I Have a Miller 200 DX with foot control.
I'm trying to get a good bead on 6063-T6 using 4043 rod (1/16 3/32", 1/8"). All I get is butt-ugly crap.
I clean with stainless brush & acetone, tried argon and argon/helium at 15-20 CFH; thoriated, ceriated, etc. between 1/16 and 1/8", and every weld setting possible and still get crappy welds.
My welds are full of pits and blackish stuff.
I've checked all gas connections and seals. My electrodes appear clean.
My old AC/DC craftsmen with ACHF did a better job. I checked all seals and connections and haven't got a clue what I'm doing wrong.
Any ideas?
Try this simple test...
use a sharp electrode and set everything for steel... and hold the torch just like you were going to run a bead.
Get a piece of scrap steel and grind a small clean spot to shiny bright metal. Next just Puddle a small 1/4" puddle for about 10 seconds. let off the pedal and dont move the torch. hold it completely still until everything cools. Metal, tungsten etc. probably another 10 seconds.
Now look at the steel and also your electrode.
If your electrode is not completely shiny, you have some argon contamination.
It could be from a faulty collet body, a leak, or....
it could be a bad bottle of argon.
Look at the steel where you welded also, you should have a symmetrical shiny circle with no heat tint.
If you dont , or you have a odd shaped shiny area with heat tint bleeding in, its probably a bad collet body, or could be the collet in backwards.
let me know the results. I had the same problem once when I was out of town training some welders on a dynasty.
It was a bad gas lens collet body...right out of the box it was bad.
I also had a bad bottle of argon once when I first got my dynasty.
Also what ac balance setting, and frequency are you using?
Jody
Thanks for you help.
I did replace the Argon tank and it solved the problem.
While I was changing the tank I looked at the flow meter and the flow was set for Helium, not Argon. This may have been a large part of the problem as well. Essentially, my shielding gas flow was too low. The flow meter is a recent addition. Formerly, I used a two stage gauge. The print on the flow meter is so small that I missed it. Also, due to my set up (limited space) I have the meter on the right side of the tank with the Helium calibration facing forward, so I couldn't see the print.
I assumed that the ball was for Argon.
Anyway, problem is solved. You may want to share this with other who may have overlooked the markings on the flow meter.
Again, thanks for your help. I would still be trying to figure out what was wrong without you assistance. I'm getting nice, shiny beads