KDM
New Member
- Messages
- 24
- Location
- Midlands, UK
Hi.
I've done a bit of arc welding as a hobbiest, but I never needed to do very much so was never particularly good at it.
Eldest son has me convinced that MIG should be a lot easier. I've had a MIG machine for Christmas but not got any gas yet. So, I've read a bit about electrode polarity and the suggestion is that if I'm using a fluxed wire without gas, I need to make my piece positive and the electrode negative. Fair enough, and I think I understand why.
So here's the naive question: if my workbench is earthed (it's sitting on the ground, so technically, could be earth potential), is there a problem here if my clamp is positive? I do have a shaky grasp of some electrical engineering: I just want to assure myself that in the welding realm, negative is not Earth. (With my arc welder, I'm not even sure what its polarity is! I suppose I assumed the clamp was negative.)
For now, I am assuming that the potential difference is completely unrelated to the environmental earth.
Many thanks.
I've done a bit of arc welding as a hobbiest, but I never needed to do very much so was never particularly good at it.
Eldest son has me convinced that MIG should be a lot easier. I've had a MIG machine for Christmas but not got any gas yet. So, I've read a bit about electrode polarity and the suggestion is that if I'm using a fluxed wire without gas, I need to make my piece positive and the electrode negative. Fair enough, and I think I understand why.
So here's the naive question: if my workbench is earthed (it's sitting on the ground, so technically, could be earth potential), is there a problem here if my clamp is positive? I do have a shaky grasp of some electrical engineering: I just want to assure myself that in the welding realm, negative is not Earth. (With my arc welder, I'm not even sure what its polarity is! I suppose I assumed the clamp was negative.)
For now, I am assuming that the potential difference is completely unrelated to the environmental earth.
Many thanks.