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Cup melted - TIG

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:23 am
by Bill52
First TIG 'welding'.

Setup:
- material: 4 mm mild steel
- type: DC
- current: 100 A
- electrode: 2.5mm 2% Ceriated
- polarity: positive handle
- cup: #5
- gas: pure argon
- flow: 7.5 l/min
- pre-flow: 1sec
- no filler

Result:
Well, can't call it a weld but the two pieces of material did melt together.
Also melt the tungsten and the bottom of the cup together into a ball.

Tried searching for 'tig cup melted' on google but nothing came up so far.

What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:15 pm
by Louie1961
Your polarity is backwards. The tungsten should be electrode negative.

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 3:56 pm
by MinnesotaDave
Yep, what Louie said :)

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:07 pm
by walz10
What the posts above said or possibly extreme porosity


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Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:08 pm
by walz10
walz10 wrote:What the posts above said or possibly extreme porosity

Pictures really help


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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:21 pm
by JayWal
Bill52 wrote:First TIG 'welding'.

Setup:
- material: 4 mm mild steel
- type: DC
- current: 100 A
- electrode: 2.5mm 2% Ceriated
- polarity: positive handle
- lens: #6
- gas: pure argon
- flow: 7.5 l/min
- pre-flow: 1sec
- no filler

Result:
Well, can't call it a weld but the two pieces of material did melt together.
Also melt the tungsten and the bottom of the lens together into a ball.

Tried searching for 'tig lens melted' on google but nothing came up so far.

What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Had the same issue when I struck my first arc. After an hour Googling how to strike an arc I found out Tig torch should be negative. Works a lot better! [emoji846]

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Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:42 am
by William Payne
Yip TIG is EN electrode negative.

However post some pics I’d love to see this.

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2021 5:51 pm
by Spartan
Also consider upping your amps once you get the polarity sorted. 100A is quite low for 4mm thick steel.

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:32 am
by Bill52
JayWal wrote:However post some pics I’d love to see this.
As you asked for it ... my latest art work.
melted_gas-lens.png
melted_gas-lens.png (179.78 KiB) Viewed 2390 times
For those who didn't know, this is how to TIG weld gas-lenses.
I'm taking orders. Send me your perfect lens and receive something like this. :)

Haven't tried the reverse polarity yet. I'm sure it'll work. Better tan this one ...

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 4:46 am
by tweake
its not actually a lens.
thats the cup and tungsten melted together.
i would go up a cup size or two.

Re: Lens melted - TIG

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:01 pm
by eelman308
:o

Re: Cup melted - TIG

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:57 pm
by Bill52
Well, the electrode-negative and the larger cup - #6 - worked.
Wouldn't call it a weld but the two pieces are not falling apart - it's a start.
Many thanks for all of you!