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CONSIDERATIONS FOR ELECTRODE SHAPE:
1 . When welding very small features, under about 1mm, the electrode should be sharp to help
focus the weld energy .
2 . When welding with less than 20-30 Joules(Ws) the electrode will typically be sharp .
3 . Some materials weld better with a sharp electrode (e .g . Stainless Steel) .
4 . When welding at very low energy settings a sharp electrode will help ignite the arc more easily .
5 . Flattened tips provide arc stability at higher energies
6 . At high energies a sharp tip may melt off during the welding process and contaminate the
work piece .
7 . A large flat or completely blunt electrode tip for some metals is desirable (e .g . silver,
aluminum) .
8 . A large flat can be helpful on all metals depending on the desired weld puddle and the work
piece geometry .
9 . Truncating the electrode helps to un-focus the weld energy and prevents “burrowing” in
mobile metals like silver .
10 . How large you make the tip flat (e .g . a very small flat vs . a completely blunt electrode) is
determined by the amount of energy the Orion will deliver . At low energies no flat is needed,
where at maximum energy the tip can (if desired) be completely blunt . Remember, the
smaller the flat the easier the weld ignition .
A blunt electrode tip can be helpful when
making more powerful welds in silver to
help overcome silver’s high liquid mobility by
“un-focusing” the plasma over the entire
flattened area .
A sharp electrode will help place the weld
into tight geometries (left), a blunt electrode
can spread the energy and prevent weld
formation (right) .
As discussed above, silver is really the major exception to having a sharp tip . Because of silver’s
high liquid mobility, a sharp electrode with a focused arc (at the very tip) will actually burrow a
hole in the center of the weld spot at higher energies . However, for small spots a sharp tip is still
recommended in silver . By using a blunted or truncated tip the energy is effectively spread over
the weld area and both the burrowing hole and the thin silver blow-through can be largely avoided .
TROUBLESHOOTING THE ELECTRODE
Poor weld results are most often traced back to electrode condition and shape . Because the
electrode condition is very important, the following table will help troubleshoot problems quickly .
In the table below we see that trouble igniting the arc can be cause by several different reasons .
The most common is a contaminated electrode . If the work piece metal contaminates the welding
electrode the following may occur:
