PT 185 Stick settings

[smoore97]

I will be trying some stick welding soon with a PT 185. Does anyone know if it is acceptable to use AC while stick welding with these machines? I have looked and cannot find any info on the subject.

[performance]

It's DC on the output for stick. Why do you want to weld with AC for stick? It's inferior.

[smoore97]

It's DC on the output for stick. Why do you want to weld with AC for stick? It's inferior.

Guess now I know..

[DaveO]

SMoore, if you ever get a chance to compare AC and DC stick you'll probably experience a noticeable difference in the behaavior of the arc. Another big difference is with DC you have to pay attention to the polarity of the electrode.

...And now it strikes me you may know all this stuff already. What kind of projects are you working on?

[smoore97]

SMoore, if you ever get a chance to compare AC and DC stick you'll probably experience a noticeable difference in the behaavior of the arc. Another big difference is with DC you have to pay attention to the polarity of the electrode.

...And now it strikes me you may know all this stuff already. What kind of projects are you working on?

Thanks for the basic explanation DaveO. I bought this machine to tig SS for small projects at work. Sometimes I will be smaw old dirty non-SS. New to smaw, I have had a Hobart Mig for years. The stick work I have done so far was DCEP. I check out welding tips and tricks as often as possibe (Jody's videos are well done). Any polarity explanations would be appreciated. Thanks

[DaveO]

If you google "electrode polarity chart" you'll get a number of hits, such as this one:
http://www.hobartwelders.com/product...ectrode-chart/

For various types of electrodes it shows EP (electrode positive) and / or EN (electrode negative), which will tell you which jack to plug your stinger into.

If it helps with a starting point, 6011 is rust / dirt tolerant, up to a point.

[performance]

Most all your common electrodes will have your electrode set to positive as the preferred polarity. Negative polarity is only used in rare situations.