TIG trouble shooting update

[walker]

Well I got my TIG up and running. I was having trouble burning the tungstens. I put on a new flow meter and set it to 20 cfh and it works flawlessly. As if to prove a point, after a few welds I stopped for a few minutes. When I started again I forgot to turn the gas valve on, manual valve on the torch, and it burned up the electrode again. Oh well! back to the garage to regrind it.
Thanks for the help in getting it up and going. I also found a tig troubleshooting section on the Miller site, PDF documents, but pretty useful.

[Paul Seaman]

Congrats, I am glad it wasn't anything more serious.

Weld well,

[Mike W]

Thanks for the update.

[aphexafx]

Yup, that manual on-torch valve will be like the parking/emergency brake in your car.

Either get used to using it all the time, or set it and forget it (don't use it at all). If you use it only occasionally, you will undoubtedly forget to turn it on once in awhile, just as you've forgotten to release your e-brake.

And while you can drive with the e-brake on for a while and have time to notice and turn it off, if you strike an arc with no gas, your nice new tip is ruined.