Powertig 200DX fairly new TIG welder

**chevyracer56** · 07-13-2011, 06:02 PM

Hey everyone, I am not new to welding but I have only been TIG welding for about 6 months now (off and on).......I cut my teeth on a dynasty 200 dx building a F.S.A.E. chassis for my senior design, so I am a little spoiled I suppose lol. I also got to play with a few other machines but the dynasty was awesome and never missed a beat while being extremely consistent. Anyhow since I am a college student and I race circle track I dont have much spare funds (but always looking for sponsors!) so I decided to buy a everlast welder. I was able to pick up a 2nd hand but brand new powertig 200dx with foot pedal, tig/stick torch, 8 lb's for filler rod (steel and aluminum), 4 packs of tungsten and some gloves for $800.....so I couldnt pass it up

Anyhow I got home and wired up my 220, went to my local airgas and got a big argon tank (traded one of my 75/25 tanks for it) and started welding. My foot pedal didnt really work right but thats in the process of getting fixed, so I have been using the switch on the torch and I am slowly learning to like it although I wish the torch itself were alot smaller!

Currently I am very happy with the machine, it seems to be doing what it is supposed to.......although I think I am a little rusty and not a professional by any means. Currently I am trying figure out why my steel TIG welds arent coming out as "shiny" as I am used to on the chromoly chassis I did and why I occasionally seem to get a little porosity. I am also still trying to figure out aluminum as yesterday was my first time ever attempting it.....some of my welds come out decent for a newb but some of the time the machine just stops welding (like it no longer has an established arc) and I have to press the button again, perhaps this issue will fade with having a pedal though.

Well onto a few pictures,I am always looking for advice and hope to get this machine dialed in so that it'll produce a consistent/nice/structural bead. Everything was welded DCEN and torch control with a little pre flow and a good bit of post flow.

First attempts on mild steel scrap, red band tungsten