Tig -ing steel on AC ?

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I have been experimenting with tigging steel using AC with about 95 % en to see whatjust a little cleaning would do.   Tried some aluminised exhaust tube that way.That worked OK.  I have tried regular clean steel with 5 % cleaning.  It seems to workbut I can see and hear oxidised "things" levitating off the puddle and flying away (into the cup?)   At 5% cleaning  when I am done there appears to be a narrowstripe of what looks like red rust on either side of the bead .  I am guessing this mightbe -like aluminum- the junk from the puddle which migrated sideways. (?)I wonder if that would hint that I need to turn the argon up a little if I am getting oxidationdurring the weld.I have gotten gas lenses and JUST LOVE THEM !    They really help for aluminum.They have really almost eliminated having a dirty start on the first 1/2 inch of the bead.I was kind of curious if I could use AC on steel if using a low or high frequency wouldmake the puddle look different.   Tried some steel using lots of cleaning and the puddleDID look different.  It seemed to be more fluid and there were no dipping ripples.  Justa smooth wet bead.  That was about 70% EN.Just getting to know what all the variable adjustments on the Dynasty do !LOVE IT !Tim
Reply:That's an interesting question. I've never tried or experimented with AC TIG on steel. I'm not sure I grasp why you would want to, but I think I'll tinker around with it, just to see, when I get some free time.
Reply:why if you have a ac welder it should have dc
Reply:Ed :when you get a new machine don't you want to find out all it can do ?????Might be good on THIN stuff.  Just had to wld some flexible SS conduit which was about .015 thickto a piece of .062 tube.   Might have used AC there.  Havn't used it enough on AC with steel toknow what it will do for something I might ruin .  ( so I used  normal DC  EN )That crap was paper thin too.  Had to keep the arc on the edge of the thick tube and feed mig wireonto the other (thin) side to sink some heat.  It worked pretty well though.  TimPS  Was just in Palm Bay a little while back on valkaria rd.  Helping clean out an airplane hanger there.Forgot what a swamp it is along that road !  Mosquitoes the size of  b-36'sLast edited by jethro; 05-02-2011 at 02:38 AM.
Reply:I could understand trying to find out what your machine can do but going against standard proven practices doesn't make sense to me. It would seem to be a waste of time trying to reinvent the welding wheel but if you got free time go for it. Now if you go with conventional welding techniques, would running the machine in DC EP reduce your heat input .