Brown dust on side of steel TIG weld

[joshuab]

A fine idea as long as you don't rely on the color code to know what type of tungsten you're using!

That's totally true! I only use 2% Lanthanated, so it's not an issue.

[johnnymg]

WOHOOOOO ~~~~~~~~~
THANKS for all of the suggestions ~~~~

Here's how it went:
1.) ground tungsten and kept all previous HW/settings the same (3/32" tung, 10+ LPM AR flow, and #6 cup) ==> major arc instability and brown ugly contamination
2.) raised/lowered AR flow rate (and finally read manual). Ended up at 5 LPM flow rate (for steel). Major arc instability went away but still had brown ugliness and arc was still not totally "right". i.e. arc wass somewhat spitty
3.) As a WAG I changed the ceramic cup from the #6 I was using to a #5: ===> Super stable arc now and NO brown ugliness. Yehaaaaaaaa!

OK, I'm still "on the beach" but I'm no longer getting beat up by the shore break! Now, on to actually trying to dab some filler rod.

BTW, the 210 is awesome!

Thanks again for all of the help
JohnG

[Gman]

Is this 100% argon?

[johnnymg]

Is this 100% argon?

Yes, 100% Ar. What I'm thinking now is that there was major turbulence in the cup which caused the arc instability and 'brown soot' contamination.

cheers
JohnG

[zoama]

Sounds like the #6 cup wasn't seated correctly and let air mix with your gas. Too much gas flow can cause turbulence and draw air into the gas stream also, 6 - 9 lpm is the range you'll use most.

[joshuab]

Glad you got it sorted out. As Zoama585 pointed out, 5 lpm is going to be a little low for some positions and joints--e.g. an inside corner in the flat position, probably okay, because the joint will trap the gas and collect it. Flat position, lap or butt joint, I have found more like 6-7 lpm is required. And of course something like a thin outside corner is going to require more, and may even require some kind of backing plate to help collect the argon. Sometimes I feel stingy and try to knock my argon down a smidge, but usually it causes problems and it's not worth it. I mostly leave the flow-meter set at 7 lpm, and that does the trick for everything I commonly do. I may be using up 1-2 lpm more than I strictly need to, but I'm okay with that if it means I'm not constantly fiddling with the dial after having a problem with my weld.

And also, in case it's not obvious, you read a ball-type flow-meter from the center of the ball, and the flow-meter must be straight up-and-down to read correctly.

[johnnymg]

Glad you got it sorted out. As Zoama585 pointed out, 5 lpm is going to be a little low for some positions and joints--e.g. an inside corner in the flat position, probably okay, because the joint will trap the gas and collect it. Flat position, lap or butt joint, I have found more like 6-7 lpm is required. And of course something like a thin outside corner is going to require more, and may even require some kind of backing plate to help collect the argon. Sometimes I feel stingy and try to knock my argon down a smidge, but usually it causes problems and it's not worth it. I mostly leave the flow-meter set at 7 lpm, and that does the trick for everything I commonly do. I may be using up 1-2 lpm more than I strictly need to, but I'm okay with that if it means I'm not constantly fiddling with the dial after having a problem with my weld.

And also, in case it's not obvious, you read a ball-type flow-meter from the center of the ball, and the flow-meter must be straight up-and-down to read correctly.

Thanks for the tips on the flowmeter. I think I was using the top of the ball so the flow was probably on the low side. I'm on the step portion of the learning curve so I'll be asking 'obvious' questions for a while.

cheers
JohnG

[joshuab]

Thanks for the tips on the flowmeter. I think I was using the top of the ball so the flow was probably on the low side. I'm on the step portion of the learning curve so I'll be asking 'obvious' questions for a while.

No worries. I had to look it up.