question for cruizer

[tommy2069]

i have been welding for over 30 years i have my own welding rig and fab shop the question that puzzles me is i use my thermadyne suitcase on jobs alot and have hooked it to just about every machine driven and electrical powered welding machine there is .why do newer machines have the wire settings for running mig boxes when the box will run just fine off the stick settings on the machines.now i say it runs fine but i never tried to run it off the stick settings on my bobcat sinse the machine has wire settings but i have run it off others .is there a plus side to just useing the wire settings or does it really matter? if it doesn't matter then why do they put a certain setting for wire on the machines? something tells me this is a stupid question but it's always had me wondering .

[Tryagn5]

i have been welding for over 30 years i have my own welding rig and fab shop the question that puzzles me is i use my thermadyne suitcase on jobs alot and have hooked it to just about every machine driven and electrical powered welding machine there is .why do newer machines have the wire settings for running mig boxes when the box will run just fine off the stick settings on the machines.now i say it runs fine but i never tried to run it off the stick settings on my bobcat sinse the machine has wire settings but i have run it off others .is there a plus side to just useing the wire settings or does it really matter? if it doesn't matter then why do they put a certain setting for wire on the machines? something tells me this is a stupid question but it's always had me wondering .

Stick mode...is cc current only good for stick, with dual shield and some self shielded wire running ok, but if it is going to be xrayed, a welder caught running wire with a cc only machine welds will be failed.

Wire mode....is cv ie constant voltage. Now there is settings for voltage sensing. This basically leaves the electrode hot all the time, thus the feeder box must have a contactor inside the machine to turn power on/off when the gun trigger is pressed.

Wire mode through 14 pin plug....basically feeder ties into welder, the welder has a contactor inside, the feeder tells the welder current on, current off, normally you also can set voltage at the feeder, not as handy in the mud as there is another cord to trip on. However it is very nice when the feeder is in a hole, and the welder is 100ft away.
Kevin

[cruizer]

As with the above, its a procedural thing. Procedure calls for CV, you use CV. Wires in CC will be pure spray, and will only work with a VS feeder. Penetration, and over all adhesion will be vary low. so while it looks pretty, the weld will fail on critical applications. On machines like the Lincoln 350 pro there is an innershield setting and Lincoln powerwave in STT mode. This uses a modified cc signal, with a background voltage. Miller has tried to copy this in thier Axcess and static Pippros. MASSIVE problems in the past.

In otherwords, you have CV then use it.....

[tommy2069]

cool thanks for clearing that up for me.