Probably dumb welding question

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mickri

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I have a HF 125 flux core welder that I have done the bridge rectifier and capacitor modification to. When you start a weld do you have the wire touching the metal to be welded? Or held just off the metal. I have tried it both ways and having the wire touching the metal seems to work best. What is the correct technique for this?
 
The best technique is what ever works for you. I generally touch the wire, then pull the trigger, otherwise I tend to get lots of strands to break off.
 
I have a Millermatic 130. I trim the wire stick out to 1/4” and have it touch the metal then pull the trigger.
Works great for me.


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I usually leave between 1/4- 3/8” stick out.... sometimes more. Put it close to area to weld BUT NOT YET TOUCHING, pull trigger and quickly adjust distance of Gun until arch looks and SOUNDS good.
 
I always touch the wire to the work before pulling the trigger... otherwisen I always end up starting my bead 1/4 inch from where I intended... bad eyes, I guess...

On a brighter note, I fully expect my eyesight to improve next year... after all, it will be 2020...

-Bear
 
On some cheap wire welders, the wire is always hot. My new EASTWOOD machine presented a learning curve for me. The wire is hot when the trigger is pulled and the wire speed ramps up. I still can't remember to release the trigger to end the weld and end up with a lot of wire hanging out. But I will learn.
 
I guess I don't hold the stickout to the work because I learned on SMAW (stick) and do a lot of GTAW (TIG). I treat the stickout like an electrode, in other words.

One tip I've learned is to briefly touch the stickout to the work to pull the potential of both electrodes to ground, then come back up 1/2" and depress the trigger. Sometimes a little bit of residual charge remains that causes (I assume) an issue with ground path (or maybe it's arc sensing, I don't know) if it's not dissipated, resulting in a slight delay before the arc strikes. I like my arc to strike instantly, so this grounding touch is automatic. Works with TIG too, if you can't get an instantaneous arc just touch the tungsten to the work and try again.
 
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