Need Advice on Tig Welding

[lerdman]

Tonight I tried tig welding for the first time (you can tell from the attached photo!!). I tried to lap weld some aluminum about 100 thousands thick (midway between 1/16 and 1/8 inch). My tig calculator calls for :
1/16 Material 1/16 Tung 70-90 amps Argon @ 15cfh
1/8 Material 3/32 Tung 140-160 amps Argon @ 17cfh

Since the material was between 1/16 and 1/8 I tried using an amp setting of 100 and set the argon gas @ 16cfh. By viewing the attached photo you will see that I melted the tungsten to the collet to the body and cracked the cup. UGLY!!! I am looking for some advise on what I did wrong:

Wrong settings?
Tungsten too long?
Tungsten too short?
Moving too slow?
Others?
All of the above?

I was using a Miller Syncrowave 180 SD Digital.

Thanks
Lamar

[Pin Head]

If you are melting the 3/32 tungsten, the electrode is getting seriously hot. Do you have the wave cycle set to too much time on the DCRP (EP) on the side? Try a balanced wave or 65% DCSP.

[lerdman]

I don't remember where the wave cycle was set. I will need to check it tomorrow.

Thanks
Lamar

[lerdman]

That is the way that I set it up. I pressed the foot pedal and set up the regulator.

Thanks
Lamar

[Guest]

It looks like you were on DC reverse polarity, only...I'm not familiar with that machine, but I have a Syncrowave 300 and the arc balance wouldn't do that even if it was set max or min. on AC.

When you see the tungsten eroding up into the cup, stop, and re adjust it to stick out 1/4" to 3/8" beyond the cup.

[Dan]

I was thinking the exact same thing as Rocky. Looks like you were possibly using DCRP instead of AC.

[TheOldOne]

Ya gotta have that baby set on AC

[lranch]

Hey Lerdman, please explain how you made the tip. This might shed some light on the problem. thanx.

[lerdman]

I think that RockyD and Dan were correct in suspecting that the welder was set to DCRP. I had set up the welder and the gas the night before and was called away before I could start my practice session. I was informed by my son that he was stick welding the following day. The next night, being anxious to use a new toy, I started the welder and never checked my setup. This was a foolish and unsafe act on my account. This is a lesson learned that I will never forget.

Thanks to all that replied to this post.

Lamar