Welding Tips and Tricks

I was playing around welding some thin aluminum this evening and had some trouble with the arc starting. The Hi Frequency would jump but the arc wouldn't. Hit the pedal a second time and off she would go. My ground was to the table about 2 ft. away. I also keep a very light coat of oil (PB Blaster......all I had) to keep the table from rusting. I didn't clean the PB Blaster off before welding.


Could this just be a ground issue???

The regulator on your flowmeter is preset for probably 60 or 75 psi. When that solenoid opens, you'll get a HUGE rush of gas right at first, which disrupts the arc start, on AC in particular. Try bumping the pedal to get the gas going, then mash it after the rush slows down.

Steve

I run into this sometimes on my dynasty and have found if I regrind tungsten it stops. Don't know why?

Otto Nobedder wrote:The regulator on your flowmeter is preset for probably 60 or 75 psi. When that solenoid opens, you'll get a HUGE rush of gas right at first, which disrupts the arc start, on AC in particular. Try bumping the pedal to get the gas going, then mash it after the rush slows down.

Steve

I recently raised my CFH on my gauge from 10-15 to 25. I found that was my problem on welding aluminum. In other words I am starting with more that might be part of the problem !!!

So you're saying it started fine before you increased the flowmeter? Do you have a ball-type flowmeter? or a gauge? The gauge type does increase pressure with higher flow. The ball type has one set pressure so a change in setting shouldn't affect starting.