Where does the contamination go?

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Hey guys, as I was TIG welding aluminum today I thought of something, if the A.C. current is a sine wave, 1 leg "cleaning" the other leg "penetrating", on the cleaning leg, where exactly is the contamination going? To the tungsten? The air? Just curious, I could be wrong about how the AC action works, on my Syncrowave 250, I have the AC balance set to 3.5, I assume the farther towards 1 I get the less penetration but more "cleaning" action I get, the more towards 9, the more "penetration", but a ****tier looking weld x)Again, could be wrong, but if someone wants to run over how this functions that would be great!Miller Spoolmate 200 w/t S-52 WirefeederMM 211'09 Miller Trailblazer 302
Reply:We each have our opinions about aluminum being cleaned by the machines action or by manual cleaning before hand...I prefer manual cleaning to a inch of its life myself...As far as where it all goes when you take the lazy route I have no idea....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Some of it very well *could* get vaporized in the air. As cool as that sounds, probably unlikely the truth.From everything I've observed/welded/read mysef, the contamination does two things. At the toes it gets blown back from the bead. But in the bead itself it remains. Usually ends up as a floater on your bead.
Reply:You can see the white haze just off the alum bead. That is the etching zone that did not get melted. The surface etched of the metal is lifted off and pushed out by the gas. Tungsten usually gets contamination from the gas or jamming rod onto it from my observation. Sometimes no matter how clean you get the surface etching improves the quality and wetting of the puddle.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:Originally Posted by shovelonYou can see the white haze just off the alum bead. That is the etching zone that did not get melted. The surface etched of the metal is lifted off and pushed out by the gas. Tungsten usually gets contamination from the gas or jamming rod onto it from my observation. Sometimes no matter how clean you get the surface etching improves the quality and wetting of the puddle.
Reply:http://www.aws.org/wj/supplement/wj0110-1.pdf .  See p. 4-S for mechanism of cathodic etching in Aluminum welding.  "Sputter" is one source."Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:That was a pretty interesting article ManoKai Sometimes I think scientists throw out words like "sputtering" when describing complicated stuff just to prove they have a sense of humor Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:CONTAMINATION stays in the weld with the exception of an insignificant portion being vaporized off. The OXIDE that is broken up by the Catholic bombardment cleaning action of the electrode positive portion of the AC current is attracted to your tungsten but not the tip. It collects on the shank slightly behind the tip.-Hillbilly
Reply:Originally Posted by Hillbilly2008CONTAMINATION stays in the weld with the exception of an insignificant portion being vaporized off. The OXIDE that is broken up by the Catholic bombardment cleaning action of the electrode positive portion of the AC current is attracted to your tungsten but not the tip. It collects on the shank slightly behind the tip.-Hillbilly
Reply:On the syncro 1 is max clean 9 max pen. Try running at 7, that's where my machine stays for ac aluminum. Turn to 3 for dc.PeterEquipment:2  old paws2  eyes (that don't look so good)1  bad back
Reply:Originally Posted by castweldOn the syncro 1 is max clean 9 max pen. Try running at 7, that's where my machine stays for ac aluminum. Turn to 3 for dc.Peter