Ummmmmmmmm
Well yes it should strike up but once he'd attempted it first knock and got no luck he kept going with the core exposed on that rod and didn't attempt to change it throughout the whole vid. It stood no chance really. That vid certainly didn't tell me the machine was faulty, it did tell me he needs a little practice.
That looked exactly like a friend of mine who tried to run his buzz box off an Aldi two stroke generator, It looked like a bonfire night sparkler what was his power supply ?
I appreciate what your all saying about trying to strike up on a painted surface etc which is correct, it's certainly bad practise, but that machine was making a strange whistling noise every time the electrode made contact which would suggest a electrical problem with the inverter to me.
Welding Machines don't have a overheating alarm. Nor do extension leads as far as I know.
I've heard it a couple of times, usually when one of the Mosfets or IBGT's has gone.
Also regarding the paint, if there was no connection to the welding return lead due to the isolation caused by the paint then their wouldn't be any Sparkes at all. If there is enough contact to make a spark then in all fairness it should be enough to establish an arc.
TBF in the 18 yrs or so I've been involved with selling welding machines of many makes, I've never heard of a welding machine having an audible alarm for over heating. Usually they either just cut out or display and error code or a sequence of flashing lights when the thermal overload is reached.
But I have heard squeaky noises from the unestablished arc when there is a problem with the inverter modual.
I suppose if he is using an extension lead and the voltage drops maybe that will cause the alarm to trigger, the voltage drop could stall the inverter.