Tungsten balling up, what's wrong

[diyjer]

Well,

Maybe another piece of the puzzle is that you could be starting with the tungsten stick-out being too far.

About 1/4" is good.

How about posting a photo of your tungsten newly dressed up in the torch.

christian, i really appreciate your input, but i know all about stick out. i've read a lot about this, i also watched so many videos in youtube, specially that of jody, on how to tig weld. i've done stick, i've done mig, and done tig with my cigweld. i've finished a few projects around the house with my cigweld. i've also tried 1/4, a little bit more, i've tried the non-gas lens, gas lens, and i still get a balling up. it's like i've tried quite a number of permutation and combination just to know where i'm doing it wrong.

btw, i also know that using with using a gas lens, you can have a little bit of a longer stick out as long as you up the flow a bit. but not to much because too much flow might also fireback in a certain way.

but yeah, i will post a photo of my stick out later. i have a day job so i can only do this after office hours.

what i want to say in a way is, if i haven't done successful tig welding previously using another machine, i will really doubt myself or i won't have the confidence to say that there is really something wrong with the 255ext i have now. i've followed everything i've learned in reading and in watching so many youtube videos from pros and from beginners on how to do and what not to do in tig and other welding processes that's why i was able to successfully tig weld using my cigweld. that's why i'm disappointed that i can't do what i've done using my cigweld with a machine which has got more bells and whistles. i'm far from a good welder, but i really know how to handle the torch, etc. again, my only mistake was that i was under the impression that i can use a non-100% argon gas for tig welding simply because it worked in my cigweld. but i corrected that variable in the equation. so i'm expecting that it will work in my favor now. it didn't.

thanks

[christian]

Well,

Forget about the repeated use of the word "Cigweld".

Start like a real newbie.

You've got the right gas now.

Get rid of the galvanized metal.

The settings for DC are hard to mess up.

It seems like your gas flow is OK.

Now, let's see your torch and tungsten in pristine condition, ready to weld.

Keep a tight arc, but not too tight.

Then let's see what your bead looks like after doing those things.

And, using "permutation" in a sentence is pretty good for any English-speaker. Ha, ha, ha...

[diyjer]

Well,
Forget about the repeated use of the word "Cigweld".
Start like a real newbie.
You've got the right gas now.
Get rid of the galvanized metal.
The settings for DC are hard to mess up.
It seems like your gas flow is OK.
Now, let's see your torch and tungsten in pristine condition, ready to weld.
Keep a tight arc, but not too tight.
Then let's see what your bead looks like after doing those things.
And, using "permutation" in a sentence is pretty good for any English-speaker. Ha, ha, ha...

ok, i will refer to it as my other machine. but i'm really a newbie in the sense that i've never tried tig welding on vertical yet, downwards or upwards. in my opinion, i consider myself a newbie for as long as i can not comfortably do vertical welding. all my tig welding were and are being done flat/horizontal or at least on a table. i can do verticals in stick or in mig. but not yet in tig. because, so far, i still didn't have a need to tig vertically

i can't get rid of the galvanized metal. a lot of my projects are made of galvanized iron or a combination of cold rolled and galvanized. and isn't it that it should be ok as long as i grind it to shiny and clean metal? i always wear a 3m mask and eye protection when i do that. but yeah, i'll tig weld pure cold rolled metal later for the sake of troubleshooting this issue. in case i won't have the same problem tig welding non-galvanized iron later, what will it prove? for one, my 255ext is limited to welding non-galvanized iron (even if grind(ed) to shiny metal) which i will be very disappointed because my other machine has no problem with it, and two, it's the contamination of the tungsten that is causing the balling up? my theory (because it happens fast), based on what you commented earlier, is that, while i was welding the grinded galvanized iron, along the way, while my tungsten is flaring up a little, and because it's flaring up a little, for some reason, small particles of the metal i was welding on flew back to the tungsten which caused it for flare more. and the process is repeated until the tungsten flared up more and finally it can't withstand mounting contamination so it balled up.

just a theory.

ok, here's another question. didn't you all tig weld galvanized materials at one point in time? do you only use tig on non-galvanized iron/metal?

[Grizzly1944]

Clenlyness is next to godliness! I've Tig welded galvanized before. It is necessary to clean the metal down to a shiny finish and then wipe it off with a no oil residue solvent. Many use acetone, I use Coleman lantern fuel (white gas), or denatured alcohol. I don't like acetone because its easily absorbed into your skin and might cause damage to your liver and other organs. I hate the smell also. I like denatured alcohol best.

Not being able to weld galvanized isn't limited to the 255ext, but just about any welder that I know of except for your prized Cigweld of which many have never heard of.

In any type of welding. proper joint preparation is important, in tig welding, it's required.

[christian]

Yeah,

Please, don't even refer to "your other welder".

Pretend you never owned it.

Proving you can TIG weld on typical, clean steel will become a baseline for you.

Then you can move on to dealing with galvanized on actual projects that you may have, afterward.

Think of yourself as a student in a classroom or laboratory.

Master the basic bead on plate first, under ideal conditions.

[diyjer]

Clenlyness is next to godliness! I've Tig welded galvanized before. It is necessary to clean the metal down to a shiny finish and then wipe it off with a no oil residue solvent. Many use acetone, I use Coleman lantern fuel (white gas), or denatured alcohol. I don't like acetone because its easily absorbed into your skin and might cause damage to your liver and other organs. I hate the smell also. I like denatured alcohol best.

Not being able to weld galvanized isn't limited to the 255ext, but just about any welder that I know of except for your prized Cigweld of which many have never heard of.

In any type of welding. proper joint preparation is important, in tig welding, it's required.

i also grind the galvanized to shiny finish. wide enough and not only the part where i will weld. in wiping it off, i use something specifically for preparring galvanized iron for priming and painting being used by the auto industry. i'll check exactly what it is. and i always use disposable gloves in all these even if it's not acetone.

Not being able to weld galvanized isn't limited to the 255ext, but just about any welder that I know of except for your prized Cigweld of which many have never heard of.

.

i'm really surprised about this statement. for one, that most, if not all, welder can not do galvanized. probably because i was previously living in the world of my prized Cigweld welder which has no problem with it.

[performance]

Cigweld is old ThermalArc Chinese machines in the last few years. Galvanized is not weldable unless 100% clean. You have not cleaned it where you welded. The fact there are burn lines where the galvanization has burned off proves it. The discolor as well. You are not getting it clean. You may be polishing it, but you are not getting down into the metal. And it is nearly impossible to clean the galvanized off properly enough for TIG welding. Stick or MIG, possibly, but TIG no as the galvanized often gets buried into the metal as it is ground.

[diyjer]

Cigweld is old ThermalArc Chinese machines in the last few years. Galvanized is not weldable unless 100% clean. You have not cleaned it where you welded. The fact there are burn lines where the galvanization has burned off proves it. The discolor as well. You are not getting it clean. You may be polishing it, but you are not getting down into the metal. And it is nearly impossible to clean the galvanized off properly enough for TIG welding. Stick or MIG, possibly, but TIG no as the galvanized often gets buried into the metal as it is ground.

so going forward, if i want to use 255ext for tig welding, i have to stay away from galvanized or i will risk on having the same problem. i think i can live with that. i just need to order only metals which are not galvanized. nobody mentioned in youtube how you mentioned it here about galvanized iron. at least none in those that i watched.

yes, i can agree with you that i did not fully clean it. or i only cleaned the part and a little bit of what's on and on the adjacent to the part to be welded. i'm keeping my hopes high when i tig weld a non-galvanized later on. i hope i will not have the same problem. but i'm sad because i have to part with my galvanized materials if i want to use 255ext. it's just to much grinding and cleaning needed to use 255ext with them based on what i'm learning here. but it's a small price to pay if i can make good welds with 255ext