Welding Tips and Tricks

Okay, I apologise in advance if this is a bit of an epic, but I figure the more specific info I give, the better you experts will be able to help.

I am pretty new to TIG and virtually all of my welding is low amp stuff. On aluminium I have been as high as 60. On steel usually only 40 or so, because I am welding mostly thin material.

At the moment I enjoy aluminium welding far more than steel and I'm having more success with it, too. The reason is simple; I light up on aluminium, I watch what I'm doing down at the pool, I can see clearly. All good.

Steel is a different story. I clean the heck out of it, light up and watch that nice blue arc. But, seemingly randomly, every now and then there's a bright green flash - or sometimes a sustained bright green flare up - bright enough to screw up my eyesight, and that's the end of my nice, neat weld. Like I said, metal always clean. I use 2% Lanthanated electrodes for everything these days.

I suspect my helmet is my problem. It seems to cope perfectly well with aluminium and my results reflect that - I can see, so I can weld. But I have this mysterious 'green flash' problem when welding steel. Don't understand what triggers it, and why only on steel?

My helmet is a budget no-name auto-darkening unit I've had for awhile. It has adjustable darkness but that's it - no sensitivity or delay. I'm on the brink of binning it because I suspect it can't cope with TIG for whatever reason and it's messing up my welding.

Anyone have any tips?

And for the Aussies here (because the Oz dollar and freight would be a killer from overseas) can anyone recommend a budget priced decent helmet? Hate to sound like a tightwad and recognise the importance of looking after my vision, but I've spent all my cash on my welding machine!

Thanks for your patience, everyone.


Kym

It may be because of were at and how many light sensors your helmet has. If you are in tight corners or you move your head of to the side your helmet may not be picking up the arc. About half my work is position welding on sight. I use a Lincon helmet made by Viking that has extra sensors on the top and bottom of the screen. Can't remember the exact model # but I can look later if you want. It's not the top of the line model but it does have fully adjustable sesativity. I adjust this a lot depending on if I'm outside in full sun or inside in some dark steam tunnel. Seems that someone can always find a good reason to weld on a pipe that's so close to a wall that you can only see what your doing with one eye until your hand gets in the way and you just hope for the best.

believe me I know about being tight on money (money? what money? lol), but when it comes to anything that involves ones health, I'm a firm believer in spending whatever is needed to get good protection (I apply that to my racing as well, even though I have a 'slow' car, I don't skimp on my helmet, race harnesses, fire jacket, etc., and even stuff for the car that will prevent wrecks like an engine diaper, trans blanket, etc... and a head & neck restraint is next as well as an automatic fire system for the car, not just a bottle). When in the shop it's the same, like when grinding, I always wear ear and eye protection (hearing damage, aka tinnitus is not fun, imagine a radio stuck in between stations that is constantly on that you can never turn off, makes trying to sleep a nightly problem.. always amazes me seeing feloow workers at the shops use angle grinders without hearing protection... boy are they gonna regret that in a couple of years!), And I'm careful to not have loose clothing that can send you right to the ER pretty quickly once it gets caught up in (pick any) power tool. You're always at risk for injury doing the kinds of stuff we do, but it's always worth the extra dollars to protect yourself because like they say, if you don't have your health you got nuthin'! Hard to weld if you end up ruining your eyes with a cheap helmet, just not worth it. Sell some old bike stuff or something that you don't use anymore just to get the money for a good helmet with sensitivity control. You'll have it for years so it's not like a consumable that you'll need to replace often. Or just go on a diet for a couple of weeks, I spend the bulk of my money on food... and you're a racer too, we all have no problem eating Ramen for a month just to get that money to buy those new performance parts... you can do the same thing for a top quality welding helmet, just think of it as performance for your eyes.

Hey raticus.

I hear you. I don't so much have a problem spending on the helmet...as long as the problem really IS the helmet, and not some bogus low carbon steel thing that I'm not aware of.

Living on ramen...yep. Racer priorities. But the cheap groceries so you can spend $500 a pair on tyres that last one weekend.


Kym

How old is your helmet?
I had a 3 yrs old WIA just crap out, I thought it was the battery, but things didnt improve after the battery change.
I was still getting flashed.
I ended up with one of these;
http://www.totaltools.com.au/cigweld-st ... fYUifR_0fs
Cig prolite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syU4j1TIXuI
for a quick comparison to its predecessor

http://www.cigweld.com.au/product/helme ... lmet-blue/
Specs

I got mine from total tools for just under $130.
Visibility is way better than the old WIA, bigger viewing port also much clearer.
Quicker than the WIA 1/20,000 th sec vs 1/16,000
4 sensors, havent been flashed as yet, where the old on if you covered 1 sensor it would flash you.
Suitable for low amp TIG
Very nice head band

For the price and 2 year warranty it to me seems a good unit.
Yes there are better helmets but not at this price point.

Always easy to spend someone else's money, but that's what I bought with mine.

Ramen?
Aint you living high on the hog

Cheers

Thanks ex framie.

You've posted that one before and I reckon it might be pretty much on the money - thanks. Not cheap but not stupid expensive, name brand and recommended by someone who knows their stuff, i.e you.

Suitable for low amp TIG, too. Nice.

Upset because my current helmet works like a charm when I weld aluminium but really seems to suck when I weld steel. Thought I had all the hardware I needed, but hey, it's welding, it never stops, right?

Thanks again.



Kym

Basic Speedglas 100 works fine for me from very low amps (usually on stainless):

http://www.awsispeedglas.com.au/3m-spee ... -100-ninja

Good clarity and even-ness in the view. I tried some 'no brand' helmets too and while most worked OK response wise they often had un-even darkening across the field of vision that made them annoying to use.

As I need cheater lenses to see the puddle well (damn you old age!) it helps that 3M also have a whole range of accessories like those for the Speedglas that clip into the helmet

Bye, Arno.

Kym,
Just a thought, do you know someone else nearby that can weld steel by tig near you, might be worth having a look at the arc of another machine.
Do you get the same effect with mig or stick?

Me know what I'm doing!?
Glad someone thinks so

Arno - thanks for Speedglass tip.

Ex framie, don't know about MIG but helmet works just fine with stick and as I've said, works really well with aluminium, too. Damned if I know.

Have been out trying more low amp stuff on steel tonight. It sucks. I get going and then get blinded by those damn green flashes.

I'm a lone TIG welder, Ex, so unfortunately no-one to compare to.

I think a quality helmet will solve this. But what I'd love is an informed opinion on why I have no problems with aluminium? Perhaps my helmet just doesn't have what it takes to do low amp stuff...although some of my aluminium work is almost as low amp as my steel and works fine.

Kym

Just another fun fact;

I went out a moment ago and lit up on some steel at 80 amps. Better vision and only one or two mild flashes. Much better.

This has gotta be a low amp thing. Helmet is a bit too 'dumb' to cope, I think.



Kym

MosquitoMoto wrote:Arno - thanks for Speedglass tip.

I think a quality helmet will solve this. But what I'd love is an informed opinion on why I have no problems with aluminium? Perhaps my helmet just doesn't have what it takes to do low amp stuff...although some of my aluminium work is almost as low amp as my steel and works fine.

Kym

Low amp on inverters seem to have this problem. On alum more reflective arc to sensors. So number of sensors and apparently quality of sensors, torch angle,head position etc. For me increasing the delay on The ADF lens seems to help.
Delaying the time to return to clear seems to allow the sensors to require the arc,thus staying dark for duration of weld.

You make some good points, rick.

On aluminium the whole world is shiny! The material, the puddle, everything. With steel, especially low amp work on steel, the material is virtually always less shiny and even the puddle itself is simply red. I can start to imagine how a less than top-spec helmet might struggle to cope.

My take on what is happening is this: when welding low amps on steel, I have the helmet set only on 9 or 10. This works just fine until I get a flash, which I can only imagine must be from some sort of impurity. 9 or 10 isn't enough to compensate for the flash and I'm temporarily blinded...there goes my weld.

Problem is, a setting any darker and I simply can't see properly to weld.

Get the feeling that my choice will have to be one of the couple of 'made especially for TIG' helmets that have been recommended here.


Kym

A good helmet should have a delay and sensitivity settings. When welding with my Syncrowave transformer I did not experience arc flashes,but when I switched to a inverter,had to learn to use/adjust the delay/sensitivity settings.

I too use to weld on low shade settings, got rid lens flashes with delay/sensitivity, then started to go to darker lens settings to help with annoying impurity flashes.

This has helped my low amperage work.

Thanks so much, rick.

Your tips along with some of the others here have taken me from "What the heck is going on here?" to a growing understanding of what the problem is and what can be done about it.

Cheers! Such a helpful forum.


Kym

Kym

Definitely look for a 4-sensor job

TIG welding can cause all sorts of things to get between the arc and the sensors (gloves, arms, etc) and knock out the dimming. Multiple sensors overcome that.

However, I agree with the others that this might be a lack of good sensitivity with the helmet under low light conditions.

Trev

I would definitely suspect the quality of the sensors in your helmet in this case.

When I went in to purchase my current TIG welder the dealer definitely advised me against purchasing an 'el-cheapo' helmet.

What he told me was that the cheaper helmets work just fine with either stick welding or wire welding where the arc tends to be either on or off… that is to say, either nothing or else full on. But when it comes to TIG welding the sensors in cheaper helmets don't respond properly to the low amperage welding arcs that are a constant quantity of TIG work.

More particularly, the up-slope and down-slope of the TIG arc will see the arc running at as little as three to five amps - something that can come in under the radar of cheaper sensors. This will mean that your eyes are constantly getting 'flashed' for a short period of time before the sensor actually kicks in and darkens the shield. The effect of this on the body at the end of a day of welding would be a case of 'itchy eyes' from the repetitive series of 'mini flashes' due to the response lag of the cheaper sensors.

I purchased a SpeedGlas 100 and it has worked outstandingly for me. I can go a full day and my eyes never have any trouble at all.

In comparison, I previously had a cheaper self-darkening welding helmet (very much cheaper). It had worked well enough for simple stick welding as well as scratch start TIG (without any slope control). Anyway, I had lent out the olded helmet to a friend who was learning stick welding and in the meantime had purchased my newer TIG unit (Weco 171T Discovery) which does have variable up slope, down slope, etc. When he finally brought it back I tried out it with my newer TIG rig. The response of that helmet was so bad that I promptly made a gift of that clunker to my friend. A win-win situation for all involved.

Reading this thread, Ive saw 2 people recommend that Speedglas 100.
I would also like to recommend it.
I work in aerospace, so on average we are using between 10-60 amps.
The first helmet the work had bought me was the Speedglas 100.
I don't have the problems you describe at all with it.
I have also had the work buy me a Speedglas 9000 series which I think retails for about the same as the 100.
And that to me is useless below 50 amps, So I keep that for when I'm doing abit of high amp work or abit of Stick at home.
So yeah, if your in the market for one, another point for Speedglas 100.

Thanks Razor!


Kym

For low amp Tig I love quality glass. Old Lincoln Supervisibilty lenses are easy to source. If you want high def get an old American Optics Weld Cool in shade 10. You may never want to weld with anything else after you try a WC glass lens.

Something I have to share about the old-school Weld-Cool lenses. The authentic ones are Cobalt glass, and very expensive. NOS 2X4 lenses will go for $350 on e-bay. The color is excellent.

<<<BUT>>>

They have very limited UV protection compared to a modern lens. Use a UV-rated pair of safety glasses behind them. Your eyes will thank you one day.

Steve S

Has anyone had any experience with any of the AULEKTRO lens ?

http://www.opticoolweldinglens.com/aule ... -blue.html

Sometimes I get a red/orange flare around the arc on DC steel/stainless ( using plain and gold coated green 2" x
4 1/4" lens, both glass and plastic ) and remember once using a helmet with blue tint lens was a major improvement. A welding rep also suggested replacing the clear plastic cover lens with glass could eliminate the red flare.

I'd appreciate any thoughts/comments or suggestions, and if possible a brand, as I'm in Europe and most of the lens here are no-name breeds.

Sorry Kiwi, I don't have any info on Aulectro.

However, I would like to resurrect this thread for a moment to send a huge thanks to 'ex framie' for his tip on the Cigweld Prolite 4-sensor helmet.

Picked one up and couldn't be happier. $139. Light, comfortable, great view. Fully adjustable. Super fast and sensitive. I've been welding at 30 amps on mild steel tonight and it's perfect.

Those blinding green flashes that were killing me are now just subtle colour changes of the arc zone that show up when I hit impurities, rather than apocalyptic, weld-ending catastrophes. Now I can finally get back to low amp steel welding.

Thanks Pete!


Kym