In article , Jon Elson
wrote:

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Jim C Roberts wrote:


Ernie aka, "The Man", wisely advised.................


You should try some stainless steel filler rod on your steel welds to
see if they settle down.
Stainless can deal with more contaminated materiel.
The nickle and chrome help it flow in nicely.


Ernie,

Could he possibly be heating the metal past its melting point and causing
it to boil? I have been guilty of this before, especially using 2 different
thicknesses of metal.

Regards,
Jim



You can boil the steel all you want as long as it is shielded by Argon.

OK, then either my torch without the gas lenses is not properly
covering the weld area, or there is something like oxygen buried
in the workpiece. I did clean all the scale off in the weld area.

And, thanks again, Ernie, for the suggestion on the Lanthanated
electrodes. I didn't get them yet, but I did find that pack of
2% Thoriated electrodes I knew I had around here somewhere.
They were 1/16" inch, not 1/8 as I thought, but you can weld
1/8" steel with a 1/16" electrode, according to my Lincoln TIG
book. I set the current for 150 A max, and the difference was
amazing. I felt like I suddenly had developed about 2 years of
experience with TIG. I welded for about an hour, on and off,
without having to regrind the electrode once, or even pull it
out from the collet! AMAZING difference! I can't believe that
anyone ever uses EWP electrodes if they perform SO MUCH worse than
even 25 year old Thoriated ones! Is the differece really that
enormous, or did I get some crappy Chinese electrodes made from
burned out light bulbs? (The electrodes I bought at the Cee Kay
store are labeled "best welds" on the top of the label, and
"OKI Bering Cincinnati (sic) OH" at the bottom. Are there brands
to stay away from, or to specifically ask for?)


There are only a few companies that make tungstens, everybody else just
relabels to sell under thgeir name.

They are all sintered from powder.
I have never had any clear evdence that the manufacturer makes a
difference

The only thing pures are good for are extremely low amperage welds on
thin aluminum using AC.



Anyway, things are getting much better, at least in the steel department!

One more question, mostly pertaining to Lincoln Square Wave machines.
I'm having a problem in the HF system. The spark gap hisses very
smoothly and steadily when the HF is on, but sometimes I get no
HF at the electrode. Other times, it is like a flame thrower, and
I now realize I was trying to weld with the HF energy, not real welding
current, when I was starting out. When it is working, I can get little
lightning bolts running through the Argon from as far as an inch.
When it is not working, I end up touching the electrode to the
workpiece before I get any discharge. It seems after that happens,
I then ALWAYS have HF on the next start. When it is not working,
I can CLEARLY hear the HF spark gaps hissing. Any suggestions where
to look? Is there an arc developing inside the machine, shorting out
the HF? I think my cables and hoses are in very good condition.


Sounds like your spark gaps need to be cleaned and regapped.
There should be a hatch that gains you access to the HF generator.
The HF Gen has a pair of spark gaps that need to be cleaned every 5
years or so, depending on environment.
You have to remove the points, clean then gently so they are flat and
clean, then put them back in and set them to the factory gap.
I find that puting them in a drillpress works well, and just spin a
piece of silicon carbide sandpaper against the face with a flat bar
backing it up.
The idea is to get it very flat and smooth.

The gap is usually somewhere around 0.008".
Use a feeler gauge.

There is a 3 Ohm 25 Watt rheostat marked HF intensity or thereabouts,
and it had a problem. I thought fixing that was going to solve my
HF problems, but it didn't. There was a small weld spot on the
resistor element, and it had caused the graphite wiper to jump out of the
claw that sweeps it across the element. I had to file down the spot
so the wiper wouldn't catch. I think the rheostat is now in good
condition, but I'm still getting intermittent HF at the electrode.

Thanks in advance for any ideas on this.


Another point.
Get in the habit of "Cold Scratching".

Every time you stop and arc, there is a little cloud of ionized metal
particles caught in the plasma stream.
When the arc stops, they will collapse onto tyhe trungsten point.
These particles will form an extremely thin oxide layer that is a very
good insulator.
Scratch the tungsten point on your base metal before hitting the foot
pedal to break through this coating.
If you get in the habit of this you will get much more consistent arc
strikes.
Just be sure to NOT have the foot pedal down while doing it or you will
contaminate your tungsten.