twarren
Well-known member
When mig welding with argon; is the ground clamp + or - ?
Thanks,
warren...........
Thanks,
warren...........
Solid wire & gas it is - neg
If welding using flux core it should be + pos
No sticker/guide inside the cover of the machine?
When mig welding with argon; is the ground clamp + or - ?
Thanks,
warren...........
With solid wire and gas ground is negative.
Solid wire & gas it is - neg
If welding using flux core it should be + pos


The reason self-shielded wires need EN has to do with physics and chemistry.
Air contains nitrogen and oxygen, both of which will react with iron, especially at high temperatures. Because N and O are both "nonmetals" they tend to form negative ions.
Having the melting wire negative repels the ionized oxygen and nitrogen from the wire, and attracts these negative ions to the weld puddle.
OK, so now your *wire* is safe from being oxidized, but the now you've made the weld puddle the target of the greedy oxygen and nitrogen. Unlike the wire, though, the puddle is (somewhat) protected by the layer of molten flux. The flux contains oxygen absorbers, it also acts to slow the speed at which O and N can diffuse into the metal itself.
If the wire were positive, oxygen and nitrogen would gobble up the outer steel wire, before the flux inside had a chance to protect it.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090608111131AASQ4my
The reason self-shielded wires need EN has to do with physics and chemistry.
Air contains nitrogen and oxygen, both of which will react with iron, especially at high temperatures. Because N and O are both "nonmetals" they tend to form negative ions.
Having the melting wire negative repels the ionized oxygen and nitrogen from the wire, and attracts these negative ions to the weld puddle.
OK, so now your *wire* is safe from being oxidized, but the now you've made the weld puddle the target of the greedy oxygen and nitrogen. Unlike the wire, though, the puddle is (somewhat) protected by the layer of molten flux. The flux contains oxygen absorbers, it also acts to slow the speed at which O and N can diffuse into the metal itself.
If the wire were positive, oxygen and nitrogen would gobble up the outer steel wire, before the flux inside had a chance to protect it.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090608111131AASQ4my
The reason self-shielded wires need EN has to do with physics and chemistry.
Air contains nitrogen and oxygen, both of which will react with iron, especially at high temperatures. Because N and O are both "nonmetals" they tend to form negative ions.
Having the melting wire negative repels the ionized oxygen and nitrogen from the wire, and attracts these negative ions to the weld puddle.
OK, so now your *wire* is safe from being oxidized, but the now you've made the weld puddle the target of the greedy oxygen and nitrogen. Unlike the wire, though, the puddle is (somewhat) protected by the layer of molten flux. The flux contains oxygen absorbers, it also acts to slow the speed at which O and N can diffuse into the metal itself.
If the wire were positive, oxygen and nitrogen would gobble up the outer steel wire, before the flux inside had a chance to protect it.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090608111131AASQ4my
For example, care to explain how flux cored wires, designed to run on DCEP work?
IMHO There are quite a few holes in that theory though.
Here is the tag inside my Lincoln 140
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It was my understanding that DC+ flux core was meant to be used with an outer protection of gas
https://www.lincolnelectric.com/Catalog/consumableseries.aspx?browse=104|13275|