Help me find my tig problem

[yomax4]

I am using thorinated tungsten. DCEN, 20 cfh argon.
I am going to talk to a master welder/machinist friend of mine this weekend, and see what he thinks.
I am going to see about getting a lesson or two from him.

If you are holding the correct arc length like you said 1/16 or so and you have no porosity , it has to be the base metal..steel tig welding is all about the material being clean..it's just as bad as aluminum for contamination. The only other thing that comes to mind is the wrong gas. Any chance they gave you a 75/25? Or a bad argon tank..you just don't have steel tig issues if all is clean. You didn't mention filler metal..are you just putting down beads or are you actually joining.?

 

[weldermike]

Deereman when it comes to metal being clean for tig welding this is what we mean. All mill scale removed and wiped down with acetone. Time consuming, but worth the time. I even wipe my filler down with acetone. You would br suprised how much black crud comes of of it.

 

[Shield Arc]

You see the question all the time from guys just starting with Tig. "Why can't I use my Mig gas to Tig weld?" A while back I thought to myself, wonder what does happen? So I hooked my Tig rig to my C-25 bottle. Here's what it looks like. Sorry for the blurry picture!

 

[deereman75]

I have been grinding all the mill scale off, and wiping it all down with lacquer thinner.
It sure did make a difference.

Can dipping the tungsten in the puddle and badly contaminating it cause welds like the ones in shieldarc's picture?
I am at the museum tomorrow, so I will talk to the welder/machinist friend of mine, and see if I can get a little demonstration of how I should set everything up.

 

[Shield Arc]

If I remember correctly it was a very erratic arc, and I stuck the tungsten several times. Notice the arc marks on the table to the left of the plate? Soon as I struck an arc I thought to myself, oh this isn't going to be good! :laughing:

 

[weldermike]

I have been grinding all the mill scale off, and wiping it all down with lacquer thinner.
It sure did make a difference.

Can dipping the tungsten in the puddle and badly contaminating it cause welds like the ones in shieldarc's picture?
I am at the museum tomorrow, so I will talk to the welder/machinist friend of mine, and see if I can get a little demonstration of how I should set everything up.

Oh definately! Once you contaminate your tungsten its a downward spiral from there, you'll wind up with having to weld through soot with arc wander and all sorts of mayhem going on. Clean clean clean is the name of the game when it comes to tig.

 

[deereman75]

Ok, I think its my tungsten contamination that is the problem.

I am going to try a new tungsten, keep everything clean, and try again.
By the sound of it, that should work.

 

[adirondackmtnman]

Oh definately! Once you contaminate your tungsten its a downward spiral from there, you'll wind up with having to weld through soot with arc wander and all sorts of mayhem going on. Clean clean clean is the name of the game when it comes to tig.

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=335536"/>

Those sure are some beautiful welds...look at that uniformity...I gotta admit, I'm experiencing a little arc-envy. Makes me want to go buy a TIG

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[k0ua]

Those sure are some beautiful welds...look at that uniformity...I gotta admit, I'm experiencing a little arc-envy. Makes me want to go buy a TIG

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

Its almost art isn't it?:thumbsup:

 

[weldermike]

Those sure are some beautiful welds...look at that uniformity...I gotta admit, I'm experiencing a little arc-envy. Makes me want to go buy a TIG

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

Thank you bud and you too James!