Tig Question. Hot spot not 'straight' in front of the tip

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Not sure how to explain this but I was welding 2 pieces of around aluminum yesterday. Pipe towards the right was .063 and the thicker piece was on the left was .080 I believe. Here is my awesome artwork (thank you mspaint)Is it odd that the hottest spot was on the thicker metal and not straight in front of the tip of the tungsten? Red circle shows hot spot.If anyone wants I'll autograph this pic and sell it to the highest bidder 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:Sometimes when the tungsten forms a ball on only one side you will have the arc more on that side.
Reply:I have a inverter so the tungsten doesn't ball up.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:I find a contaminated tungsten will do that AND cause undercut.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:If this is when you start? For me thats the aluminum game. Almost always picks a side to focus on and sometimes it will switch sides on you back and forth. The goal is to use your filler to bridge the two parts as soon as possible then it stabilizes. sometimes i will hit a little dab on one side then the other bringing them closer and then boom right in the middle. other times i will kinda flick the filler from on side to the other forcing it to join. sometimes it puts up more of a fight than others. I think putting the pedal to the metal or an on/off switch helps. whenever i have slowly ramped up on aluminum i always have a harder time. But thats just me.  If its after the start you have tungsten issues.www.performancealuminumfabrication.com
Reply:Magnets around your working area will sometimes give you erratic arc behavioir like you described. Also uneven gas flow from your nozzle/gas lens can cause this.