my 1/8" tungsten erodes excessively.

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I have an air cooled ck 17 torch and TA185,   I point my tungsten at more of a blunt angle to try to keep more meat at the tip .   especially when I do aluminum using all/most of the amps.  very very poor tip life.   it erodes or grows tiny blue spurs.I was under the impression 1/8" tungsten was generally enough?I forget my alloy, it's not thoriated but I cant remember exactly.  probaly zirconated.bottom line, will going to a water cooled torch help my tungsten life much?Last edited by dsergison; 07-26-2013 at 11:50 AM.
Reply:Longer taper and bump a flat spot on the tip.I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Post flow time? What's it set at?Miller Dynasty 200DXMiller Spectrum 250DMiller Millermatic 200Bunch of old blue dinosaurs....
Reply:5 seconds post flow.    I suppose I've been pointing my tungsten blunter and blunter to try to help, and maybe pointier is actually better?I weld infrequently enough that I cant ever remember or get particularly good, and I push the machine hard.  to thick materials.
Reply:If you're air cooled only then it sounds like you're oxidizing your tungsten.   Bump up the post flow.Miller Dynasty 200DXMiller Spectrum 250DMiller Millermatic 200Bunch of old blue dinosaurs....
Reply:Originally Posted by dsergisonI have an air cooled ck 17 torch and TA185,   I point my tungsten at more of a blunt angle to try to keep more meat at the tip .   especially when I do aluminum using all/most of the amps.  very very poor tip life.   it erodes or grows tiny blue spurs.I was under the impression 1/8" tungsten was generally enough?....yes depending on machine settings and the task at handI forget my alloy, it's not thoriated but I cant remember exactly.  probaly zirconated.thoriated, or ceriated works better than zircon on  that style of inverter,which has very limited arc tailoring options (as opposed to a dynasty)....but bygoing to max or close to max pen. setting and lowest AC freq. manageableyou can get good results. My experience with my now dead TA 300 GTSW--a biggerbut very similar machine as far as available settings goes, is the basis of these comments. bottom line, will going to a water cooled torch help my tungsten life much?
Reply:I was welding 5/8" to 1/4" thick castings to 1/8" 6061 aftercooler ducts.I will try your settings and advise.   I was about to buy a ck200 flex water torch too...I am probably a bit biased towards more cleaning right now hoping that would help the less than perfect prep materials.I am pretty low frequency.Is there any down side to using 1/8" all the time?   why do I want to switch to lower size for thinner stuff, I never understood.    I don't mean soda can extreems lastly, but not confrontationally, .......I play an engineer at my day job and when I hear "the ground cable carries most of the power"   I cringe.   it's a circuit.    that's just not possible, "the power" does not go anywhere but in a loop, unless something or someone is getting electrocuted to ground.Last edited by dsergison; 07-26-2013 at 02:08 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by dsergisonI was welding 5/8" to 1/4" thick castings to 1/8" 6061 aftercooler ducts.I will try your settings and advise.   I was about to buy a ck200 flex water torch too.......I'm on my 4th flex loc watercooled in 15 years. I love it. The silicone rubber 'superflex' cablingis a must for ease of torch use. The swivel head doesn't have the same cooling capacity as a normal torch and gradually wears out thru heat and use, which can be extended by air blast cooling the cup and tungsten end, when stopped.I believe your post flow is controlled by the machine, based on amperage used and not adjustable, but there's work arounds to that, too. I am probably a bit biased towards more cleaning right now hoping that would help the less than perfect prep materials........as you should know by now, the prep is everything.Some preheat, always helps on thicker, via gas torch or warmup with TIG torch.Since AL has 3X the heat capacity of steel, the initial arc has to first warm up the joint,enough and faster than the heat flow and soak goes out of it. When that occurs, thendecent surface wetting is noticed and the weld can begin. Not warming up means one'sgoing to be fighting heat soak and flow and not saving time. This focused heat getsyou going--much quicker. You've got a relatively low amp machine to use for relativelythick AL...and it's single phase to boot. (which does make a difference) I am pretty low frequency.....the lower the better. On these style inverters, the amount of cleaning action is small comparedto the results of massive focused heat. On dynasties---its a whole different deal. One canget/see significant cleaning while still unbalanced and the arc further tailored by tweaking the EN/EP and going much higher on AC freq. Bite the bullet and try running fully unbalanced for max. pen. Is there any down side to using 1/8" all the time?   why do I want to switch to lower size for thinner stuff, I never understood.    I don't mean soda can extreems ......requoting from my previous 'These style TA's with limited arc tailoring functions will show different arc characteristics when leaving machine settings the same and changing tungsten sizes.The smaller sizes for lower amp work, tend to 'drive' the arc much better than a larger size.'.....the above is the result of yours truly's--actual bench time. I don't have to know the 'why?' in order to use an effect. lastly, but not confrontationally, .......I play an engineer at my day job and when I hear "the ground cable carries most of the power"   I cringe.   it's a circuit.    that's just not possible, "the power" does not go anywhere but in a loop, unless something or someone is getting electrocuted to ground.
Reply:I digress, but thanks for the tips.
Reply:2% lanthanated http://store.cyberweld.com/we2latuelwl.htmlThe TA products are opposite Miller in their settings for cleaning action- so if you happened to read a suggestion from a Miller owner it will certainly screw up your settingshere is a Chart for the TA185http://www.aceengineering.ca/Temp/TIGWeldingChart.pdfhe made it  awhile back when the TA185's first came outEd Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Broccoli    the chart linkes seems to be a generic electrode size chart, is that what you meant to link to?   if so I'm confused.
Reply:pure seems to be best for aluminum; it is the primitive one you can always just fall back on. My cousin has a syncrowave 200 that he does little aluminum figurines and such and he changes the shape of the tungsten depending upon how much oxides he has to remove to get the weld on there, as well as penetration. A real sharp tungsten wont clean as well cause of its surface area but a bulbed one or a round one is just like a round lightbulb that cleans a farther distance around itself. but on aluminum you can always expect to go through a fair amount of it. 2 percent lasts longer if you don't touch it to the aluminum
Reply:Originally Posted by dsergisonBroccoli    the chart linkes seems to be a generic electrode size chart, is that what you meant to link to?   if so I'm confused.