Tig Welding Failure, what am I doing wrong

[CADplans]

Since you are trying to weld thin steel,,, and you have some copper laying around,
why not try putting the copper under the steel as a heat sink.

Although a lot larger, this was the same problem.
I wanted to abrasion resistant weld the edge of some tiller tines.
I clamped some copper under the tiller tine, and stick welded (1/8" rod)

I would avoid trying to weld copper until you master welding steel.
Copper can be VERY tricky to weld, especially if you do not have the machine completely figured out.

 

[yomax4]

As a beginner, You may want to drop back to 1/16 tungsten. Mainly for the thinner stuff. without pulse or Hz adjustment you will see a little less trouble with the smaller tungsten. Then practice..

 

[yomax4]

Yup, I hung up my scratch tig kit today. I reversed the Polarity, and while it spread out the heat, once the copper got hot it still just vaporized no matter how I moved. It is clear to me that the 20 amps my meter reads on my welder is more like 50.... There is probably some way to check this...

Anyway, I did tig on thicker metal, and it works pretty sweet. Slow as snot but I get it and I get how cool it could be.

The downside is that I am 100 in the hole on a scratch start tig system I will not use. The upside is that I see a nice tig rig in my future.... Tigging is pretty cool, I don't want to say easy but I get how it is an attractive way to weld.

If you have a DC tong meter or borrow one, You can clamp in on your ground and it will tell you true amp output.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Well, been doing a bit of reading. Going to try reverse polarity today. see how that works.

But in the end I think it is my wonderful and very powerful Everlast 200. I always felt that bad boy was hot, but with Shields comments I am now confirming that that little box is a great stick welder.

Reversing the polarity results on melting the tungsten like it is a stick rod. If you reversed polarity and it didn't melt the tungsten, then you may have some polarity problems with your machine. I think your machine is running much more amps than indicated, 20 amps should allow you to weld any sheetmetal without burning thru. I wouldn't use a #6 cup with 3/32 tungsten, get at least a #8 or even a #10 so you get better gas coverage without the gas blowing out like an arc gouger. When outside welding even in still air I always ran about 20 CFM or more on my TIG torch but I was not buying the gas. Also look at getting a Gas Lens and cup rather than the standard collet body. The same collets will work with the gas lens but you need a different cup.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I will pick up a smaller tungsten and a different cup. and yes, the gas is sounds like a jet engine sometimes.

As for running reverse polarity, it did ball up the tungstend for sure but it provided a different arc. Still too strong

And I will continue with scratch start. I am just bummed that this did not work for thin stuff.

question to all, why do you tig thicker metals? What does this process provide that is not in MIG? I am assuming a cleanliness in the weld and its slow pace allows for a higher quality weld but....

 

[Shield Arc]

I only Tig weld fairly thin, or small objects. I Tig weld most aluminum, but I do have a spool gun for thicker aluminum. For large projects I use my Mig / wire feeder.

 

[Furu]

I only Tig weld fairly thin, or small objects. I Tig weld most aluminum, but I do have a spool gun for thicker aluminum. For large projects I use my Mig / wire feeder.

Did you put the 3/8" bolt in the nut when you welded that nut in to avoid any warpage of the threads or just do it free with no problems?

 

[Shield Arc]

I Tig welded the nut just for an example. I also Mig welded one. Placing a bolt in the nut before welding is the way to go:thumbsup:, also could run a tap through the nut too.

 

[Egon]

Sheild Arc; your welds are always a joy to look at.

 

[Shield Arc]

Thank you very much Egon! But I'm just a hobby welder.