First off, lets make sure we are clear on what an inverter tig welder is and how it differs from older tig welders?
Back in the day, tig welders were big, heavy, expensive, and required a lot of power. (My first miller syncrowave 250 needed a 100 amp breaker)
Those bigger heavier tig welders were called transformer style tig welders.
Some of them worked great. But they did have drawbacks.
Most modern tig welders are smaller and are called inverter tig welders.
Inverter TIG welders use newer technology to make the welder smaller, lighter, more affordable, and requiring much less power. (Often a 30 or 50 amp breaker and can even run at lower amperages on 115 v power).
Another main benefit with tig inverters is added waveforms and other settings that can be very helpful for tig welding aluminum.
These waveforms and settings have an effect on the tungsten.
A lot of older TIG advice for what tungsten works best for what, was based on those older transformer machines, particularly when welding aluminum.
So the advice you got back in the day was pure tungsten for aluminum and 2% thoriated for everything else. Simple but it worked.
That old information got passed down from old timers who didn’t keep up with the changing technology.
When it comes to inverter Tig welders, there are much better options that pure tungsten or 2% thoriated.
Pure tungsten with an inverter tig welder will almost always give you poor arc starts on aluminum.
2% thoriated is also not the best choice because it will usually get nodules and a misshaped tip.
So What is the best tungsten for a TIG inverter?
Any of these choices will work fine
- 2% lanthanated (blue)
- CK LaYZr (chartreuse)
- E3 (purple)
- 2% ceriated (gray)
But choosing the best one, really depends on exactly what you weld. ( I will explain further below)
2% lanthanated (blue) is a great all purpose tungsten that works on all metals with either tig inverters or older transformer tig welders. It handles high amperage on AC better than the others but does not hold a sharp tip on DC as well as some of the other choices. But as an all purpose tungsten that works for everything , 2% lanthanated is a great choice.
CK LaYZr (chartreuse) works especially well for medium amperage aluminum welding and also holds a sharp tip well on DC for steels.
E3 (purple) is essentially the same thing as CK LaYZr and performs well on all metals.
2% ceriated (gray) holds a sharp tip well on DC and works ok on AC until you start pushing the amperage limit.
If you weld mostly carbon steel, 4130, and stainless and only occasionally need to weld aluminum, 2% ceriated is a pretty good option.
If all you have is 2% thoriated and you need to weld aluminum, dont sweat it. It will work just fine as long as you prep the tip a certain way.
Essentially, just sharpen it like you would for welding on DC and then adjust the AC balance for max cleaning.
Then, use a clean piece of aluminum to round the tip just a little bit.
Here is a video that explains how to do this and also shows welding aluminum with 2% thoriated.
Good luck welder
