Selecting the proper tungsten electrodes will greatly improve weld quality and productivity while lowering costs for your Plasma Arc Welding application.

The first thing to consider when selecting a tungsten electrode for your TIG/GTAW welding application is to buy from a trusted supplier. Although tungsten electrodes may look the same from one company to another, high-quality tungsten has been manufactured to ensure a very small grain structure which allows for better migration of oxides to the tip, and overall improved arc performance.

With high-quality tungsten, you’ll also experience easier arc starting, improved arc time and better weld quality with minimized contamination. Make sure that your supplier offers tungsten electrodes from the world’s finest producers and meet or exceed ISO 6848 and AWS A5.12 standards. And be sure to ask about traceability.

Since the development of the TIG welding process, and later the Plasma Arc Welding process, many improvements have been made in the production of electrodes. Most significantly is the addition of oxides to pure tungsten, creating tungsten alloys that provide the same level of emission as pure tungsten at much lower temperatures, improving the arc time of the electrode, and improving arc stability.

Each oxide has a different physical characteristic effecting tungsten performance. Electrodes are color coded, indicating the type of oxide used in the mix. Note that color-coding is not standardized for all mixes and varies from the U.S. to Europe and Japan.

For most hand-held welding operations, choose a tungsten electrode that performs well for all metals and with all welding power sources, such as the ArcTime™ Hybrid Tungsten Electrode.

For other applications, particularly automated welding, the best way to determine which tungsten alloy is best suited for your application is through testing. The following list is provided as a guide.