prior to welding & not seen any improvement, new torch is on the way from AHP if that doesn't fix the issue I'm starting to lean towards contaminated gas.