Welding Tips and Tricks

I am using a Century 110 DC buzz box. My tungsten electrodes keep burning. As far as I know I am getting plenty of shielding gas, and not running to hot. Any reason why it would be zapping my electrodes? Also, the beads are super dirty. Black and orange. I know it sounds like im not getting enough gas, but is there any other reason why it would be doing this?

Thanks! I appreciate the help..

DC pos or neg? Cleaning the weld surface would help. I have been having trouble with tungstens burning up when I weld horseshoes together because they are porous and hold dirt very bad.

Hi Austin. Need more information

What material are you welding?

What polarity are you using?

What size electrode (and type), and what current?

Also, 'cause the flow regulator shows you a value doesn't mean that gets to the torch. If you have a leak in the system anywhere, you'll be getting less at the torch itself. Specifically, I've seen bad 'O' Rings cause this problem, but more recently found a small split in the Argon hose between the regulator and the machine.


There's a flow device like this that shows exactly what you get at the torch:

My first thought would be not pure argon, but that's just me. As TrackRanger said, we need more infos

Polarity Backwards.

Try swapping out ur gas lens or collet body

TRACKRANGER wrote:Hi Austin. Need more information

What material are you welding?

What polarity are you using?

What size electrode (and type), and what current?

Also, 'cause the flow regulator shows you a value doesn't mean that gets to the torch. If you have a leak in the system anywhere, you'll be getting less at the torch itself. Specifically, I've seen bad 'O' Rings cause this problem, but more recently found a small split in the Argon hose between the regulator and the machine.


There's a flow device like this that shows exactly what you get at the torch:

I'm using a 1/8" 1.5 Percent Lanthanated Tungsten. Not sure what current. But I have tried alllll kinds of different power levels. I am using straight polarity. (Torch on -, ground clamp on +).
I am welding on a cleaned piece of steel about a half inch thick. Just trying to run some beads. And I KNOW that im getting ALOT of argon, because I can crank the flow waaaayy up and I can feel it blasting out my gas lens. And I have tried a couple different lenses. They are fine. My thought is that Im not using pure argon. But I JUST got a new bottle.. Thoughts? Has anybody ever just gotten a bad bottle?

OK, you really need to tell us the flow and the current.

If you have the gas flow set too high, you not only waste gas, you can cause turbulence that can allow air to mix with your gas, providing oxidation.

Also, keep your stick-out to a minimum (say 1/4"). How much stick out have you used?

We really need to know the current. If you don't know the current, what are the settings you've used from the front panel of the machine? Surely that gives you some values you could provide?

Rather than saying you're getting a lot of argon, why can't you tell us what the flow-meter shows?

What is the shape of the electrode when it burns, is it rounded on the end, does it fracture, does it just waste away along its length?

Are there any photos available of the damaged electrodes and the actual weld?

Any discoloration on ur electrode? An im sure u checked for leaks but i had a torch leak under the handle where it connects to the lead...an it was the very last thing i checked. It's been said but yeah too much gas is just as bad as too little