Welding Tips and Tricks

Complete tig newbie here. I just got my first tig machine and I'm about 2 hours into learning how to actually use it. I'm having a consistent problem with a small ring of ash(?) building up about halfway up the taper. I'm pretty sure I'm not dipping; I spent the first hour or so teaching myself very diligently how to dip the tungsten with remarkable consistency. But this looks different. It starts very faint, then gets heavier and heavier. After a while I begin to get a secondary "halo" over my arc.

Any ideas what is causing this? How to prevent it?

AHP AlphaTig 200x
3/32 purple
1/16" ER70-S
100% Argon
1/8" mild steel
DC with no tricks or features


Thanks!

You don’t say what your current and gas flow settings are.
I suspect increasing your gas flow and postflow to 9 seconds will solve your problem.


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From what I see it could be you need more gas flow say 15cfh/7lpm or you need to clean the metal better. By what I mean by cleaning the metal, I can see you ground off most of the rust on top but you are welding close to the edge were it was not cleaned.

Tig needs very clean metal for good clean welds.

Your post flow should be about 5 to 7 seconds, just so your tungsten stays light gray. If its getting dark almost black you need more post flow to shield the tungsten and weld as it cools down.

Thanks guys! That's exactly what is happening; the tungsten is turning black. Right now I have 0 post flow, so I will increase it.

Is it possible to contaminate the tungsten so badly that it needs to be cut back? I have dipped or stabbed it with filler about a thousand times.

I've gotten my walk of shame down pretty good.

It is absolutely possible to have "dipped" it so much that the tungsten needs to be cut back. This is especially true with aluminum. Just grind it all the way back to clean material and start over.

Bill

Or just grind off all the aluminum and put a new point on it.

For being just two hours into learning how to tig weld it looks like your catching on fairly quick.. Like the other advised turn up your post flow, I'm not familiar with your power supply but it looks like you have the amperage set at 95?? Start out with 10 seconds and do a few beads and check out your tungsten if it still looks good try turning the post flow down a second or two and check again..

Pete

Tungsten stickout will effect the shielding and how nasty your tungsten looks. Depends on type of cup or lense, but your stickout should always be as short as possible.