Tungsten Contamination

danpatch · Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:06 am

The tip of my tungsten after using it always looks crusty . What am I doing wrong Thanks

Oscar · Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:29 pm

I'm assuming you're talking about tungsten erosion. It's normal. Think spark plugs. Same thing.

MinnesotaDave · Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:32 pm

Could be normal use - a little more info please.

How many amps, what size/type tungsten, post-flow time?

noddybrian · Thu Jul 10, 2014 4:48 pm

A picture will help - but if the tungsten is still grey / shiny with a crystaline eroded appearance that is normal - if it's black / burned assume lack of or contaminated gas - if the material is dirty you may have vaporized contaminant from the material adhering to the tungsten - you can also have metal transfer contamination from dipping or just too short an arc - strange colors / smoke can be a variety of problems - a tungsten depending on type can be perfectly healthy but show a blue / purple heat tinge especially if post flow is too short or flow is marginal - a little more info & someone here will diagnose it I'm sure.

Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:43 pm

danpatch wrote:The tip of my tungsten after using it always looks crusty . What am I doing wrong Thanks

Welcome aboard.

AC or DC welding? Inverter or transformer? What type of tunsgten, and what metal? Pure argon?

We'll be glad to try to help, but we need DETAILS...

Steve S

danpatch · Wed Dec 24, 2014 9:44 am

Here are some pictures .It always looks like this even if i do not touch the tungsten to the work
http://danpatchappraisals.com/tungsten1.JPG
http://danpatchappraisals.com/tungsten2.JPG

Rick_H · Wed Dec 24, 2014 12:49 pm

There is material other then tungsten there, so if your not dabbing it into your work piece, stuff is jumping off. Are you running DC+ or DC-, what are you flow ranges and amperage, how long does it take to get that way?

taz · Wed Dec 24, 2014 1:46 pm

Are you welding with that much stickout?

Oscar · Wed Dec 24, 2014 2:03 pm

Rick_H wrote:There is material other then tungsten there, so if your not dabbing it into your work piece, stuff is jumping off. Are you running DC+ or DC-,

what if he is running BOTH?

I have a feeling that is what is happening and he is trying to weld aluminium.

danpatch · Wed Dec 24, 2014 3:22 pm

Transformer
DC EN
Red paint on end of electrode
Pure Argon
Steel
I pulled the Tungsten out for pictures.
Seam to get that way very quickly even if I do not dip the Tungsten in the puddle

High frequency on start
Ac balance on #2

Oscar · Wed Dec 24, 2014 4:23 pm

danpatch wrote:Transformer
DC EN
Red paint on end of electrode
Pure Argon
Steel
I pulled the Tungsten out for pictures.
Seam to get that way very quickly even if I do not dip the Tungsten in the puddle

High frequency on start
Ac balance on #2

AC balance has no effect what so ever when you're on either of the DC welding modes---it is only for AC welding. Define "very quickly". 1 minute? 30 seconds? 2 seconds? Things just aren't adding up. Either the tungsten is burning up or you're dipping and not even knowing it. The main problem is we can't see through your eyes, so the missing information is not realized as "missing information". how much torch angle? how much amperage? what is your actual arc length?

BTW, if your AC balance does indeed have an effect on the arc, then you're not in DCEN

As you can see, you're just gonna keep getting hit with question after question. It would really help YOU out, if you laid everything out for others to help analyze for you. Your initial query of "what am I doing wrong", has come a long way as you can see. Why not disclose everything up front so others who are trying to help you don't just walk around scratching their heads thinking, "well has he tried this?" ?

Wed Dec 24, 2014 4:23 pm

Ac balance not required on DC EN.

Wed Dec 24, 2014 7:34 pm

taz wrote:Are you welding with that much stickout?

That's my first question, as well.

However I saw the line, "tungsten pulled out for picture".

Responsible · Sat Dec 27, 2014 7:51 pm

Are you welding steel that has a galvanizing or another type of coating? It kinda looks like something has boiled off and jumped up onto your Tungsten. Galvanized steel will do this.

Pete

jwright650 · Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:55 am

Gas coverage?
Running out of gas will get your attention pretty quick...I hadn't used my Tig machine for a while so I pulled it out this weekend and gave a quick purge, then lit up on some steel...instant flame thrower. Looked back at the gages and the needle was on zero...(out of gas).

danpatch · Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:03 pm

Responsible wrote:Are you welding steel that has a galvanizing or another type of coating? It kinda looks like something has boiled off and jumped up onto your Tungsten. Galvanized steel will do this.

Pete

bare steel

danpatch · Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:05 pm

200 amps short ark very little angle

Oscar · Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:23 pm

assuming your argon is not contaminated, then it looks like it could be a machine problem, or the tungstens are a really bad batch. You say short arc, but how short only you know. Perhaps you think a short arc is 1/2", and we assume you know that a short arc is 1/8". One way to know for sure is to have someone who knows how to tig weld have a look at it. From the pictures , it looks like erosion either due to gas shielding problem, or dipping into the weld. That tungsten is not normal, that's for sure. How does it look like when it it sharpened? Better yet, if you haven't already found the solution, just take a quick video, showing the tip right before you light off, and during the actual arc'ing. That will likely help the best, since you need for us to coax all the info out of you.

Braehill · Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:26 pm

danpatch,
You should be able to weld almost any size steel with around 160 amps or less and use multiple passes for thick stuff. Your tungsten might not be contaminated but may be spitting out part of the tungsten itself.

Len

Msumner · Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:41 pm

Ya im thinking based off other posts that your gas could be low as in tank near empty or....your flow is bad are you walking cup or no, are you getting all the mil scale off the metal or no, also even with all this i have never seen this happen that bad without obvious distortion on the arc.

LIGOOMBA · Sat Jan 03, 2015 9:03 pm

I was just about to post the same question.I haven't been behind the helmet in over 2 years.Building ,shop getting set up etc...
And today the same thing happened to me .Im sure it has to do with my technique.I was welding 1/8 hot rolled steel.It was some really cheap angle iron.Lots of milliscale.I hit it with a 3m roll loc pad on my die grinder as best as I could and wiped it down with some acetone, but I forgot to grind down the edge duhhhh ! Which is where I was welding .
3/32 tungsten,red ( not sure what type,my bad ) , 1/16 , Er70 filler ,# 6'gas lense about 15 CFH
Lots of little Sparks .Could this of been the dirty steel ?

Sat Jan 03, 2015 9:33 pm

Lots of little sparks sounds exactly like dirty steel.

Hit it with a hard stone and try again, and the difference (even with poor steel) should be significant.

Steve S

LIGOOMBA · Sat Jan 03, 2015 11:10 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:Lots of little sparks sounds exactly like dirty steel.

Hit it with a hard stone and try again, and the difference (even with poor steel) should be significant.

Steve S

Thanks ! that's what I figured .Gonna go at it again in the am .