Help With Settings And Starts (stick)

[fun4now]

i been learning stick and in the process trying to work out the best settings to get the best starts as well as bead.
i have a TA-185 inverter
the part that confuses me is it seams like i get a better start with a lower hot start setting ?? it would seem a higher start amp would allow a better start with less chance of sticking the electrode. but i have had consecutively better starts at 130amps with weld amps at 100-110 amps, where when i bump the hot starts up to say 170 amps with a weld amp of 100-110 amps i tend to stick more.
is this normal ?? and why would it work like that?

also i have herd a lot about dig settings with stick but don't know if i have that setting option with the TA185, so if anyone has one and knows how to set it or knows it dose not offer that option fill me in plz.
what exactly dose the dig setting do ?? seems like its a penetration setting kinda like the cleaning VS penetration settings with AC on aluminum. is this about right ??
thanks for any and all help. i'm busy with another house repair so i have not had a chance to burn any more rods lately but am looking forward to some vert but welds as soon as i get the roof back on the entry way.
but for now i'm back on reading up on the stick process and my welder to get ready to go with the best settings i can.

[Goodhand]

What stick(s) are you using?

[fun4now]

sorry 7018 1/8"
i also have some 3/32 but have not gotten to them yet.

[Jachin]

7018's are notorious for sticking. half the battle is learning how to either not stick it, or get it unstuck properly. newbies will tend to get frustrated and "rip" the rod off the work. that's fun to watch.

EDIT: I've had better luck with hot rods right out of the oven on some occasions.

Dig is not really an AC cleaning thing. 7018's like to stick to the work, so once the rod is hot and burning, the machine will read back the amount of resistance of the arc and determine how much arc force to apply, for lack of a better way of explaining it. In other words, the closer that rod gets to the work, the machine will ramp up the appropriate setting to keep that rod from sticking, essentially digging into the base metal.

I'm pretty sure this is how it works, but I haven't had much time to mess around with mine. If i'm wrong, someone please correct me.

[fun4now]

so the did is kind of an auto setting in the welder not so much a adjustable nob?? i know the TA-185 really dose a nice job of burning the rod's. after the initial start i almost never stick, just on start up.
so whats the right way to pull a stuck stick ?? i kind of twist and tilt. seems to work ok unless i get caught of guard then i have done so really stupid looking moves. with the expected results.

[Jachin]

so the did is kind of an auto setting in the welder not so much a adjustable nob?? i know the TA-185 really dose a nice job of burning the rod's. after the initial start i almost never stick, just on start up.
so whats the right way to pull a stuck stick ?? i kind of twist and tilt. seems to work ok unless i get caught of guard then i have done so really stupid looking moves. with the expected results.

dig is something that u can turn on and set like a knob, it just depends on the machine. my 200DX has that option.

The right and best way to remove a stuck stick is anyway which doesn't hurt the area outside of the weld zone. Please note that I said weld zone, not the Heat Affected Zone. If you "rip" the stuck rod away from the material, you'll get a nice line of arc marks all over your work, and those arc marks, even one, can cause an inspector to fail your part. (You can file out certain arc marks, like ones that aren't too deep. If you arc mark like crazy, then it's best to start over on a new piece.)

If your slight twist and rock works, then that's great, keep doing that. In other cases where the rod is really stuck, it is always best to grab the rod with your gloved hand and remove the stinger from the rod, leaving the rod stuck to the work. Then you can safely remove the rod.

[fun4now]

thanks, i'll have to go over the TA and see if it has a dig setting ??
as for the stuck rod, luckily i can say thats not a regular occurrence.

[Goodhand]

sorry 7018 1/8"
i also have some 3/32 but have not gotten to them yet.

Suggest that you grab a handful of 6013 to help you get the feel of striking and maintaining the arc. When I first learned stick I just couldn't get the "feel" for 7018, but found 6013 much easier. Funny how some experience makes that difference, but it does. Couple of years ago, after some time spent with my little mig, I had to do some vertical to shore up a broken frame on a trailer that I suspended with my engine hoist. Grabbed a 7018, which I hadn't used for decades, and found it almost too easy to use for the repair. Good luck.

[fun4now]

yep i started with 6013, still have a few around in 1/8" and 3/32" but went to 7018 to work on learning vert.

[Darmik]

Stick Welding

Hey fun4now Dig could also be called Arc force. This is not for cleaning this is for penetration.well I guess it's kinda for both I guess but more for penetration.

[fun4now]

thats kinda what i meant. i just used the ac cleaning VS penetration as an example of deep pen VS wide less penetration. not as actually cleaning but more of the penetration effects.
i kinda understood just didnt explain well i guess.