Welding Tips and Tricks

I have a brand new TIG welder, 2016 AHP AlphaTig 200X. I'm using 2% lanthanated tungsten. I'm using mild steel scrap to practice on. No filled rod. As I go along every once in a while the electrode will flash Extremely bright. The flash comes out of nowhere. My helmet is set properly. Are these intermittent flash cause by dirt or foreign matter on the material I am welding? I appreciate your insight.

I'm betting it's your hood. Turn the delay setting to maximum and see if it helps.

sedanman wrote:I'm betting it's your hood. Turn the delay setting to maximum and see if it helps.

X2 Turn up the sensitivity. If your getting flash it's probably when the arc diminishes a bit. The delay in my Jackson Nexgen controls how long it stays dark after the arc subsides.

when you say, its flashing intermittently... you mean on its own, without your foot on the pedal?... probably not...

but if you have the stock pedal and are hovering over it with your foot.. with the torch/tungsten close to metal, if you accidentally press the pedal, even slightly, it will arc, as it should.... that pedal is pretty sensitive and while i did ok with it... because, u pretty much have to hover over it, or search for it (cant rest your foot on the pedal)... its very easy to hit it slightly... i switched to a nicer pedal... it runs really good with a better pedal and on 220 volt... made a huge difference for me, though i was ok with the stock pedal..

even with that, your helmet should be darkening quick enough, if set right, as others have stated.. check the sensitivity settings...

i misunderstood what i read, i think.. sounds like you are saying as you are welding... without filler... as you progress the puddle, you get flashed... if so, like others have stated, if your helmet isnt setup right, or not working... i have had this happen as i welded... but was pulsing with the pedal, had a slight interruption, as i eased up too far on the pedal (with that stock pedal).. helmet was not set right... so shut off, and i hit the pedal, delay was off and i got flashed... havent had that issue sinse i readjusted the helmet...

A lot of people misunderstand the function of the delay settig. It does not control darkening time. It adjusts the delay to return to non darkened state. If you have the delay set to minimum, then any interruption in the sensor signal and the lense switches off.

sedanman wrote:A lot of people misunderstand the function of the delay settig. It does not control darkening time. It adjusts the delay to return to non darkened state. If you have the delay set to minimum, then any interruption in the sensor signal and the lense switches off.

Exactly what I said only the other end of the curve. Set at 1 it will lighten out in a nano second once it senses no or weak arc if the sensitivity is set too low. Set at 10 it will stay dark long after the arc has quit. The sensitivity set at 1 needs a direct and very bright signal to set it off and darken the lens. Set at 10 a florescent light will darken it. If your set at 1 and 1 you'll get a light show that will mess your eyes up pretty quickly. At 10 and 10 you might as well not have an auto darkening helmet.