has the welding wire got to touch metal

[andycoco]

hi going to start welding more,but im practising alot but has the wire got to touch metal or has it got to be a couple of mm away(mig welding,ive a gas/gasless welder but using gas at the mo)

 

[irondarren]

depends how much power you are pumping through it. at 300 amps you get spray transfer, because there is enough voltage to jump the gap and melt the wire. But thats possibly not what you mean. I am thinking (correct me if i am wrong) you are sort of asking how far away the torch should be from the weld, the answer would be about 8mm from shroud (thats the nice shinny outter metal bit), as you pull the trigger the wire feeds out touches the metal and creates a short circuit, meaning the filler wire melts.

 

[Wozzaaah]

The end of the wire has to touch the metal to complete the circuit and initiate the arc. If you're in dip transfer mode, the wire will touch, melt back, touch, melt back etc. but it happens very quickly. There should be a gap of around 6mm between the end of the contact tip and the workpiece as you weld, this is known as the 'stickout'.

Edit: Darren beat me to it .

 

[andycoco]

cheers guys a lot of help thanks