One of my buddies was using my Miller Synchrowave 180 last week and ran it out of gas. I don't know if this caused any problems, but I refilled the Argon, and tried welding yesterday, and had nothing but problems. The arc hisses and sputters, when starting and doesn't seem to stabilize. The tungsten loses it's point very quickly and gets a build-up around it. The weld itself varies from not enough to blowing a hole in the sheet metal, doesn't always respond the the foot pedal. Now, could something have happened when it ran out of gas? I sharpened, then changed out the tungsten (2%, red band), changed the cup, cleaned the ground, cleaned the metal again, tried another piece of new steel, and nothing helps. Any ideas? Thanks, in advance! I'm still kind of new to TIG, but have years with MIG, and gas welding, and when things are working right, I can TIG sheet metal pretty well, but not a lot of troubleshooting experience.
Sorry, just notised that you already have change it to another one. Check the gas flow, you could be out of bounds with it after changing the bottle.
I've ran out of gas while welding many a time and never had this happen. It sounds to me more like a time 20 some years ago when I forgot to turn on the cooling pump and burned up the torch lead. I don't remember the exact conditions of that event but I learned not to weld without hearing the pump run. I latter wired the pump direct so it comes on with the power switch. The Wizzard
if you are welding steel the machine has to be on DC. If aluminum it has to be on AC. Maybe your buddy switched it.
I have had this happen, here is what my problem was. If you drop something on the foot pedal lead, say something falls off the bench and lands on it, the wire inside can be cut without showing any damage on the outside. If this happens the wires arc causing the burn through or eratic arc. I have cut out sections of the pedal wire and spliced it back to repair it.
This I had the exact same thing happen on the same machine. If the machine just flat out doesn't work sometimes my guess is you have damaged the wires in the foot pedal lead and they are intermittently shorting out and causing no pedal input to the machine.
I got a bad batch of argon co2 blend for my mig once I don't know what they put in it but it would weld like I wasn't using a shielding gas at all. Borrowed a bottle from my buddy and it worked great hooked my bottle back up and welded like shit again. I swapped it out and they gave me a roll of free mig wire for my trouble. It probably doesn't happen often but I'd borrow a bottle off someone and try it if it doesn't help look into electrical shorts or loose connections.
I can't add a lot to what's already been suggested, except to be sure you're getting a good, secure and constant ground on the piece you're trying to weld. Please come back and let us know what it took to cure the trouble.
My guess is gas flow because the tungsten is melting and doing weird things. That's normally a sign that your not being shielded correctly
Sound like bad gas to me. Questain, did you have your bottle filled or exchange it for a full. I learned that if you drain your bottle and get any outside air in it (say you take the regulator off but didn't close the valve first, easy bad habit to do) the welding shop has to vacuum the cylinder to get the air out before they refill it or it will contaminate the argon. Most welding supplies just fill, they assume outside air never made it in the bottle.
When you changed to the new tank, did you re adjust your pressure regulator? Once you unscrew the regulator off the tank, and change out the tank, you will have zero outflow until you screw in the regulator.
Check the connection where the gas attaches to the machine. Mine wasn't properly seated and caused a similar problem.
I've had the same problem with my Syncrowave 180 machine. Once in a while when welding sheet metal (usually 18 or 20 gauge), I'll get a huge arc when I step on the pedal and burn a 3/8" diameter hole right thru. It doesn't happen every time and may weld just fine for a while, then does it again. The current control dial was set at 30 amps max, so I'm not giving it too much pedal. I thought I might have had a problem with the pedal assembly, so I bought a new one. The welder worked fine on sheet metal for many months and then started doing the same thing again with the replacement pedal. I've replaced the electrode and put on a new clean cup with no change. Still get blast holes. Hope this info may help in the diagnosis. Any thoughts, guys???
^^^^ You have a broken wire inside the pedal lead, mine did the exact thing. When you move the pedal, the wire may bend just right and short out telling the welder to give full power.
Ok, thanks for the suggestions guys, I tried changing the polarity, it was on DC electrode negative, I tried changing to positive, problem got worse. Never been on AC. I upped gas pressure (got a gauge, not a flowmeter) didn't help. Tried changing tungsten again, no luck. The gas bottle was exchanged, not filled, but how do I go about checking if the gas is right? The bottle says pure Argon?
I have that machine.... Make sure you are getting a good ground of the tungsten will eat itself up as well. Make sure both twist connections for the torch and ground are good and tight. Also there is an input where you can change your initial amp takeoff (for lack of a better term) on that machine. You set it at either 1-2-3. 1 is for smaller tungsten, 2 is for 3/32 and 3 is for 1/8th. Look up the manual online it will tell you how to change that. get that on 1 for the small stuff. it helps. If all that fails, My money is on a bad power cord (the torch cable) or bad pedal.... bum a buddies setup and troubleshoot.
If nothing was changed on the machine from when you ran out of gas to the new bottle, I'm willing to bet it's the bottle... Going on how you said the arc was hissing this leads me to believe so....Tig is such a sensitive process that it they have filled the bottle partially with co2 then vacuumed it out and then re filled it with argon, it contaminated. It's happened to me before.... Take the bottle back and tell them it's contaminated and they will exchange it. You still should pull the insulators off your leads where they connect to the machine and the torch and ground and make sure that you have good cable connections. Taking the bottle back is a little inconvenient but it's worth saving the headache.... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
How long has it been since you've blown out your machine? I'm just throwing this at the wall but these machines get pretty damn dusty inside, especially if you are doing body work anywhere close to them. I would give the machine a good cleaning if you haven't already. I usually try to blow the dust out of mine at least twice a year. Since it's an intermittent problem, I wouldn't think that it could be bad argon. More than likely a bad connection somewhere in the machine or lines.
I make my living tig welding, based on the information you gave I would first change the bottle. We have so many different inert gas mixtures at work and they all have different applications. It would not be the first time a tank fill mistake was made. Try not to spend too much time troubleshooting other things. Go the easy route first, another bottle, then go from there, otherwise you could spend hours, time and cash chasing non existing issues. I've been there, I know your frustration. Good luck
Rereading your original post makes me wonder, you say your welding sheetmetal. Car metal or some random sheet steel? Reason I ask a couple days ago I tried to weld on some scrap sheetmetal we had lying around, it was some type of "paint lock". No matter what I did, grind, clean, everything it welded like crap, same symptoms you experienced. Of course I realize it's been a week, hope you have something figured out already.
You might have 80/20 gas which has oxygen in it. It'll sputter and flare. If you put it on a MIG and crank the heat & feed way up, you can spray-arc with it. Might just have air in it too. I would immediately change the gas, since that was the only thing you know for sure was changed right before the problem.
You guys called it! When I went back and checked, they had given me the wrong gas (75-25) instead of pure Argon! And they didn't even believe me, until they double checked the numbers on the tank!
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