The symptoms you describe don’t necessarily mean the window has lost its gas purge. For sake of discussion let’s call it argon, but other gases are also used. The condensation can simply be caused by poor insulation and the dew point is occurring on the inner layer, nearest the thermocline. Double p...

You can also lay filler right at the joint, then hit it with a blast of amps. That will melt the filler onto the joint and you can whip the filler away.

It’s heavier than air. There might be the evidence of the “charge port” in the glass frame. There should also be a second “exhaust port”. You can rig up a nozzle to introduce the argon, but you’ll need to orient the pane with the exhaust at the top so once the argon fills the cavity, all air is push...

What size filler rod is that? It looks like you’re having to travel too slowly on the outside corners and as such are over cooking the material (this is why the weld is so flat). For the flat beads, you’re dabbing too much filler into the weld. That created the ropey/wormy tall beads. Drop a filler ...

I’ve welded miles of filler with TIG and never worn PPE. So too with MIG. Since the bill of Stick and FC I’ve done has been outdoors, no PPE there either. For Galvanized or coated metals, I’d probably not risk it and at least put on a mask. But if you’re outdoors and have it a good scrub, probably j...

Brazing doesn’t melt the parent material. It only heats the parent enough to melt the filler. So no, PPE isn’t required. It’s ALWAYS recommended when welding anything truth be told. I’ve seen lots of folks not wear it. Welders don’t grow old, they just retire early. Either their eyes fail, hands sha...

You can grind the galvanizing off, both sides and far enough away from your weld and then weld it safely. I’d still strongly encourage a respirator. Even stick welding should be done with a respirator (not common unfortunately). The fumes can lead to Parkinson’s and other nervous system ailments. Of...

One thing to know early on is that you can always make welds look pretty after, but they have to be strong first. A trick I used/use (even now occasionally) is to lay the first pass in, then let the weld cool, and run over it again a second time, no filler, with pulse only. It can help tidy up the w...

Depending upon the strength of the magnet (and its proximity to the weld) it can aggravate a TIG arc in my experience. Might not be such a problem for a quick tack though.

I have had pulse active (stainless exhausts or Ti tubing) when tacking, but it was not intentional. For those two metals, quicker control of the heat for a tack is advantageous (in my book).

If it’s a low end FC machine, to run stick you’d either need to run DCEN rods or be able to convert the machine to DCEP, right?

Yes, the same helmet can be used.

Lower the heat you’re using and you’ll have better results. You almost want to have to “wait” for the filler to melt because the base is not quite hot enough. Loitering heats the base enough to get the filler to melt.

If you’re too hot, you run the risk of melting into the base and mixing the metals.

It does to me. You can always adjust up or down with the pedal to find your comfort zone.

No. Much less heated is needed. You are only “heating the base material” enough to melt the filler. You’re not fusing the filler with the parent. For 1/8” I steel TIG around 130. For SilBr I’m closer to 90-95. That’s based off 3/32” filler. I like to run hot so the puddle is fluid. It allows me to m...

Welding straight takes practice. Lots of practice. And when you are padding beads on a flat piece of material with no guidelines, it’s darn near impossible (as you’ve correctly discovered). The workaround is easy though: use a straight edge and a scribe/awl/scratch tool and make scratch lines in the...

Yes, run beads from end to end, overlapping slightly. Then you can grind the whole face flat and smooth and have a soft face that’s super shiny.

I would encourage you to do a more comprehensive job cleaning those parts front, back and edges before TIG welding them. You’d be surprised at how much better your arc and puddle behave with clean metal. And for kicks, next time, weld each face with different types of filler wire. 70s2 on one face, ...

It is. Order it in 3/32 or 2.4mm if they have it

Not much wrong with those results

Dropping from a #8 to a #5 helps with outside corners. The bend actually splits the argon shield and heats up the puddle (akin to long arcing). If you can, drop to a #5 and try a few runs. The tighter corner may help you more than you’d think. It really does help dial in the heat zone and keep the w...

Sticky filler is too cold parent metal (usually). For 11 ga corners, I like #5, 12-15cfh, and I run it on 130 amps with a pedal to ease off. Outside corners really depend heavily on direction. Are you up, down, flat, horiz? If you’re comfy, I like downhill so gravity drags the puddle into the heat s...

Straight Stick machines do cost less. But using a Stick/TIG hack is unreliable. That’s all. Long arcing to start is because you’re using the TIG box, again, it’s a workaround for your equipment. Long arcing intentionally with a Stick is used in some circumstances, but it’s a technique not a good “pr...

Stick is not easy. The margin of too long an arc and snuffing the arc because you’re buried is very small. And let’s remember, your machine is NOT specifically designed for Stick welding, you’re hacking it. So expect challenges. A typical cause of blowing through is too long an arc. With 7018 rods, ...

Don't do vertical up. From your description, turn the table upside down (top of table on ground) with legs sticking into the air. Then weld the table in a "flat" position. The thinner material being above will easier for you to run the rod along the thick with 80+ amps and the weld pool wi...