Fan on demand and shielding

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I finally got the chance to weld up an Alaskan chainsaw mill yesterday.   I have a great little miller maxstar 150 and was loving welding up the long rails.  18" of straight horizontal bead on 1/8" mild steel.  Had the little welder on the bench next to me and all was just flowing great till....... the fan on demnand kicked in an blew right at the torch. Snap crackle and a nice green pop..... Stopped ground out the crap reground the tungsten, moved the welder, started again.  More porosity.... Grind, sharpen repeat.... More black bubbly welds.... WTF.  I'm no professional welder but this isn't my first bead either.... Tried again, grind, sharpen repeat.... Same....Until in the silence of the maxstar with out the constant fan I hear that the shield gas sounds alittle different.  Turns out when I moved the welder the swivel fitting on the -electrode moved, was loose and was drawing air. Tightend it and the rest was the great smooth arc and clean welds that I love from tig.....Sure this project would have been done in 15 mins with a MIG, but something about all the trouble and finding the solution adds to the enjoy,ent of the project when it's done.Last edited by Upnorth; 02-19-2012 at 10:03 AM.Reason: Typo
Reply:Ha Ha. I thought you were going to say the machine fried.That maxstar is one amazing little unit.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.