Lanthanted tungsten + Magnet = don't play well together?

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So I was making something last night to hang on the wall and put my filler rod on, just a flat plate with a round tube. I used a big magnet to hold the tube in place while I made a tack. I couldn't, at all.The magnet kept drawing the current away from where I wanted it to. And not by a little. I haven't had this issue with or orange tungsten. Is it just something about the 2% lanthanted?Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Could be any tungsten. The direction of the arc is being interupted by the magnet.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Magnetic arc blow.  Happens sometimes on DC (which TIG uses, as well as MIG, and sometimes on SMAW).Reposition things around (work/ground clamp, magnet position if possible, etc, etc) and retry.AFAIK, it's not so much with the electrode 'formula', just the interaction between the electrons flowing between the electrode and the workpiece (the arc) and the other magnetic field ( from the magnet).  Flowing electrons make a magnetic field and that magnetic field is interacting with the field from the magnet.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Hello Gamble, I believe that the type of tungsten has less to do with that phenomenon than the physics that come into play. Since you are welding with DC current and a magnet is also being used, it will tend to disrupt or destabilize the arc. You will see similar things when you try to apply tacks with the wire process or stick process while using a magnet to hold your parts in place. Machine ground location will often alter or effect these sorts of things to varying degrees. In some cases, AC current will be used to counteract this effect.      There used to be an aluminum smelter in the town where I live, when they would go out on the pot lines to perform various welding tasks they would often use AC current to do their SMAW in lieu of DC. Mainly, due to the amount of arc-blow with DC, AC typically suffers less from this due to the multi-directional current. One-way current travel(the type associated with DC welding), sets up electromagnetic fields that will re-direct a welding arc at times. The pot lines at this facility were fed with stepping DC voltage and many, many, many, amps of current to provide the energy to smelt aluminum. Often, repairs were performed in the presence of these currents and voltages, the magnetic fields generated in this condition would inductively effect many of the surrounding components even though they were not directly connected. This would cause the same effect as what you were experiencing with your set-up magnet when your arc got all unstable while you were tacking. For that very reason, I often do not use the set-up magnets for fabrication. Good luck and best regards, Allanaevald