Re: question for welders
 

Remember, anything you do not remove from the work or the filler will be in your finished product.

Re: question for welders
 

Larry,
This has bitten me more than once. Clean metal, and filler is a big deal. TIG seems to be even more critical than MIG, or maybe I just don't have the experience with TIG that I need.
Keep pushing buddy!

Ken
Stock 412

Re: question for welders
 

Cleaning the weld area is definatly the first place I'd suspect, But as was posted earlier, I've had voltage issues from time to time as I'm at the end of a long run from the high voltage transformer.
Try having a helper moniter the line voltage while running a weld bead, sometimes the volt drop is not evident until the welder is under load.
Also once had a similar problem that resulted from a faulty ground cable that was broken at a factory splice in the cable and was under the insulation and was not visable, Altho I don't suspect you would have that problem with both welders.

Re: question for welders
 

Clean metal, good tips, proper torch distance, the right settings. I've had the same problem. One day you get good clean welds, next day they look like dog $h*! If the piece you are working with has any dirt, grease or serious imperfections, that can give you a bad weld. Make sure the gas is set properly. I have a story on that!

I'm between you and Alan, will be 60 next month. My eyesight sucks. My hand/eye co-ordination isn't what it once was. It wasn't very good to begin with. I bought a new Miller welder a few years back because, it's hard to find anyone that will do small jobs around here anymore. Also, when you live out in the country, if you need to do something on Saturday nite or Sunday, you're on your own.

Re: question for welders
 

update report,

Thanks for all the tips, I appreciate the ideas. In addition to better cleaning the biggest improvement was gas pressure. I had the pressure too high and then tried raising it even more.

Finally I realized the excessive gas flow was moving the flame kernel. It was worse in a corner were the gas had no place to escape. The Tungsten "flame" was moving around unpredictably.

As I lowered the gas flow, the weld control improved. I will continue to back off the gas pressure to find a sweet stop. Just finished a good looking weld at 20 pounds showing on the gauge.

With the MIG a clean tip and clean nozzle made a big improvement. The tip had melted to the point of causing the wire to feed slower than normal.

Simple fixes but sometimes a fellow can't see the weld for the slag [or something like that]

Re: question for welders
 

I took a welding class at a local community college just for grins. I hadn't done a lot of welding in a long time. I got to play with their Miller TIG welders. I liked the Synchrowave 250DX ones the best. I had pretty good luck with the new inverter welders. They seemed to weld nice, but sure were noisy compared to the DX. Anyways, I was grinding the tungsten by rolling it in my fingers against the wheel (horizontal). They said that can cause the arc to be unstable. They said to grind towards the tip (vertical) to make the lines of grinding along the centerline of the tungsten. I think they also said the 2% thoriated was out, now they have some other elements to make the start easier without the health issues. I think the pure tungsten had some problems too. This website was recommended by the instructor.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/

Re: question for welders
 

You could also try a flowmeter instead of pressure for your shilding gas.

Re: question for welders
 

For both MIG and TIG, use a flow meter, as Mr. Fox suggested. The flow meter works at a given pressure from the regulator, and flows based on a valve.

Keeping everything clean is very important.

I usually use nozzle guard on the MIG nozzle. You need to make sure it is the correct size and shape, and that it fits correctly. Also make sure you keep the gas ports in the gun clean.

I use uncoated ER80S6, or if that is hard to find, ER70S6 MIG wire. The copper coating on any welding wire or filler rod contaminates the weld. Even copper flash.

As Mr. Miller suggested, grind the tungsten to a sharp point, and grind it parallel to the length of the tungsten. Wear a mask when you grind tungsten, even if it is not thoriated.