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Small 80a inverter welder and 1/16 6013 rods.

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 1:30 pm
by Welding
Came across a decent Klutch ST80i predecessor being sold cheap that was worth it to me for fooling around with as a portable, scratch start TIG rig. This is hobbyist grade gear but the price was right and I wanted a little portable inverter machine.

Tried fiddling around with it today using the stinger and some of the small 1/16 diameter 6013's from Harbor Freight on some 16 ga carbon steel T's with the millscale on. Also, using an extension cord, so...

Running DCEN between 20-40a, it was yielding absolute dogshit. Not laying a bead at all, vacillating between blowing through and stacking slag-included boogers. Just awful.

Question 1: Is the millscale on a T joint enough to completely screw with a small diameter/low amperage rod like this? I'm thinking the answer is yes but want to hear thoughts, or if I should attack another variable first.

Re: Small 80a inverter welder and 1/16 6013 rods.

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 11:48 pm
by Poland308
Yes. 6013 isn't known for deep penetration either. You could probably run 3/32 7018 or smaller. Or 3/32 6010.