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Another tig question...

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:25 am
by Zach_T
Here's another question about tig welding I have as I'm trying to learn for a career in a few years but here's my question of the day... What is heli Arc tig? And how does it differ from regular (well what I think is regular sorry if I'm wrong) tig welding with argon?

Re: Another tig question...

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 1:02 am
by RichardH
Heliarc is the old school name for TIG, and it comes from the original use of helium shielding gas, which also has the effect of making the arc even hotter. Adding helium to argon is still a technique for boosting heat, but helium is more expensive.

Re: Another tig question...

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 1:23 am
by Zach_T
RichardH wrote:Heliarc is the old school name for TIG, and it comes from the original use of helium shielding gas, which also has the effect of making the arc even hotter. Adding helium to argon is still a technique for boosting heat, but helium is more expensive.
So basically the same thing just different shielding gas?

Re: Another tig question...

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 1:44 am
by coldman
Here's a link to wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_tungsten_arc_welding
Makes for interesting reading on the development history of Heliarc aka TIG aka GTAW