surfdabbler
New Member
- Messages
- 16
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
I've been playing with some aluminium AC welding, and when the arc first starts, I often get a lightning show for up to 1 second or sometimes more, before the arc stabilises. You know those plasma balls? That's what the arc looks like, going in several different directions at once, and jumping around everywhere. What's the likely cause of this? I'm using white zirconiated tungsten. It was happening on various different amperages. Once the arc stabilises and the puddle forms, it seems to weld nicely. Is this just the HF start struggling to start the arc? Does the aluminium need to be cleaned better?