Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello everyone, just joined this forum and so far looks really cool. I have a hobart auto arc 130 welder (used) and i tried welding with shielding gas. (75/25). every bead i lay black or brown soot is always around the bead, but the bead looks decent without pinholes. my first thought was my welds weren't getting enough gas coverage. but no matter how high i set my regulator i still get soot. so i took apart my welder and gun to look for any leaks and didn't find any. by the way i am a beginner

I would appreciate any help/suggestions thanks!

Pictures always help to diagnose a problem. There can be several things that cause sooting. What were your settings and what were you welding on when this problem cropped up?

A little soot around the bead is not unusual. Much soot, not so normal. What wire are you using? It's also possible you have "damp" gas. Excessive moisture in your shielding gas will do this.

Steve S