Welding Tips and Tricks

Something happened while tog welding. I am teaching myself to weld. So, I've not a clue how to fix this. haha

The problem is obvious, you were tog welding when you should be mog welding.

Looks like you are out of gas or it wasn't turned on

I wondered about that. haha I was lifting the tank, trying to tell. Didn't work so well. LOL Thank you for the info.

Glowzinski wrote:I wondered about that. haha I was lifting the tank, trying to tell. Didn't work so well. LOL Thank you for the info.

That's funny! Today my son was discussing trying to understand whether one of my tanks was empty or not. I told him lift it and decide He said it was still heavy so he was unsure... I let him in on the secret after some ribbing, the gas added no weight...

Unless the gas is heavier than air. Then it is measurable. Or if it's under enough pressure to be in liquid form then it's measurable. If it's lighter than air it's measurable as well. It's just that your tank will be heavier as it gets empty.

Edit:
http://www.airproducts.com/products/Gas ... argon.aspx

Poland308 wrote:Unless the gas is heavier than air. Then it is measurable. Or if it's under enough pressure to be in liquid form then it's measurable. If it's lighter than air it's measurable as well. It's just that your tank will be heavier as it gets empty.

Edit:
http://www.airproducts.com/products/Gas ... argon.aspx

I think his point was, he was expecting it to be much lighter now that it was empty versus nearly the same (330cf tank).

Looks like out of gas or somebody stepped on your gas line. Helium makes the tanks lighter.

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What a moron I am. LOLOL I mean, really, how the hell would I have been able to tell? hahaha DUH Thanks for the laughs. haha

If you punch in some numbers to that calculator then you will see that a 125 cf cylinder of Argon will be about 12 lbs lighter when it's empty. A discernible diferance even without a scale.

I was having bad luck. So, my mind was like, not working. haha Makes sense though. I will get the tank filled tomorrow.

You know, I would love to make stuff with copper. Would I not need 100% helium for that?

Also, I know I got a 60/40 mixture. Being as I am, I just can't remember what it was of. LOLOL

You can weld copper with argon but be prepared to raise the amps a lot compared to steel. When the copper is heat saturated you need to back down another too, pedal control is very convenient here.

Regarding your gas issue, don't you have a pressure gauge that show if the tank is empty or not?

Before running off to switch ypour tank check your torch collet . If you have tightened the back cap while hot there is a risk the collet have bulged, hence restricting has flow.

Changed the tank. haha Wish I head read this first. The problem is still happening. It just will not make an arc. No clue what is going on. I will get more into it tomorrow.

Any chance you have your polarity backwards? Machine brand? Cable hook ups? Pictures?

I thought of that. I changed nothing. I will grind the things off and try again.

What were you welding? That looks like galvanized to me. That stuff cracks, pops and explodes while welding. Blows base metal crap back onto your tungsten. Smokes up your cup with that wonderful, milky whiteness. I just had to weld that crap last night at a bakery in the most awesomely awkward and painful positions. Welds looked like they were done by an uncoordinated six year old. I had a lot of explosions, caught a lot of greasy crap on fire and finally had maintenance bring me a fire extinguisher (just in case things got out of control). I'm still toting the after effects of a 21 hour ass whoopin from that one.
Ive also seen cast aluminum blow that milky stuff too.

I thought it was just regular aluminum. haha I called and got a 4 x 4 sheet of it. The odd thing is, that it just randomly started. It is like 100 degrees out. LOL So, I did not weld today.

So, I got new tungsten a day or so ago. I tried it out today. This was a little piece I had cut out. It worked. I was super happy. Then, I went back to the thing I am working on. No dice. haha

I had 400 grit sand paper. I realized that was not getting the weld off the metal. I just got my grinder out and grinded the weld off. But, I realized the gas nozzle had the white stuff all inside of it. So, I realized I have to get a new one of those. I can get a 10 pack on Amazon, for $9 something.

How in the heck, can I cut off the dirty end of the tungsten? I tried with two things. Neither worked. I mean, as I said, I have two new packs. It is just a shame, to throw a pack away, if i can save it.

You grind the tungsten to restore the taper or remove any fouled area, then grind a new taper. Orient the tungsten inline with the wheel so the grind is lengthwise to the tungsten, not around the tungsten.

Many people chuck the tungsten in an electric drill, spin it against the grinder wheel while it's turning to get a very uniform taper. A finer grit wheel works best, but if all you have is a compares wheel, follow up with some vey sandpaper lengthwise and a scothbrite for a smoother finish.

My tungsten has black stuff all over it. Man, I was grinding the heck out of it. I looked and it was still there. haha I thought I could just cut the dirty part off. But, I will follow your advice.

Here's a pretty extensive de,onstration from a serious pro.
https://youtu.be/cWv3f7T-UXQ

Understand, I'm not advocating a DIYer pursue these excessive steps, but there's much to learn for "good habits" from his video. Such as how to, and how not to snap a tungsten. He certainly goes to great lengths to perfect his tungsten for his work, but not many need that QC for their welding. But it's a great demonstration of techniques and results.

Well, it is not making the white stuff anymore. But, for some reason, the tung. keeps getting really black. It welded fine for a few welds. Then, things went to hell. haha I just can not figure out, what happened.

I am going to say screw it for a couple of days. Also, the torch gets so freaking hot, like right away. It is the one that comes with the machine. I watched a video from Mr. Tig. He said the machine goes to 200. But, the torch goes to 150. I am not using that much power on the thing.

You know, maybe it is like Christine, but the welding machine version.

I did find something though. Somehow, the dial on my flowmeter, was turned all the way up! That would explain a bunch of stuff. haha No clue how in the heck it happened.

It is odd though. It worked at first. Then, I would see a puddle, but it would have black stuff in it. I mean, I grinded the metal down. Then, used a wire brush. THEN, used acetone on it. So, it is not like it could be dirty.

I changed every part of the torch.

The only thing I can think it would be, from stuff I have read, is something in the line itself. I have not a clue how to clean it out.

It is really odd.

I already had it welded. But, I grinded it down, so I could put good looking weld marks on it. LOLOL How did that work out? Not so well. All I have to do, is weld the back of the left leg on. Then, the hair. I also need to figure out, what to do to make the thing stand up. Maybe a rectangle. Two of them. Coming, like, 6 inches out of the front and back at the bottom. Drill holes in them and take some rebar, bend it and use that.

If I had a hand brake (excuse to buy one maybe) I could just take two pieces of aluminum, bend one part, weld the bent up part to the front and back of the bottom legs and just drill holes in that.

I was supposed to have a pipe bender arrive by now from Northern Tool. But, they said they have not gotten them in yet and seem to not have an idea of when they will.

I also have a pneumatic planishing hammer from them, that says ships in 28 days at longest. No clue when I will get that.

I just figured out, exactly what happened. My mom was reading about this tonight. She was telling me things. That, plus the stuff I have read in here were swirling through my mind. Then it hit me. So, first, that white color was in there. Then I saw the thing turned all the way up. I must have thought I was not getting enough gas. So I turned that up. Then, I grinded the aluminum. THAT is the cause of my inability to weld it now. I just got a cut off wheel that was in my tool thing. I could see it had been used for other grinds. It must have contaminated my aluminum. That would explain everything. So, I will go tomorrow and get some new, unused grinding discs. Actually, I just got a bunch.

I feel so much better now. Things make sense.