Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey folks,

I wanted to share an experience I had today and get hopefully get some feedback.

For the past year I've been working on stainless projects anywhere from 16ga sheet up to 1/8 tube between 40 - 90 amps. The last couple of days I was working on a project and the whole thing is 3/16 mild steel. I picked up some purple e3 electrodes from my local welding supply. I normally use 3/32 2% lanth, but wanted to try the e3 as people in my circle tend to like them.

On DC the e3 have a nice arc, but the problem I was noticing was that after a couple of starts and stops my electrode no longer has a nice sharp tip. I was welding 3/16" tube to 3/16" plate at about 150 full petal for the most part unless the heat was getting away from me. I would weld about half of a 1.5 in tube to the plate then stop (or course tacs too). On thinner stuff up to 1/8 my electrode tip would last a lot longer (until I dipped . ) Is it recommended to jump to a 1/8 electrode at around 150A or is it just the LWS electrodes aren't all that great. The CK 2% lanth I have seems to work well, but I didn't get around to sharpening them on this project (lazyy). I've only ever used 3/32 and 1/16, and most only use 3/32 (not ever sure where my 1/16 are...

Thanks!

I like to ball my tri-mix tungsten ever so slightly. It prevents the nodules forming. I only weld AC though, no steel experience.

It’s possible the interior of your tubes are not clean and as you weld, the heat boils out the funk and the tungsten absorbs it. Did you notice any spitting or popping, or the arc color change while welding? If so, that can be a clue.

The interior was certainly not ground to bright shiny metal, but at 3/16" I wasn't expecting full pen at 150A. I hit the exterior of the tubes with flap drum to get them to bright shiny metal and the face of the tube. No spitting or discoloration during welding as far as i noticed. The puddle wet into the root well, just tip erosion was pretty quick after about 2 restarts.