TIG on a SA200

Date 11-28-2009 15:29 Edited 11-28-2009 15:54

List out exactly what is going wrong so we can help you better. Material you are welding, how you have the Tig rig hooked up and what make and model it is, tungston type and size, how are you preping your tungston, what shielding gas you are using, what CFH, what cup??? Pictures tell a good story also. Its hard to give an answer with the info you posted. SA200's can flip polarity for a few reasons and that could be a problem. You should be hooked up for straight polarity DCEN, your ground will be on the + lug.

By peters077 (**)

Date 11-28-2009 15:57

I am hooked up on straight polarity. using 3/32 tungston sharpening it on a flap disk, argon at about 15 or 20and a #4 cup. not sure if my tungston is out to far or what the deal is everything is full of pin holes. oh and just working on 1/8 steel and some 250 wall pipe. some thing is wrong with my computer it wont let me upload any pics

By weldwade (***)

Date 11-28-2009 16:11

I would say that you are not getting adequate gas coverage or the material or filler is rusty. Check to make sure that you don’t have any leaks on all the threaded joints.

By guzlndzl (*)

Date 11-28-2009 17:47

wind,not enough gas coverage, dirty material

By Superflux (****)

Date 11-28-2009 18:07

Don't forget cracked, cut or pin/burn holes in the hose. Use a spray bottle of soapy water to check for leaks.
I also have seen too much tungsten stick-out cause porosity problems.

By aevald

Date 11-28-2009 18:13

Hello peters077, this may seem like a simplistic suggestion, but are you using a GTAW filler? ER70S-2,3,6? If it's RG 45 or 65 you could experience some pinholing issues. Best regards, Allan

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 11-28-2009 19:40

Armed with the above posts....... That is a pretty good size tungsten for a # 4 cup and even at much less heat could affect your gas coverage. With the amount of heat you are welding at on 1/8 and 1/4 wall Your heated area is going to be too large for a #4 Try a #6 between 15-20 CFM, on the 1/4 you may wish to use a #8 for the cap at about 25cfm. A 1/8 tungsten would be appropriate on the pipe if you are trying to weld it out quickly.

How does your tungsten look after welding? If its grey and uniform or has a slight amount of blue your ok if it is turning black you have way too much stickout or a gas problem. Are you getting a lot of sparks as you weld? If you are the materials are rusty/contaminated or you have bad gas coverage. If your welds are very dark you have inadequate gas coverage...a little oxidation you might get away with bit ideally they should be silver.

Sorry if that's too simple but sometimes things turn out to be

Good luck
Tommy

By peters077 (**)

Date 11-29-2009 04:54

my tungston is black but a have it out just enough to get a scratch start off of it. its all brand new hose and yes i checked for leaks with a spray bottle mainly because i dont want to waist my gas. its like 40 bucks to have a #40 bottle filled herei will try the larger cup its just been about 16 years since i did this last. alot to try to remember and i have drank ALOT of beer since then lol.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 11-29-2009 05:51

Try to upgrade to a much larger argon bottle, it will cost only a few $ more to fill, but last a lot longer. If You get any steel stuck on the tungsten it will weld like crap. Scratch starting is a skill I find trickey and never mastered, as I learned on machines with HF.

By Steve.E (**)

Date 11-29-2009 06:49

Had a similar problem when someone had put a 1/8 Collete body with a 3/32 tungsten, jetting down the center of the body caused all sorts of problems.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 11-30-2009 01:06

ok if the tungsten is getting black then its getting o2 there is not a proper gas shield. The wrong collets can cause a problem as Steve mentioned. Start by trying to get the right color on your tungsten after arc striking.....btw too much gas coming out too fast for the size cup can cause a turbulence problem sucking o2 into the area that should be covered, that should not be a problem considering 15-20 cfm. Another way to check for leaks, to see if your sucking in oxygen somehow, would be to seal up the end of your torch cup and see if your flowmeter bottoms out...if it does not it is leaking somewhere. I am assuming you are just turning on the gas "as a free flow" and then turning it off when your done....no electric gas valves involved ...right?

Like I said get your tungsten color to hold first...if its getting exposed to air, any quality welding will be impossible.

By JHarlos (**)

Date 11-30-2009 18:41

you may need to check and see if you have a mixed gas. Just in case I would get another bottle and larger too. Start there and work toward the materials.

By PipeIt

Date 11-30-2009 21:49

I have seen as, JROD suggested, the mixed gas happen before in apprentice school where they were GMAW and forgot to switch out the bottles.

By Metarinka (****)

Date 11-30-2009 19:00

#4 cup seems very small for that work. I use between a #7 and #10 for doing plate and pipe in the .1-1" range.

Check to make sure your torch has all it's gaskets and the pigtail is on right. I had some bad porosity once from using mixed brand parts on a torch. it fit up well enough to fool me, but the gasket didn't mate and it caused a pinhole leak

By scrappywelds (***)

Date 11-30-2009 22:23

make sure you are not standing on the hose or something is pinching it off or close to off. sounds stupid i know but I have seen it alot of times. My opinion only, Weldcraft parts only!!!!!!!