Thread: Can a bad tradesman blame his tools

To your first question the distance the earth is to the weld no,(although if you get a lot of heat in to the earth clamp you could weaken the spring over a long period of time if it is of the spring type clamp.)
Does the flux come off these rods when you rub your hand over them or when you are putting the into your hand piece,or is the flux coming off when striking an arc,if it is the 1st scenario maybe a 1/2 hr or so in the oven at about 100/120,if it is the 2nd it maybe user error (your technique,more practice)
The inverter would probably make welding the smaller section easier.

I am a sparrow crap welder but when I want to weld small items I get a short piece of 150mm "C" section and clamp it in my B&D Work bench and clamp the earth clamp to the "C" section.as far as your other questions go someone more knowledgeable may answer that.

Get some new rods, you'll have trouble getting a decent weld if the flux is flaky.

As I don't do a lot of welding very often I only buy 1kg packs so if a pack goes off I only lose a few rods. I generally get my rods from supercheap auto.

HI Mick,


Put the clamp where ever you want.Just make sure that it earths properly.

Cracks in the ends of the rods won't do home diy any harm.Its not a boiler or a submarine is it? Just burn off the end of the rod with a short bead on scrap.foe any good rods like stainless ,if you find them with tape around the lid seal,tape it back up again.Stainless rods are expensive.

So long as you basic technique is there the inverter will help.
If there are problems in your basic arc length,speed angle etc ,it can't fix those.
cheers
Grahame