newbie with no idea

i just got a poweritig 250. we were playing with it this afternoon and figgured out that we did no have the right set up so i was woundering if any one could tell my what peice of the puzzle i am missing.'
i am running pure tungstion the biggest the torch would hold
75/25 mix of argon and co2
running on dc(dont quit understand the pulse feature yet)
mild steel 1/8-1/4
i have moved the flow around from say 5 l/m to 30 l/m and didnt have much change
i can get it to ark but its all over the place and i imediatly burns the point off even with it just bearly stickng out of the nozzel, and the nozzle its self its getting nasty with build up , im running on about 50-60 amps ....
i have no idea what the deal is, i can weld just about any thing with stick, wire, or oxyfuel, and i can make beads and butt seam with this tig but its eating up tungston way to fast unless its way up in the nozzle and then i cant see what im doing...
any point in the right direction would be a great help

I don't have a PowerTig yet (though I'm very likely going to get one).

You don't want to run pure tungsten in an inverter welder. None of the inverter welder manufacturers recommend pure tungsten. I plan to run lanthanated or ceriated. You can also run thoriated (but use a dust mask when grinding). Ditch the pure tungsten, that should help.

How are you set up for the electrode - negative or positive?

You'll also probably want to run more current than that for 1/8". 100-120A.

MrMuddy76,

You'll want to run straight argon with TIG, save the C25 for your MIG.

Here is a good article to check out.

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...read.php?t=192

Be careful with the C25 as it will burn very hot and might damage the torch.

i have got conflicting info on the gas situation i was told by a number of people including the local blacksmith that c25 was fine but pure argon was to used with aium. and then iv been told that c25 will do any thing, now on here iv been told to use pure argon. might be a little bit lost on that ,
now another question what do i need to do to be able to weld aluminum with this unit? i understand the alum needs to be very clean what machine set up should i use. when i bought this machine ever last was out of pedals for this unit, but does the pedal on this one do very much? it only has a 2 pin plug and is would the $125 to get one be worth it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrmuddy76

i have got conflicting info on the gas situation i was told by a number of people including the local blacksmith that c25 was fine but pure argon was to used with aium. and then iv been told that c25 will do any thing, now on here iv been told to use pure argon. might be a little bit lost on that ,
now another question what do i need to do to be able to weld aluminum with this unit? i understand the alum needs to be very clean what machine set up should i use. when i bought this machine ever last was out of pedals for this unit, but does the pedal on this one do very much? it only has a 2 pin plug and is would the $125 to get one be worth it?

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Do you have straight argon to try it? That is what I use as well. Did you read Mark's article? I'm sure he covered that in the article.

No more that two weeks ago we had a person from NJ call with the same issue, sort of upset with the wild arc control and running to hot. They swapped the bottle and all was good. He even called to let me know that was it and somewhat posted his issue here on the forum was self inflicted.

I just pulled out a PowerTIG 250. The remote is an on/off (2 pin) for the torch. You could wire a pedal to fire it, but not vary the amps during the weld, the front panel settings still work as you have them set.

Pedals are normally used in position so I would not bother with one unless you spend a lot of time welding on a table. If that is the case you will need a different unit. With 5 pins or more on the remote.

hey thanks for the info , I'm going to get a argon tank out and try it later today, but it will be some time next week before i get my 2%c tungsten to get in. and then maybe i wont be burning my tungsten like MIG wire..

i tryed to read the manual but were i from(texas)the books have alot more pictures. so can some simplify the pulse operation on this unit?

and will it weld aluminum?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrmuddy76

hey thanks for the info , I'm going to get a argon tank out and try it later today, but it will be some time next week before i get my 2%c tungsten to get in. and then maybe i wont be burning my tungsten like MIG wire..

i tryed to read the manual but were i from(texas)the books have alot more pictures. so can some simplify the pulse operation on this unit?

and will it weld aluminum?

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Hey, I am with you on the pictures. :D

You can use straight tungsten or 2% thoriated. There are opinions on that as well. I would like to hear Mark's take on this. I use green for the little aluminum I do, but I talk to a lot of old school welders that say red (2%t) will do both with no problem.

ok so turns out that yall were rite on the pure argon ... it weld like a $2000 rig
now my biggest question of all is whats the trick to welding aluminum...
i have tryed to to clean it with a stainless brush untell it was spotless, but it i cant get it bead it just blobs??? any ideas

Mr. Muddy,

Now's probably not a good time to point out that reading the owner's manual would have saved you a lot of frustration.

But it would have... :)

well u see i did read the manual 2 or 3 times however i like it was written by some one who doesnt speek english. and i never could get the online manual to load.

so i did read the manual but it just flat didnt have enough pic in it

The online manual usually loads quickly. I wonder what the problem is? Its simple adobe pdf. What browser are you using?

Have you retried it?

I can email you a copy if you like.

im usind ie8 and if u dont mine send me a copie of the manual

psychogorilla76@aim.com