Purple Tungsten

[redline]

Has anybody tried using the new purple tungsten? Last time went to Airgas i grabbed some tungsten. All they had was purple and said they would have to special order red because they no longer stock it. Supposedly it is suppose to weld the same.
Well i just used it for the first time and definitely did not weld the same for me. Any body else have issue or experience with it?

 

[Gage Werke Composites]

Purple sucks! I want my red back

 

[atomicjoe23]

What is in the purple???

 

[atomicjoe23]

Praxair still has red in stock. . .at least up here in the PNW they do.

 

[ChromolyKid]

I use purple with no issues. It has a much higher current carrying capacity than red (Thoriated) tungsten and can be used for AC once rounded... Unless you have a new Miller that automatically melts a ball on the tip for you as soon as you strike an arc.

 

[vegasloki]

I've used a bit of E3 and it seems fine. IFAIK in the US thoriated hasn't been banned outright, it's just some distributors have stopped selling it and some shops have quit using it.

The E3/purple is a tri mix rare earth blend, no thorium.

MSDS is at http://e3tungsten.com/documents/E3msds_eng.pdf

 

[atomicjoe23]

I've used a bit of E3 and it seems fine. IFAIK in the US thoriated hasn't been banned outright, it's just some distributors have stopped selling it and some shops have quit using it.

The E3/purple is a tri mix rare earth blend, no thorium.

MSDS is at http://e3tungsten.com/documents/E3msds_eng.pdf

Thanks for that link. . .I haven't seen the purple yet, but I do recall an earlier post about the E3 tungsten. I looked it up and posted that MSDS up in a different thread; in certain applications (nuclear) thoriated tungstens are less than ideal when you take considerations outside of the welder into consideration.