Quote Originally Posted by Rambozo View Post
enough post that the tungsten is no longer red before it stops. About 10 seconds per hundred amps is a good starting point.
Argon costs were Killing me at high amperage and here's what I started to do (not sure if this is a good idea, tell me what you think, I respect your opinion...)

I cut flow back to about 8secs and once finishing a weld I would wait about 1/2 that and touch the tungsten (it was still "reddish" but not bright) to the parent metal, a couple of inches way from the weld site. It never felt doughy or stuck in and way but it did make a dramatic difference in cooling, you can just watch the electrode go immediately "dark". I started doing this when using a long Pyrex cup, in corners, with so much more stick-out at 250A on 6061.

It works, I'm sure it saved me a Ton of Argon, and I don't think I see the effects of contamination, but I'm not sure I should be doing it!