Hello,
I borrowed an older handler 140 for years and recently picked up a newer one second hand. It is working well except the first time I start welding after it sits for a minute or longer it has a delay when the wire hits the work piece without arcing and then it pops a few times before sustaining a normal arc. If I stop and start again within 15-30 seconds it will start perfectly. I thought for sure something was wrong like a loose connection, worn part, or faulty part, voltage drop to my shop as I don't remember having this problem on the one I used to borrow that was a very similar setup. I rolled it down to my garage to eliminate voltage drop concerns and still have the problem. I suspected the subsequent good starts could be from the wire tip still being hot from the last weld so I started clipping the wire between welds and confirmed that with a fresh/cooler tip the starts where bad every time. I messed with the voltage setting with no change and then the speed and did notice a difference. I checked the chart and decided maybe that was my whole problem just not the right wire speed. It is hard to confirm because to really be sure I have to let it sit and test with a quick tack weld then wait again and it still does it occasionally.
I really thought something was wrong with my equipment but hoping I am just more newb than I thought and that it is user error!
Does my linked video showing the stutter look like what you would expect from to fast a wire speed?
Another thing that seems to help is if I am touching the wire to the work when I pull the trigger. Is that what you are supposed to do or should I suspect a popping free start if I pull the trigger and let the wire run into the work?
I borrowed an older handler 140 for years and recently picked up a newer one second hand. It is working well except the first time I start welding after it sits for a minute or longer it has a delay when the wire hits the work piece without arcing and then it pops a few times before sustaining a normal arc. If I stop and start again within 15-30 seconds it will start perfectly. I thought for sure something was wrong like a loose connection, worn part, or faulty part, voltage drop to my shop as I don't remember having this problem on the one I used to borrow that was a very similar setup. I rolled it down to my garage to eliminate voltage drop concerns and still have the problem. I suspected the subsequent good starts could be from the wire tip still being hot from the last weld so I started clipping the wire between welds and confirmed that with a fresh/cooler tip the starts where bad every time. I messed with the voltage setting with no change and then the speed and did notice a difference. I checked the chart and decided maybe that was my whole problem just not the right wire speed. It is hard to confirm because to really be sure I have to let it sit and test with a quick tack weld then wait again and it still does it occasionally.
I really thought something was wrong with my equipment but hoping I am just more newb than I thought and that it is user error!
Does my linked video showing the stutter look like what you would expect from to fast a wire speed?
Another thing that seems to help is if I am touching the wire to the work when I pull the trigger. Is that what you are supposed to do or should I suspect a popping free start if I pull the trigger and let the wire run into the work?