Dynasty 200DX & Tungsten

[Bendaman]

A Few weeks ago Hawk posted that 1.5% Lanthanated tungsten worked
well with the Dynasty 200DX. My question: Does 1.5 Lanthanated work
well in both mild steel and Aluminum, or just one or the other.

Thanks for the info.

[HAWK]

Bendaman,

The 1.5% lanthanated tungsten alloy works well for AC and DC. Some may disagree, but I taper the tungsten and use a small flat on the end for AC and DC. My flat for DC work is a bit smaller than for AC. It is the only tungsten you will ever need with the Dyn 200DX. Enjoy!

[sparx]

I have found that for this machine the 2% Ceriated tungsten performs exceptionally well. holds the truncated point well on both ac and dc. This tungsten (like most rare earth tungstens) are designed to perform well on inverter based machines where the frequency and balance can be tailored to meet your needs. give it a shot.

[HAWK]

Ceriated works fine. The lanthanated just performs better. The difference is noticeable on the 200DX and night vs day on the 300DX.

[Bendaman]

Hawk,
Thanks for the advice, going to pick up some Lanthanated before the long
weekend.

[Scott V]

How about the blue tip ones 2 % ? I have the black ones and still like the red with my Prowave gtw or other dc tigs.

[HAWK]

scottv,

Tungsten type boils down (no pun) to a personal preference at some point. There are several tunsten alloys that perform well with inverters. Yiro Pinot prefers the rare earth tri-element tungsten alloys. In my opinion they perform nearly the same as lanthanted in most cases.

I prefer the 2% lanthanated for my 300DX and use it quite often with my 200DX. It seems to handle the heat better. Some people really can't get away from the red (thoriated) band as they have used it for many years. Most TIG welders are very familiar with the thoriated alloys and are used to its electrical conductivity. I have not worked the figures using OHM's law with thoriated versus ceriated and lanthanated, but real life experience shows me it takes less amperage and less time to make a weld with 2% lanthanated tungsten alloy than thoriated or ceriated alloys (if all other factors are the same). Therefore I am guessing it (lanthanated) has a greater electrical conductivity than the others.

I stay with lanthanated alloys on AC and DC with my inverters. I have not scoped the waveform for AC or DC output on the TA GTW's to compare to the Miller Dynastys, but there may be the reason why you prefer the thoriated for DC on your GTW. Waveform can be similar with dramatically different end results.

[Scott V]

scottv,

Tungsten type boils down (no pun) to a personal preference at some point. There are several tunsten alloys that perform well with inverters. Yiro Pinot prefers the rare earth tri-element tungsten alloys. In my opinion they perform nearly the same as lanthanted in most cases.

I prefer the 2% lanthanated for my 300DX and use it quite often with my 200DX. It seems to handle the heat better. Some people really can't get away from the red (thoriated) band as they have used it for many years. Most TIG welders are very familiar with the thoriated alloys and are used to its electrical conductivity. I have not worked the figures using OHM's law with thoriated versus ceriated and lanthanated, but real life experience shows me it takes less amperage and less time to make a weld with 2% lanthanated tungsten alloy than thoriated or ceriated alloys (if all other factors are the same). Therefore I am guessing it (lanthanated) has a greater electrical conductivity than the others.

I stay with lanthanated alloys on AC and DC with my inverters. I have not scoped the waveform for AC or DC output on the TA GTW's to compare to the Miller Dynastys, but there may be the reason why you prefer the thoriated for DC on your GTW. Waveform can be similar with dramatically different end results.

Then again it just might be my low tech way of grinding mine. Although I do have some pre-ground red ones from Diamond Ground.
I also prefer them on my other dc units but I do want to try the blue tip ones pretty soon.

[HAWK]

scottv,

I ground my tungsten by hand on a bench grinder for what seems like forever. I switched to Diamond Ground's PiranhaII and man what a great arc. It is very consistent and saves me a tremendous amount of time. I can notch, grind, and flat about 60 double end sticks per hour to hour and a half. It has a variable taper gauge as well as the ability to grind .040", 1/16", and 3/32" tungsten from the factory. A good lathe and 15 minutes and it could be set up for 1/8". However, I run a 2% lanthanated 3/32" diameter tungsten up to 300 amps wfo on my D300DX with 75% helium / 25%argon shield. What more can you ask???