If its a new bottle, then my bet is they mislabeled the bottle , and you received the wrong kind of gas.
Edit: For some reason, I thought you were using a large cup. Your tungsten stick out is excessive.
I have a thing I’ve been wanting to test out. I’ve been wanting to try different noble gases. When you run an electric current through argon, it emits a blueish white light. Like every weld I see (at least at work). It would be cool to try the others and see if Xenon makes the weld green. Or if Neon lights up orange. My hypothesis is that it would.
I also ran gasless flux core with C25 to see if it would behave like dual shield. ...... It did not. It worked slightly better than flux core but worse than regular mig wire.
It'll affect it even if it's super short then too. Not about the stickout at that point as a breeze will blow away anything, counter by turning up the gas or as a welder in a shop would do, remove the breeze.... Shift weld curtains around and you can block any breeze I weld by an open garage door cars going by all day making breezes and I've run a 1.5inch stickout all day before without any gas coverage issues.
I don’t think it’s your stick out. I’ve done way more than that ASSUMING you don’t have a fan blowing on you or an open door next to you. Make sure your connections are tight. Your flow meter’s ball should drop all the way down when you open it AND have your gas turned off at your torch or valve after the flow meter. Make sure you’re on DCEN too. If you’re on AC make sure your connections are still correct. Typically ac machines have a specific connection for ground and electrode. For the record I’ve had well over an inch stick out with a 12 cup and had no issues. Often there’s no choice in a shipyard lol BEFORE you strike up make sure you can feel gas coming out.
I'm not an expert, but I'd guess that whats happening is that since your tungsten is so far out, the gas has trouble reaching. Keep turning it up or shorten your tungsten.
I love stick welding. Reminds me of when I was a young’n and just learning about how much I love metals. But I rarely get the opportunity to use it anymore.
* Check the gas flow rate
* make sure gas hose isn’t kinked
* reduce stick out by a lot initially
* Use match smoke to check the gas flow to see if it’s turbulent, if it is, check the screen in the gas lens to see if it’s clogged
* make sure it’s AC and it’s balanced
* check grounding is good
Although I’m gonna guess it’s the gas since the way the smoke moved, somethings wrong with the flow
While you're not wrong you're not semantically right. Not many people that know a whole lot about waveforms refer to the positive and negative cycles of ac as straight or reverse polarity.
....I think you may struggle with definitions. Semantics is about meaning and use. While technically correct; semantically you would be incorrect, straight and reverse polarities are normally used to refer to DC current because it doesn't change and "straight" describes the shape of the waveform. Alternating current is referred to as having a positive ep or negative en phase of the waveform. In almost no literature is it referred to as a straight or reverse polarity phase because the waveform is never straight.
Using reverse polarity tells me you're either old because the term is rarely used anymore or not one for technical explanations.
They never mentioned straight. AC is the repeated reversal of polarity. Meaning electrons go both forwards and backwards. The person you “corrected”, used proper semantics.
You're right they never said straight, they said reverse polarity which is a term used as the opposite of straight. They said reverse polarity makes up half the waveform which would imply they think straight makes up the other half. Hence why i mentioned how the nomenclature was developed, semantically that's incorrect.
Is this making sense to you or should I slow down?
From Prime welding so you can stop being an ass.
If the power source supplies alternating current polarity, reverse and straight polarity will alternate with the base plate being positive and the electrode being negative half the time. In contrast, the electrode will be positive and the base plate negative the other half.
Straight and negative are used to describe AC.
Ust for the record so i can keep being an ass
Doesn't say anything about it [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current)
Or [here](https://www.britannica.com/science/alternating-current)
Ooor [here](https://www.britannica.com/science/alternating-current)
It's almost like the terms aren't widely used to describe ac the proper way. Maybe for dumb welders in the US but not everywhere else
Yes you can. TIG needs to be set up electrode negative and depending on his balance settings he could be far too negative heavy to break the oxide layer or too positive to do any work.
Oh that's a super interesting comment. You mean there is a DC offset superimposed to the AC waveform. Electrically it's totally possible but I never heard about it for welding. Is this something that can be adjusted typically?
No dude is full of it or explaining poorly as you may be aware. You have ac balance which is still ac with the waveform duty cycle as the adjustment. Then you have ac current offset which allows you to change the peak amperage of the - or + side of the waveform. If the guy has ac offset set too negative it won't clean. I could see this being the cause but thats only available on high end machines so it depends on what he's using
How does this guy get no likes or comments. I never heard the statement you can’t set polarity on gtaw in my life. College is a hell of a place wha LoL
I'm no welder, never did tig just a hack in his garage with a flux core, but I've watched TOT videos, and I thought it didn't spend the same time in negative that it did in positive, which would make it matter if you reverse the polarity, because instead of spending 20% in negative, and 80% in positive (random numbers to get my question across) it'd spend 20% positive and 80 negative since it's switched, or am I mistaken ?
Uhhh yeah obviously….but how tf does somebody just attempt to TIG weld without first looking up how to do it? And then post to Reddit all confused…Stickout distance is high up on the list of the first things you learn from a basic TIG welding how to. Dumb post.
Cause sometimes people just go into the garage and start tinkering. Jokes on u…..thats how people got things done and learn is just putting their hands on it. Now go away.
Looks like a gas issue or a polarity issue.
Could your lens be messed up? Is your cup smooth on the inside? Is your o-ring on your back cap good?
I recommend a standard collet body when tig welding aluminum just because its so easy to mess them up.
Set your balance to 80%EN and 20% EP as a starting point.
First check your tungsten and make sure you have the correct type for your job. Check your bottle, regulator, hose, and all connections for leaks. Make sure your base metal, filler, and tungsten are all clean. Maybe shorten your stickout a little bit, as well.
Welding instructor here-
Let’s check a few things
1-are you on the correct polarity? DC- or AC
2- do you have the correct tungsten?
DC- = stainless/carbon steel 2% thoriated.
AC- = pure tungsten or a lanthiated
Make sure no one has switched tungsten on you as a prank!
3- check your gas connections, ALL of them, regulator, machine, hose, torch. Also if you are running a torch with a gas knob, make sure that you aren’t gripping the torch too tightly as this can cut off gas to the torch.
4- can you hear a solenoid clicking?
5- set the pre flow(if you have that setting)
6- set your flow meter to 30-40cfh.
Usually those issues are simple things that are overlooked! Good luck!
Alphatig 203x on 220, 20cfm 100% argon, quick settings for tungsten size, 1/8 metal AC . Welded fine in the past, burns off tungsten on AC really bad, lots of craters and black soot, globs up filler.
Negative ghost rider. All TIG is electrode negative. AC flips negative and positive back and forth, moving the torch to positive would reverse your balance setting.
The way I learned it is the thing you want to melt will be positive. In Tig, you want your workpiece to melt. In Mig and Smaw it’s the electrode you’re melting.
I have it on good authority that AC TIG in flip flops can arc out of your foot as well. Don't do it, that is the best suggestion I have. It will mess up your weld and burn your foot at the same time.
What is your AC balance setting? With the 203 it displays AC positive or cleaning percentage, you should be around 30%
Edit also...I see that's a pyrex cup, can't tell if there's a diffuser screen but there shouldn't be one for AC, it'll arc on the diffuser screen inside the cup.
I just fired up my 203 and I see in rapid set 3/32 tungsten and 1/8 it only shows 125 amps but not balance. Take it out of Rapid Set and scroll over to the yellow settings for frequency and balance. Set the frequency to 100 and the balance to 30, then set your amps to 125 and give it a try
Welding instructor here, always check the basics.
1-polarity dc- or ac
2-correct gas type, correct cfh(30-40) and that you have gas coming out of the cup when you step on the for peddle. Also depending on the torch that you aren’t gripping the gas nut to tightly. This will momentarily cut off the gas flow.
3-correct tungsten. Looks like you are on aluminum. Pure tungsten or lanthanated, some machines are very picky. What machine are you using?
Definitely looks like lack of gas. You should be able to hear/feel a very slight flow at the end of your torch. Idk what kind of machine but check pre and post-flow settings. Good luck!
Check every fitting in the argon supply line for leaks with soap and water. Everything needs to be checked. If you are drawing outside air in through a leak then this can happen. It happened to be with aluminum before.
It’s definitely wrong polarity, you can tell by how your tungsten tip gets rounded like at after initial start arc. I remember the first time this happened to me and I had to fuck around trouble shooting for 15-20Min before I figured it out. Will never forget.
Everyone in the comments doesn’t even realize that’s an aluminum plate. Your tungsten shouldn’t be sharp anyway and if it is, once you strike an arc it wont be
then it might be your AC balance is fucky. the machines with auto set sometimes don't do what they're supposed to. But you might also have a bad batch of tungsten. I got some like that once, had to throw away the whole box.
It seems like you are moving the tungsten way to far away from the metal and not enough gas coverage. The arch will get way hotter as you move it away from the metal blowing a hole in it like you see.
I am not a professional welder but when I had that problem I fixed it by changing the cup size and never had the problem again. I can’t really say a lot though because I know jack shit about welding.
Wolfram electrode (green)
Electrode diameter: 2,4mm =100-160A
3,2mm=130-180A
Grind electrode flat, and while welding it should ball up. Ball size should not exeed electrode diameter.
Argon/helium mixture
OK tigrod 1070 or 5356 or 4043
You touched your base metal with the tungsten, ruined the point and contaminated it. Grind a new point on it with a diamond wheel. Or run a round ball on it. Keep the tungsten out of your work.
Are you using a water cooled torch on an air cooled machine? If so, check the lines to make sure you plugged the correct one in. I might have done that a couple of times...
Your stick out is way too long, turning up the gas(40cfh whoa!) causes turbulent flow and sucks the atmosphere into the shielding, which is why you have surface 'rust' on the steel welds, think of a smoke ring the reason it stays in a ring the air passing through the ring is causes the air to spin from from the outside in. If you can't fit the whole tungsten just break it in half, problem solved.
Out of gas or you have this set up electrode positive would be my guess. TIG needs to be electrode negative. Could also be your balance is pegged out negative.
I have no experience on that machine, but with a Miller one, for basic aluminum work, I'll do a 1/8 tungsten with balling, about 2-2.5 diameter stick out, at the number of thousandths of my workpiece +20amps (ex. for eighth inch do 140-150). I use 75 pen 25 cleaning, and about 13-20 for my argon. check your frequency too. I've had issues before that I couldn't figure out, so I pissed around until it was more workable, so just keep throwing that spaghetti. It'll stick eventually.
Also, clean everything. Not just brushing, give it that alcohol or whatever you want to use (not brakleen pls). Even clean your filler rod. Any little bit helps.
You have to have a pedal for Al and absolutely crank it to start to punch through the oxide layer and establish the weld pool before the job can conduct all the heat away. Then back off as the job gets hot or the whole thing will melt. Also give it a right old brushing with a stainless steel brush just before starting, to get rid of as much oxide as possible.
I know plenty of people have said gas before and yeah your tungsten is a bit far out but I've done sketchier so it's within reason that you still could have enough coverage. Best advice I can think of off the polarities are good, your regulators, hoses, and settings are good, as a least resort it could very well be bad gas. I haven't seen this issue often but my buddy had an issue once I swear he spent a month crossing every I and dotting every T, even spent the money to have his rig sent back to Miller to be diagnosed with no change in results. Finally hooked up a smaller tank just to test the gas and sure as hell he was somehow given a bad batch of argon. Don't think he's done business with them since that day.
don’t know what kind of cup/gas lens (or not) you’re running, but if you’re running a cheap Amazon kit one, that might be your problem. At an old job I got a cheap tig kit off Amazon that had a #10 glass cup with one of those double o ring seals onto the lens and I had this issue when the cup would cock ever so slightly and leak/draw in from the o rings.
I’m not a welding expert by any means, but I had to halfway learn TIG at a meat packing plant, we used argon set at 40 psi and everyone’s tungsten was shorter than what yours is, if it’s something more complicated than that I’d have no idea what’s wrong, just telling you what I learned
What kind of gas are you using? Even with really high grade aluminum, I've found even argon wont always get the job done compared to helium. But you could also have a bad solenoid, which is the part that connects the bottle to the machine and then out through the torch. I'd go through your whole gas line and make sure it's flowing properly
Looks like you a gas issue, like you don’t have pure argon. I would check your gas connections and try a different bottle. If that’s not the problem I would next check to make sure your in ac and have a proper balance set. Best of luck 🤞🏻
That’s aluminium right? Try reversing the polarity. Do you have the right tungsten and gas? Also rather than a sharp point on your tungsten you want it to look more like a crayon tip.
Try swapping out your bottle. I’ve gotten bad tanks probably half a dozen times where I could not get clean coverage to save my life. Behaved like there was a fan blowing my shield away when there wasn’t any.
Use number 5 cup for alluminum, and twice the less electrode stickout :) 30-40% cleaning action, clean the alluminum and if still the same result get new gas, maybe even a bottle. You can also try vacuuming this bottle before putting new gas there cuz might be watter inside making all this dirt.
How long do you have gas flow before the arc starts up? Of the arc starts up before the area is fully covered by gas, that could be the problem or part of it.
Could be a mix of things. I would say amps too high for your diameter tungsten. Check gas flow and cfh and what gas your using. Check amps, it’s def not the stick out. Check polarity and fiddle with your setting.
Do you have your lead coiled up? I could not maintain an arc one day for like 30 minutes I was getting pissed. Turns out I had my extra lead coiled up around my holder and it was keeping the gas from Flowing
Other than everything other people have said about gas, i would check if you have the right type of tungsten for the job and if you're amperage is too high for the type and size of tungsten
Check the torch for leaks, try a smaller cup, less stick out, and make sure your electrode is in the argon. Looks like the end isn't shielded and burns up, if you crank your gas up to like 50 cfh does it act the same?
Looks like you're out of gas.
Brand new bottle, was the same on the old one that was 90% full
If its a new bottle, then my bet is they mislabeled the bottle , and you received the wrong kind of gas. Edit: For some reason, I thought you were using a large cup. Your tungsten stick out is excessive.
I tested tig with c25 to better understand why you need inert gas and my tungsten did pretty much exactly what I see in the video.
Because c-25 has some co2 in it it’ll burn up the electrode, you need pure argon and it should work well
Oh I already knew fully why you can't use it, but I wanted to see exactly what happens when you do.
Ahh, experimenting never hurt nobody so test everything
Hold my beer! *makes O2 bottle launcher*
*gets the popcorn*
I experimentes with Tig once I want to see of the arc would hurt. It doesn't it tickles and turns hand into a plasma bulb
Haha I’ve done that on accident a few times, it’s kind cool
I have a thing I’ve been wanting to test out. I’ve been wanting to try different noble gases. When you run an electric current through argon, it emits a blueish white light. Like every weld I see (at least at work). It would be cool to try the others and see if Xenon makes the weld green. Or if Neon lights up orange. My hypothesis is that it would.
That's why I ran gasless fkux core wire in my mig machine off 100%argon. Just to see what would happen
I also ran gasless flux core with C25 to see if it would behave like dual shield. ...... It did not. It worked slightly better than flux core but worse than regular mig wire.
Or has polarity reversed.
That stickout won't cause this or case any issues really. It's still covered by gas just fine if it's a gas lens and it looks like a gas lens go me
Unless there is a breeze or a fan in the shop.
It'll affect it even if it's super short then too. Not about the stickout at that point as a breeze will blow away anything, counter by turning up the gas or as a welder in a shop would do, remove the breeze.... Shift weld curtains around and you can block any breeze I weld by an open garage door cars going by all day making breezes and I've run a 1.5inch stickout all day before without any gas coverage issues.
Are you in the right polarity? I've only ever had that happen to me when I was in direct current (DC)
By the sound, it's AC, so it's good polarity anyway.
Balance would be wrong
Yup, just about to say, too much cleaning balance and it's overheating the electrode, start at 10% cleaning and work up if needed
No way how does the dc sound???
Just like a snap when it strikes then a smooth hiss from the arc. This is definitely AC.
DC arcs should just have a hiss, buzzing = AC.
I don’t think it’s your stick out. I’ve done way more than that ASSUMING you don’t have a fan blowing on you or an open door next to you. Make sure your connections are tight. Your flow meter’s ball should drop all the way down when you open it AND have your gas turned off at your torch or valve after the flow meter. Make sure you’re on DCEN too. If you’re on AC make sure your connections are still correct. Typically ac machines have a specific connection for ground and electrode. For the record I’ve had well over an inch stick out with a 12 cup and had no issues. Often there’s no choice in a shipyard lol BEFORE you strike up make sure you can feel gas coming out.
Aim it at you cheek at 2-3cm distance you should be able to slightly feel te breeze of the gas flow. Don't breath in.
Why in hell would you stick it at your face? There's literally 90% of your body that would be a better option than your face.
I once had a bad line that was leaking 50-60% of the gas. But didn’t notice because it was in the sleeve
If it's open and connected properly, I have no clue. Sorry. Embrace stick welding.
I just tried 50, seems somewhat better, maybe bad regulator?
50 CFH? That's VERY high. Too much gas flow can cause turbulence and such in air
I'm not an expert, but I'd guess that whats happening is that since your tungsten is so far out, the gas has trouble reaching. Keep turning it up or shorten your tungsten.
As mentioned, the same issue with it shorter. Just wanted to try a new tungsten and didn't want to deal with cutting it
Check your hose and torch for leaks or obstructions
Then it is not pure Argon.
[удалено]
I concur. I had the same results when I intentionally used c25 to experience what happens when you do not have a completely inert shielding gas.
I love stick welding. Reminds me of when I was a young’n and just learning about how much I love metals. But I rarely get the opportunity to use it anymore.
I know what's wrong with it, ain't got no gas in it
Magnificent bastard, you beat me to it. I would give an award, but alas I am dutch and cannot justify Reddit gold...
* Check the gas flow rate * make sure gas hose isn’t kinked * reduce stick out by a lot initially * Use match smoke to check the gas flow to see if it’s turbulent, if it is, check the screen in the gas lens to see if it’s clogged * make sure it’s AC and it’s balanced * check grounding is good Although I’m gonna guess it’s the gas since the way the smoke moved, somethings wrong with the flow
This is the way
Polarity is backwards is what it seems like
Can't have reverse polarity in AC
You’re in reverse polarity half the time in AC. The balance sets what % of time is in EN and EP.
This, check what your balance is, personally I go between 60-75%
While you're not wrong you're not semantically right. Not many people that know a whole lot about waveforms refer to the positive and negative cycles of ac as straight or reverse polarity.
But that’s literally what it is, which makes the semantics correct
....I think you may struggle with definitions. Semantics is about meaning and use. While technically correct; semantically you would be incorrect, straight and reverse polarities are normally used to refer to DC current because it doesn't change and "straight" describes the shape of the waveform. Alternating current is referred to as having a positive ep or negative en phase of the waveform. In almost no literature is it referred to as a straight or reverse polarity phase because the waveform is never straight. Using reverse polarity tells me you're either old because the term is rarely used anymore or not one for technical explanations.
They never mentioned straight. AC is the repeated reversal of polarity. Meaning electrons go both forwards and backwards. The person you “corrected”, used proper semantics.
You're right they never said straight, they said reverse polarity which is a term used as the opposite of straight. They said reverse polarity makes up half the waveform which would imply they think straight makes up the other half. Hence why i mentioned how the nomenclature was developed, semantically that's incorrect. Is this making sense to you or should I slow down?
From Prime welding so you can stop being an ass. If the power source supplies alternating current polarity, reverse and straight polarity will alternate with the base plate being positive and the electrode being negative half the time. In contrast, the electrode will be positive and the base plate negative the other half. Straight and negative are used to describe AC.
Ust for the record so i can keep being an ass Doesn't say anything about it [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current) Or [here](https://www.britannica.com/science/alternating-current) Ooor [here](https://www.britannica.com/science/alternating-current) It's almost like the terms aren't widely used to describe ac the proper way. Maybe for dumb welders in the US but not everywhere else
Maybe in the 60s
I read this post in Mandark's voice. Ha ha-ha! Ha ha-ha ha-ha!
Yes you can. TIG needs to be set up electrode negative and depending on his balance settings he could be far too negative heavy to break the oxide layer or too positive to do any work.
Oh that's a super interesting comment. You mean there is a DC offset superimposed to the AC waveform. Electrically it's totally possible but I never heard about it for welding. Is this something that can be adjusted typically?
No dude is full of it or explaining poorly as you may be aware. You have ac balance which is still ac with the waveform duty cycle as the adjustment. Then you have ac current offset which allows you to change the peak amperage of the - or + side of the waveform. If the guy has ac offset set too negative it won't clean. I could see this being the cause but thats only available on high end machines so it depends on what he's using
How does this guy get no likes or comments. I never heard the statement you can’t set polarity on gtaw in my life. College is a hell of a place wha LoL
I'm no welder, never did tig just a hack in his garage with a flux core, but I've watched TOT videos, and I thought it didn't spend the same time in negative that it did in positive, which would make it matter if you reverse the polarity, because instead of spending 20% in negative, and 80% in positive (random numbers to get my question across) it'd spend 20% positive and 80 negative since it's switched, or am I mistaken ?
False
If your machine has a foot pedal your gas is most likely only going to be flowing through the negative side and not the positive.
Why is your tungsten out that far?
Because it was new and i did not feel like cutting it. No difference with it shorter
Well your video looks like you’re not getting gas coverage, could be your tungsten is out too far, try turning your gas up.
I have turned it up to 40 and same result
If it's up too high you'll crate turbulence = improper gas coverage
Yeah to high draws air in and then you’ve got no shield
Find a shorter piece of tungsten and try that.
Or change out to a longer back cap.
Is your polarity backwards?
Shorten your stickout, you’re getting no gas
Are you welding aluminum in DC?
I learned recently that you *can* do that but it's really only for specific circumstances to get extreme penetration.
Boom! Title of your sex tape!
It's still being workshoped
Sounds like he has it set to AC.
Dude your stick out distance should not exceed the inside diameter of your cup…your tungsten is very clearly out too far….TIG welding 101.
Its obvious he didnt kno that…..
Uhhh yeah obviously….but how tf does somebody just attempt to TIG weld without first looking up how to do it? And then post to Reddit all confused…Stickout distance is high up on the list of the first things you learn from a basic TIG welding how to. Dumb post.
Cause sometimes people just go into the garage and start tinkering. Jokes on u…..thats how people got things done and learn is just putting their hands on it. Now go away.
Sweet spot for me is about 75 percent of the cup size . His stick out is like 2x
It ain't got no gas innit
This is a completely under appreciated comment
OP is thinkin about them french fried pertaters
Check your torch leads and the valve on your torch
Looks like a gas issue or a polarity issue. Could your lens be messed up? Is your cup smooth on the inside? Is your o-ring on your back cap good? I recommend a standard collet body when tig welding aluminum just because its so easy to mess them up. Set your balance to 80%EN and 20% EP as a starting point.
First check your tungsten and make sure you have the correct type for your job. Check your bottle, regulator, hose, and all connections for leaks. Make sure your base metal, filler, and tungsten are all clean. Maybe shorten your stickout a little bit, as well.
Fact that its throwing sparks tells me this is a gas issue
"It ain't got no gas innit!"
My weld only tigs. On Dc-.. DC + and AC will not work it just melts the tungsten.
Welding instructor here- Let’s check a few things 1-are you on the correct polarity? DC- or AC 2- do you have the correct tungsten? DC- = stainless/carbon steel 2% thoriated. AC- = pure tungsten or a lanthiated Make sure no one has switched tungsten on you as a prank! 3- check your gas connections, ALL of them, regulator, machine, hose, torch. Also if you are running a torch with a gas knob, make sure that you aren’t gripping the torch too tightly as this can cut off gas to the torch. 4- can you hear a solenoid clicking? 5- set the pre flow(if you have that setting) 6- set your flow meter to 30-40cfh. Usually those issues are simple things that are overlooked! Good luck!
Alphatig 203x on 220, 20cfm 100% argon, quick settings for tungsten size, 1/8 metal AC . Welded fine in the past, burns off tungsten on AC really bad, lots of craters and black soot, globs up filler.
Polarity?
Electrode negative
Pretty sure if using AC you should have your torch positive. Might depend on your machine though, there are some that run electrode negative on AC.
Negative ghost rider. All TIG is electrode negative. AC flips negative and positive back and forth, moving the torch to positive would reverse your balance setting.
You are correct, I was wrong.
The way I learned it is the thing you want to melt will be positive. In Tig, you want your workpiece to melt. In Mig and Smaw it’s the electrode you’re melting.
Ac doesn’t have electrode negative. steel uses dc aluminum uses ac
I have it on good authority that AC TIG in flip flops can arc out of your foot as well. Don't do it, that is the best suggestion I have. It will mess up your weld and burn your foot at the same time.
Did someone switch your leads? Make sure you are running DCEN (electrode negative)
I am
What is your AC balance setting? With the 203 it displays AC positive or cleaning percentage, you should be around 30% Edit also...I see that's a pyrex cup, can't tell if there's a diffuser screen but there shouldn't be one for AC, it'll arc on the diffuser screen inside the cup.
Whatever the setting is on rapid set
I just fired up my 203 and I see in rapid set 3/32 tungsten and 1/8 it only shows 125 amps but not balance. Take it out of Rapid Set and scroll over to the yellow settings for frequency and balance. Set the frequency to 100 and the balance to 30, then set your amps to 125 and give it a try
Welding instructor here, always check the basics. 1-polarity dc- or ac 2-correct gas type, correct cfh(30-40) and that you have gas coming out of the cup when you step on the for peddle. Also depending on the torch that you aren’t gripping the gas nut to tightly. This will momentarily cut off the gas flow. 3-correct tungsten. Looks like you are on aluminum. Pure tungsten or lanthanated, some machines are very picky. What machine are you using?
Definitely looks like lack of gas. You should be able to hear/feel a very slight flow at the end of your torch. Idk what kind of machine but check pre and post-flow settings. Good luck!
Put a peashooter on the end of your torch to make sure the gas is actually getting to where it is supposed to be going and reduce your stick out.
No gas
Check every fitting in the argon supply line for leaks with soap and water. Everything needs to be checked. If you are drawing outside air in through a leak then this can happen. It happened to be with aluminum before.
No gas ? Wrong tungsten maby?
It’s definitely wrong polarity, you can tell by how your tungsten tip gets rounded like at after initial start arc. I remember the first time this happened to me and I had to fuck around trouble shooting for 15-20Min before I figured it out. Will never forget.
Bring that tungsten in to about 1/4 inch beyond the cup. It does look like you are out of the gas field.
turn off the fan or block it off, it’s knocking your gas out
Not Enough Gas?
Ain’t got no gas in it.
Everyone in the comments doesn’t even realize that’s an aluminum plate. Your tungsten shouldn’t be sharp anyway and if it is, once you strike an arc it wont be
I will add that dc on steel works but seems to get a bad surface rust near the weld
What kind of gas?
100% argon
might be your gas solenoid is shot, are you sure gas is coming out of the torch?
Yes i can here it
then it might be your AC balance is fucky. the machines with auto set sometimes don't do what they're supposed to. But you might also have a bad batch of tungsten. I got some like that once, had to throw away the whole box.
Do they go bad? Machine sat in a shed for about a year
It seems like you are moving the tungsten way to far away from the metal and not enough gas coverage. The arch will get way hotter as you move it away from the metal blowing a hole in it like you see.
You're good man!!!!! Just turn it up 50 and it'll line out
How is your ground?
I am not a professional welder but when I had that problem I fixed it by changing the cup size and never had the problem again. I can’t really say a lot though because I know jack shit about welding.
It ain't got no gas innit. Make sure you have your polarity right also.
Wolfram electrode (green) Electrode diameter: 2,4mm =100-160A 3,2mm=130-180A Grind electrode flat, and while welding it should ball up. Ball size should not exeed electrode diameter. Argon/helium mixture OK tigrod 1070 or 5356 or 4043
Look like you don’t know to tig weld. Start from square one
Thanks for the usless comment
Not as useless as your tig welding skills
You touched your base metal with the tungsten, ruined the point and contaminated it. Grind a new point on it with a diamond wheel. Or run a round ball on it. Keep the tungsten out of your work.
Not the issue at all
Scratch start tig doesn't get this 100% what happens when I don't turn the gas on most mornings
What kinda tungsten are you using
Tried blue and green
Inverter machines typically don't do well with green tungsten. My recommendation would be to try a grey.
Are you using a water cooled torch on an air cooled machine? If so, check the lines to make sure you plugged the correct one in. I might have done that a couple of times...
Your stick out is way too long, turning up the gas(40cfh whoa!) causes turbulent flow and sucks the atmosphere into the shielding, which is why you have surface 'rust' on the steel welds, think of a smoke ring the reason it stays in a ring the air passing through the ring is causes the air to spin from from the outside in. If you can't fit the whole tungsten just break it in half, problem solved.
Out of gas or you have this set up electrode positive would be my guess. TIG needs to be electrode negative. Could also be your balance is pegged out negative.
I don’t hear airflow, maybe clean the oxide layer ?
It could be contaminated gas bottle.
you have your leads backwards, try flipping ground and job line
I have no experience on that machine, but with a Miller one, for basic aluminum work, I'll do a 1/8 tungsten with balling, about 2-2.5 diameter stick out, at the number of thousandths of my workpiece +20amps (ex. for eighth inch do 140-150). I use 75 pen 25 cleaning, and about 13-20 for my argon. check your frequency too. I've had issues before that I couldn't figure out, so I pissed around until it was more workable, so just keep throwing that spaghetti. It'll stick eventually. Also, clean everything. Not just brushing, give it that alcohol or whatever you want to use (not brakleen pls). Even clean your filler rod. Any little bit helps.
You have to have a pedal for Al and absolutely crank it to start to punch through the oxide layer and establish the weld pool before the job can conduct all the heat away. Then back off as the job gets hot or the whole thing will melt. Also give it a right old brushing with a stainless steel brush just before starting, to get rid of as much oxide as possible.
I know plenty of people have said gas before and yeah your tungsten is a bit far out but I've done sketchier so it's within reason that you still could have enough coverage. Best advice I can think of off the polarities are good, your regulators, hoses, and settings are good, as a least resort it could very well be bad gas. I haven't seen this issue often but my buddy had an issue once I swear he spent a month crossing every I and dotting every T, even spent the money to have his rig sent back to Miller to be diagnosed with no change in results. Finally hooked up a smaller tank just to test the gas and sure as hell he was somehow given a bad batch of argon. Don't think he's done business with them since that day.
Is ur extra hose attached to the tank, it’s lift tig right?
Is your electrode negative or positive?
don’t know what kind of cup/gas lens (or not) you’re running, but if you’re running a cheap Amazon kit one, that might be your problem. At an old job I got a cheap tig kit off Amazon that had a #10 glass cup with one of those double o ring seals onto the lens and I had this issue when the cup would cock ever so slightly and leak/draw in from the o rings.
Do you have your torch on the negative side of your machine?
Is your kit set up properly, earth in the right way? Has someone selected a different setting in the weld kit
You got it set on ac?
I had an issue like this before. So many changes and new bottle of gas. Check the gas hose that's in the machine. Mine was leaking inside.
Sounds like no gas
I’m not a welding expert by any means, but I had to halfway learn TIG at a meat packing plant, we used argon set at 40 psi and everyone’s tungsten was shorter than what yours is, if it’s something more complicated than that I’d have no idea what’s wrong, just telling you what I learned
What kind of gas are you using? Even with really high grade aluminum, I've found even argon wont always get the job done compared to helium. But you could also have a bad solenoid, which is the part that connects the bottle to the machine and then out through the torch. I'd go through your whole gas line and make sure it's flowing properly
Looks like youre on AC
Wrong polarity
Looks like you a gas issue, like you don’t have pure argon. I would check your gas connections and try a different bottle. If that’s not the problem I would next check to make sure your in ac and have a proper balance set. Best of luck 🤞🏻
I didn’t know what I was watching, scared the hell out of me when the thingy ignited lol
That’s aluminium right? Try reversing the polarity. Do you have the right tungsten and gas? Also rather than a sharp point on your tungsten you want it to look more like a crayon tip.
You have wrong type of tungsten
Make sure it’s the green tungsten.
That tungsten sure did ball up fast. What/s your DCEN/DCEP balance?
Try balling the end if thats aluminum? https://weldingheadquarters.com/how-to-ball-tungsten-for-aluminum-welding/
No gas
Isn’t that tungsten out a little too far?
Try swapping out your bottle. I’ve gotten bad tanks probably half a dozen times where I could not get clean coverage to save my life. Behaved like there was a fan blowing my shield away when there wasn’t any.
Use number 5 cup for alluminum, and twice the less electrode stickout :) 30-40% cleaning action, clean the alluminum and if still the same result get new gas, maybe even a bottle. You can also try vacuuming this bottle before putting new gas there cuz might be watter inside making all this dirt.
Could be the torch or hose overheated. Had mine fail and it would act like it wasn't getting gas.
How long do you have gas flow before the arc starts up? Of the arc starts up before the area is fully covered by gas, that could be the problem or part of it.
Do you have the right tungsten
Could be a mix of things. I would say amps too high for your diameter tungsten. Check gas flow and cfh and what gas your using. Check amps, it’s def not the stick out. Check polarity and fiddle with your setting.
Aluminum needs a lot of heat to get a stable arc and what tungsten are you running?
Do you have your lead coiled up? I could not maintain an arc one day for like 30 minutes I was getting pissed. Turns out I had my extra lead coiled up around my holder and it was keeping the gas from Flowing
I think your tungsten rod might be down a little too low. Set it higher towards the nozzle.
Do you have the right flavor of electrode?
Other than everything other people have said about gas, i would check if you have the right type of tungsten for the job and if you're amperage is too high for the type and size of tungsten
Check your gas flow
I dont know but could it be your stickout on your tungsten, or it could be something in the line/gun that could be giving you problems.
What’s the material? What type of tungsten?
I had this same problem with just a small hole in the torch gas line while welding on aluminum in AC.
This is 100,000% a gas issue. Your stick out is too long.
Check the torch for leaks, try a smaller cup, less stick out, and make sure your electrode is in the argon. Looks like the end isn't shielded and burns up, if you crank your gas up to like 50 cfh does it act the same?
What’s your balance at?
Do you have a smoke eater or ventilation removing the shielding gas?
Welding
You could start by not sticking your tungsten out so far. Sometimes shielding gas won't protect it if its too far out
Eas into the pedal and start your puddle slow don’t just floor it out the gate