Amp drop issue?

[MrBoiler]

I've been practicing my tig welds with the DX200. Runs flawlessly! However the other day I noticed something weird. I have the amps set to 120, the frequency at 50, ratio at 75% and the balance at 50. Using the foot pedal. As I'm welding I noticed the arc getting smaller. When I quickly checked the amps it had dropped to 18 amps. I thought that maybe it was a bad ground so I reattached my ground cable closer to the weld area but no change. Anyone else have this issue? Am I missing something?

Thanks...

[jakeru]

Is the problem just that your workpiece is heating up a lot during the course of your weld bead? To prevent this, try welding "hotter and faster." (More amps, faster travel speed.). You can also take breaks to let the workpiece cool off.

Also, to keep a consistent puddle size as you approach an edge, you may need to taper off the amps considerably.

Are the amps consistent when using the torch switch without foot pedal?

Also, 50% A/C balance is not a very useful setting. Puts a lot of heat on the tungsten, not much in the work, and spreads the arc out wide without deep penetration.

Also recommend turning off the pulse if you have that turned on (and it's rarely useful for A/C welding). If you are using high-frequency pulsing, the display may be just periodically alternating between high ("peak") and low ("background") amps. Try turning down the pulse frequency and you may see the display numbers corresponding better to the arc current.

[Rambozo]

The display will change to actual amps in use during welding, so if you have the amps reduced with the pedal, that will be normal. However, if you have the pedal floored and the amps turn down by itself, that isn't right. There are a lot of settings that can an effect on output amps, so when posting a question like this, it helps to list all your settings or just post a pic of the front panel.

[MrBoiler]

Tonight I'm going to do a bit more. I'll let you know how it. Goes. I'll definitely be trying with the trigger to see if it's the foot switch or not. I'll start with a fresh electrode too. The one I'm using is 2% lanthanated 1/16". Thanks for the feedback. Very helpful!

[Rambozo]

Yeah, 120 amps is a bit on the high side for a 1/16" you should go up to a 3/32" for that much current.

[MrBoiler]

Thanks for the advice on the electrode. It did make a difference. I found out the issue finally. In the foot pedal the clogged wheel was spinning in the potentiometer shaft.
I'm thinking of getting a better foot pedal. Any thoughts?


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[sportbike]

I use 3/32 for pretty much all of my welding, I have a wide range from .040 to 1/8th, but I don't see any benefit of using the little stuff. I just sharpen the 3/32 to a finer point if I am doing thin material.

As for the pedal, perhaps you can jsut tighten a setscrew, or if you can get it where you want it and it will stay, put a bit of epoxy on it to lock it.

[zoama]

Thanks for the advice on the electrode. It did make a difference. I found out the issue finally. In the foot pedal the clogged wheel was spinning in the potentiometer shaft.
I'm thinking of getting a better foot pedal. Any thoughts?

Everlast sells a really nice US made upgrade pedal... just call sales.

[MrBoiler]

Thanks guys! Regarding the electrodes, you're right. I find that 80% of the time I'm using 3/32". I was using the 1/16" for some tiny welds. Making some s/s buckles for some friends. The issue I was seeing was welding really small stuff and then some larger welds. The small stuff was easy but then because of the foot pedal issue the bigger stuff was a pain.
Anyhow, all is good now. I'm thinking of getting rid of the sets crews and drilling it out to pop in a split pin. I find I'm almost exclusively using a foot pedal and never the trigger.
Hoping to post some of the results soon.


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[srp]

I go to a smaller tungsten size if the arc is unstable and dancing on low amperage AC welds. On the Syncrowave you got to or it looks like a Tesla coil. LOL

The 250ex does good with 3/32 most of the time.