got a HF tig welder need help

by Vlad
(Bakersfield, California, US)

i got 07 cobalt ls it came with crappy plastic intake i am wanting to make a stainless steel intake out of 1/8th sheet and 1/8 wall thickness 1 6/8th pipe ( both are stainless steel)for a 20-30 pounds of boost and nitrous oxide spray watched all your videos and practiced all day and decided to start with the intake tigged the collector box and then i used a boring tool drilled the hole in the flat piece of stainless steel for a first cylinder runner i took the piece of pipe and tacked it then i took the welding rod and tried the same thing i practiced all day with making a puddle and dipping the rod but instead of welding it together i just melted everything and when i used lower amps the rod is getting stuck if too high it just burns right through i know i am just a 20 year old kid with no knowledge or experience but could you help me please tell me what am i missing? i am really frustrated because i spend like $500 on all this stuff i do have experience with flux but it cant be used on the intake at all Thanks!

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Vlad,
sounds like you need some back purge gas.
stainless turns to crap and wont flow when you melt all the way thru and pull all that oxidized metal into the puddle...

before you get in too deep, let everything cool and think about using another flowmeter to get some argon on the back side.

if that is not possible, you are going to have to be careful to not melt all the way thru by stopping often and by not having gaps.

you might even think about taking it somewhere to get it welded if you have that much invested and things are going south on you.

thanks,

jody