It doesn’t matter which color you choose to TIG weld with. They all do the same thing.
…Kind of.
Key Takeaways
There are many colors of tungsten to choose from and many of those colors used to mean something. But on modern inverter machines, the rules don’t necessarily apply.
Most tungsten color charts reference a rule that was written decades ago for old transformer machines. Some color charts don’t even show modern rare earth blends because of brand conflict. But the good news is we can sort it all out.
When TIG welding was created, we didn’t even have a tungsten color. We just had tungsten. Pure tungsten is now color coded green, but before it was green, it was just tungsten that we used to TIG weld. It did the job, but over the course of time, it would fall apart and require a lot of time consuming maintenance to keep welding.
Green (pure) tungsten was the original tungsten
Green tends to dull out, split, and requires having many sizes for different amperage ranges
Blending oxides into pure tungsten solved problems. Early transformer machines were basically all the exact same machine with all the exact same issues. Over the course of time, it was discovered that blending different oxides would solve some of those problems.
White tungsten (zirconium oxide) provided better arc starts on AC and could handle higher amps than pure (green) which means you didn’t have to switch out for a larger diameter
Gray tungsten (cerium oxide) was the first all purpose tungsten that was remarkably stable at low amperage
Gold & Blue tungsten (lanthanum oxide) became very popular as gold was very stable at low amp DC welding, and blue was good for almost everything and became the all purpose super tungsten
Red tungsten (thorium oxide) was considered virtually indestructible as it was stable and strong on every end. It could be used on both DC and AC, but it was most commonly used on DC only because it would kind of fight back on AC since old machines were very primitive.
But wait - there’s even more colors. Black, yellow, and brown are not included on the list because they have likely been phased out or not used as often. Additionally, some colors have changed over time. Ceriated tungsten used to be color coded orange until they changed it to gray.
The radioactive red scare was a real thing. Sometime around 2011, it was discovered that thorium oxide in red tungsten is potentially dangerous as the dust emits particles of radiation which is really bad for you if inhaled. As a result of this finding, many packages were pulled from shelves until years later when they basically found out it’s not as bad as they originally made it out to be. Basically, if you’re using red tungsten, don’t sniff the the grinding dust off the table.
But the damage had been done for most people at the time and many people were forced to consider using a different color. That’s when the rare earth blends came into play.
Rare earth blends feature several oxides to make one super tungsten. With the radiation scare an the air, manufacturers were at a race to create the next best alternative to red tungsten which was just as indestructible (if not better) but without the radiation part of it.
This is when we got more colors and blends from different manufacturers.
Purple, pink, chartreuse, teal, and a few other color codes feature several oxide blends of create long lasting and strong electrodes
Rare earth blends weld every metal on every machine ever made
Many websites do not include these other colors on their tungsten charts. The primary reason is because many of the brands conflict. Since rare earth blends are left up to the manufacturer to define and color code, they are often marketed to compete with other brands that basically do the same thing.
In other words, CK Worldwide is not going to put E3 (purple) tungsten on their chart when they manufacture and sell LaYZr (chartreuse) tungsten as their own rare earth blend. Blue Demon is not going to advertise teal from DGP when they sell pink as their color code.
So which color should you use? It doesn’t matter… unless you don’t follow the rules.
Old school transformer units should stick to the classic color chart if rare earth blends aren’t suitable (for whatever old headed reason)
Inverter machines should NEVER use green (pure) or white (zirconiated) tungsten as they have a arc start and stability problem.
The best tungsten will NEVER be agreed upon. It is entirely up to the user of the tungsten to determine what is “best” for their application. You will often find a lot of stubborn people that will never change their ways. You will also find a lot of people that bandwagon tungsten colors like a sports team (blue is extremely popular). Some people are literally afraid to change their mind or opinion, or even try something new even if nobody knows they did. It literally is that silly.
In my experience of trying several colors more than once over more than 20 years (of course this is how everyone qualifies their remarks), I recommend CK Worldwide LaYZR tungsten. At the time of writing this, I think it is the best and you can literally use just one size for almost anything.
LaYZr welds EVERY metal on EVERY machine EVER MADE in the history of EVER
LaYZr in 3/32” (2.4mm) size is stable enough to weld razor blades, but strong enough to weld 1/4” (6mm) aluminum with the same piece
LaYZr holds its point over the widest amperage range without dulling in the higher end
LaYZr color code is chartreuse (NOT green) and is often asked for by name
Bottom line - run whatever color you want. It really doesn’t matter which one anybody thinks is best. It matters what YOU think is best.
“Just pick a color. If you like it - run with it. If you don’t like it - pick another color. Just don’t get stuck thinking there is only one color and nothing will ever be better.”
This article is proudly written with 0.00% AI.
