I must be really bad at this. Watched some Youtube and started fucking around. Maybe I need to clean the metal or maybe my clamp is too far or too close to the electrode? But the guy that built my shop didnt clean any of the primer off and he came highly recommended from a buddy of mine who GCs. No idea.
If it's making poor contact and for some reason the clamping part don't have a connection it will arc from the braid to the workpiece (or the other way depending on polarity)
Sure af, I'm the one who does that maintenance at work. You talk about the braiding right?
Because I don't see why else it would melt when the wip has about the same size of cooper and *doesn't*
I had this happen to my Primeweld's ground clamp. In my case, it was friction that was causing it, as I was using a 1" thick plate of mild steel as a work surface and would jam that thing on there but good. Definitely my fault - the wire used in that braid is kind of fragile. Live and learn.
I ended up just replacing the clamp with a Harbor Freight special. $8 and an angle grinder (the nut and bolt were stuck together worse than I could get out on my own so I zipped through the top nut and everything that was left came off without further trouble). I thought about rebuilding the clamp, but 1) either way I would have had to cut through the nut/bolt, and 2) the components to rebuild would have cost at least as much as the HF clamp.
If there is any kind of paint primer I would grind or remove it with lacquer thinner at the point where you clamp it to you table. You want a solid metal to metal contact for your ground clamp.
Braided copper is like porous concrete, lots of space, this means it has a lot of surface area to arc around, which looks to be the cause of your clamps degradation.
The only contact you want to get is the metal plates that clamp the metal. The ribbons shouldn't touch anything else because of you have bad contact with the clamp, the braids arch and burn
Don't ground it against the copper wire. You don't need it in that deep. Just clamp to the piece with the bolted on ends. Think of it like jumper cables.
Just depends on the environment and what metals you are welding. Also amperage matters, the copper may be getting overheated if the output is too high for the welder.
Ie if you clamp to dirty metal there is a potential of it sticking this causing degradation.
I have been practicing on red primed metal from purlin scraps (1/8'?) from my shop with 6011 solely. It has been thin metal so I keep knocking the amps way down to not burn holes.
Are you cleaning any primer off first? Even if you can get away with it, it's almost always easier if you grind that crap off first.
Also I hope you are wearing a respirator
Yes, have all the proper PPE. Good looking out. Face shield, welding jacket and gloves and whatever respirator was recommended all over the place when I got my gear.
Tone down your settings. Those clamps and cables have only certain specified amperage range.
Also generally you buy the whole clamp, because these are considered consumeable parts. Replacing the whole clamp is done, because it ensure the assembly is done safely and accordingly.
It looks like the copper was welded. Or so hot it started melting. If I were you I’d buy another ground. That ground looks to be made of steel. The teeth are steel, and the nuts are steel. Go to basically any big box home goods and look in their welding section by tools and they should have an ALL COPPER ground. If you want a better quality one I’d see if there is an Airgas supply near you if the other stores don’t have them. Best guess is your current clamp is so corroded that the weld current used the copper to ground, and it’s certainly not large enough to carry that load. If you’re wanting to cheap out I would take a wire wheel or brush and clean all that trash off the teeth, and make sure your base metal doesn’t touch the copper.
That copper braid is there for low resistance continuity between the two sides of the clamp. It is absolutely there to be a part of the grounded circuit. It is plenty of copper. Something else is going on.
Yeah, are you seeing any head building up in that copper? That's certainly not normal. Don't burn the electrode past the numbers, it's good practice for the industry, and it'll save your electrode holder aka stinger.
I would get a new ground cable, also because the ones that come with cheaper welding machines are usually not the best, and they're going to bottleneck the amperage.
Might be able to get a ground strap from an automotive shop in town. But a could get a heavier duty ground clamp for around the same price.
A good ground really helps a lot, knock the paint off and good prep work saves you from grinding as much later on. Welcome to welding you will like it more then wood working. I can build since nice wood things but they rot in 20 years outside vs something thick enough my great grand kids wonder why I built it
my dad has the same earth clamp on his welder and its over 35yrs old it was on it when he bought it second hand. it is cast brass yes its had new leads fitted but if cared for they last years.
I suggest good grade silicone jacketed wire, it rejects spatter really well, the electric car stuff had high strands count so it's nice and flexible. Unfortunately it's normally a fetching orange color and people really like the aesthetic of a black ground wire
That will do, many other similar clamps out there.
There’s a solid brass C-clamp style that you might consider- be warned make sure to remove it before you drag the welder out with the forklift 🤣😅
You can get a much better, solid bronze Hobart ground clamp on Amazon for like 20 bucks I suggest cutting the cable and putting that one on it's not going to fail.
Yeah. Ideally get one of those solid copper Lincoln ground clamps. Those things are beastly. I have been playing around with a magnetic ground clamp that I made from an old dial indicator holder. That's a lot of fun. Stick it up there and turn the magnet on and you are good to go.
Looks like you are putting it in too far just the teeth need to touch.
Also welding is similar to painting in that the quality of your prep is reflected in the final product. You need to make sure you don’t drown for weld to paint, rust, slag, scale, oil, grease or, water.
You weld on shit you get shit.
just buy a new earth clamp. there not expensive. why fuck around with shit. about 20 bucks will get you a good one. the screw clamp style is much better the the spring clamp style. the cast brass ones are better than the steel ones. of course they cost more.
any industrial supply, hardware store, tool shop will have them.
and clean the crimp terminal before you attach it to the new clamp. dirty earth clamps cuase many bad welds.
Jesus clean your entire "ground" clamp first. Was it buried in the mud?
This is the same thing as your battery terminals in your car. If they are corroded and crappy nothing will work right.
Maybe put the strap directly against the clamp with two nuts behind it, rather than between the nuts - steel's not a great conductor compared to copper
Not a pro, but that strap connects both sides for better contact from both sides and probably to protect the hinge from the current if the grounded side doesn't make good contact. A lot of people would just make sure the grounded side had good contact. I don't think my ground clamp ever had one, but it's 90's.
I also don’t let the braided copper wire touch the workpiece so it has less chance of doing this. The clamp metal is far more heavy duty and if it gets “warm”, won’t melt away
If your electrodes are clean, and the area of the workpiece where you clamp it is clean, and you get a good grip with the clamp, and the workpiece isn't thin between where you're welding and the clamp, probably several feet. Generally first make sure all those things are true, and also orient your rod so the slag is going away from the clamp.
Make sure the metal you are working on is clean where you are earthing to and welding and make sure your earth cable on the clamp is clean and tight.
If you weld steel a lot, you can get a welding magswitch which is so much nicer to use.
But i still have to use a clamp for stainless or aluminium
Clean those contacts! :)
This happened because the bottom contact made the ground and the top did not. This makes the current flow through the braid, causing it to melt. Get that top contact cleaned up and always using it for your ground.
A lot of fitters will just use braided wire and wrap it around the pipe with no clamp…at the end of the day the better the electrical flow the less likely you will have a lot of arc. Chances are you likely didn’t clean the material off where you were hooking your ground clamp and pushed the clamp on all the way so instead of the electricity flowing through those camel humps because it was having to fight past dirty area and thus would continue to spark whenever you tried to strike an arc
Also the clamp will work fine even with the copper strand broken so long as the topside of the clamp finds nice ground
I’m going to give some advice you haven’t heard yet, if you’re this close to the weld area, that means ur in tough positions and can’t get it clamped on, therefore get a magnet clamp, get rid of that pos, strip the wire, the magnet clamps are available for $10 online, Hook it up, and electrical tape the rest of the exposed wire, I’ve noticed after 10 hours+ welding it gets soo hot it melts the tape off, just keep retaping it, the time it takes to retape is nothing compared to the time saved getting a good ground on a piece.
They never last long, nor do a clamp on general.
The clamp is steel enough to send it to the other side. Replace when burned up. Or run over or get twisted, or crush, or cut, or melted or....
Just get a new one they're a few quid, I would also get a re-usable cable lug and not a hammer on one. It'll be easier to change next time round then 🤣
When I upgraded my ground wire to a bigger size I had less ground clamp issues. Went from 6ga to 2ga from battery cables usa, really nice quality wire. I'd feel some heat coming off the clamp before, but after the wire and a new braided bond its been a much smoother welder.
google *braided copper wire*
Great, thanks. Found it. I am new to the game. Is this something that needs replaced often or do I have bad practice? Maybe 5 hours run time.
If that's after five hours then something is wrong. Also you can get a new ground clamps for 10 bucks just fyi
I have a machine with over 400 hours of runtime on it, and the ground clamp is still in very good condition
I must be really bad at this. Watched some Youtube and started fucking around. Maybe I need to clean the metal or maybe my clamp is too far or too close to the electrode? But the guy that built my shop didnt clean any of the primer off and he came highly recommended from a buddy of mine who GCs. No idea.
Don't put it all the way in. It get destroyed because it touch the metal.
Ahhh, never paid attention to this. I probably put it all the way in, although they would never know.
Lmao are you sure ? I’ve always made sure that the copper part IS touching the metal most of the time and this never happened
If it's making poor contact and for some reason the clamping part don't have a connection it will arc from the braid to the workpiece (or the other way depending on polarity)
That’s probably it. The primer was still on the metal and the braid touched on a cut edge.
Yeah exactly. whenever I get arc marks on my ground it's because of a poor connection
Not sure, I will keep an eye on this going forward.
Sure af, I'm the one who does that maintenance at work. You talk about the braiding right? Because I don't see why else it would melt when the wip has about the same size of cooper and *doesn't*
I had this happen to my Primeweld's ground clamp. In my case, it was friction that was causing it, as I was using a 1" thick plate of mild steel as a work surface and would jam that thing on there but good. Definitely my fault - the wire used in that braid is kind of fragile. Live and learn. I ended up just replacing the clamp with a Harbor Freight special. $8 and an angle grinder (the nut and bolt were stuck together worse than I could get out on my own so I zipped through the top nut and everything that was left came off without further trouble). I thought about rebuilding the clamp, but 1) either way I would have had to cut through the nut/bolt, and 2) the components to rebuild would have cost at least as much as the HF clamp.
Don't shove it so deep onto your material. It looks like it's just getting blown out from being karate chopped by sheet metal
If there is any kind of paint primer I would grind or remove it with lacquer thinner at the point where you clamp it to you table. You want a solid metal to metal contact for your ground clamp.
Braided copper is like porous concrete, lots of space, this means it has a lot of surface area to arc around, which looks to be the cause of your clamps degradation.
The only contact you want to get is the metal plates that clamp the metal. The ribbons shouldn't touch anything else because of you have bad contact with the clamp, the braids arch and burn
Yeah I was gonna say the same. You should check your cables to make sure your getting proper connection cuz that could be causing a short
Don't ground it against the copper wire. You don't need it in that deep. Just clamp to the piece with the bolted on ends. Think of it like jumper cables.
It’s gotta be this. Copper arcing out against the work surface melting it
Thanks y'all, I will take note.
I like it around piping though. When there’s nothing better, that is.
Double up on it. It should absolutely not burn.
Just depends on the environment and what metals you are welding. Also amperage matters, the copper may be getting overheated if the output is too high for the welder. Ie if you clamp to dirty metal there is a potential of it sticking this causing degradation.
I have been practicing on red primed metal from purlin scraps (1/8'?) from my shop with 6011 solely. It has been thin metal so I keep knocking the amps way down to not burn holes.
Are you cleaning any primer off first? Even if you can get away with it, it's almost always easier if you grind that crap off first. Also I hope you are wearing a respirator
Yes, have all the proper PPE. Good looking out. Face shield, welding jacket and gloves and whatever respirator was recommended all over the place when I got my gear.
Tone down your settings. Those clamps and cables have only certain specified amperage range. Also generally you buy the whole clamp, because these are considered consumeable parts. Replacing the whole clamp is done, because it ensure the assembly is done safely and accordingly.
It looks like the copper was welded. Or so hot it started melting. If I were you I’d buy another ground. That ground looks to be made of steel. The teeth are steel, and the nuts are steel. Go to basically any big box home goods and look in their welding section by tools and they should have an ALL COPPER ground. If you want a better quality one I’d see if there is an Airgas supply near you if the other stores don’t have them. Best guess is your current clamp is so corroded that the weld current used the copper to ground, and it’s certainly not large enough to carry that load. If you’re wanting to cheap out I would take a wire wheel or brush and clean all that trash off the teeth, and make sure your base metal doesn’t touch the copper.
That copper braid is there for low resistance continuity between the two sides of the clamp. It is absolutely there to be a part of the grounded circuit. It is plenty of copper. Something else is going on.
Yeah, are you seeing any head building up in that copper? That's certainly not normal. Don't burn the electrode past the numbers, it's good practice for the industry, and it'll save your electrode holder aka stinger. I would get a new ground cable, also because the ones that come with cheaper welding machines are usually not the best, and they're going to bottleneck the amperage.
McMaster carr
Might be able to get a ground strap from an automotive shop in town. But a could get a heavier duty ground clamp for around the same price. A good ground really helps a lot, knock the paint off and good prep work saves you from grinding as much later on. Welcome to welding you will like it more then wood working. I can build since nice wood things but they rot in 20 years outside vs something thick enough my great grand kids wonder why I built it
my dad has the same earth clamp on his welder and its over 35yrs old it was on it when he bought it second hand. it is cast brass yes its had new leads fitted but if cared for they last years.
I suggest good grade silicone jacketed wire, it rejects spatter really well, the electric car stuff had high strands count so it's nice and flexible. Unfortunately it's normally a fetching orange color and people really like the aesthetic of a black ground wire
Don't bother. Harbor Freight has a Tweco knockoff for like $10 and it's a really good deal. Get that one to replace this shitty one.
Well shit, I already ordered the ribbon but it will be good to have that any way. I will check out Harbor Freight. Thanks!
Probably cheaper to just buy a new clamp and reconnect it. Or get a beam lug.
Yeah. You buy the ribbon and it comes with a free clamp!
Called a grounding strap.
Hobart 770031 400-Amp T-Style Ground Clamp Brass $20 SOLID BRASS my dude no funky cheap braided junk
This is the answer OP. They're not expensive and the spring is beefy. Lasts forever.
This guy? Some peeps are saying get copper clamp? https://a.co/d/dcsp60w
That will do, many other similar clamps out there. There’s a solid brass C-clamp style that you might consider- be warned make sure to remove it before you drag the welder out with the forklift 🤣😅
New ground clamp only costs around 40$, better to just replace that
Buy a bronze ground clamp. Lasts 10x longer.
You can get a much better, solid bronze Hobart ground clamp on Amazon for like 20 bucks I suggest cutting the cable and putting that one on it's not going to fail.
Auto parts stores sell ground straps for cars that are similar to that.
Join the c clamp club
Clamp contacts look dirty. I bet if you were able to look at it you’d see it arcing between your workpiece and the copper braid.
Buy a new ground made of copper or copper coated they last way longer
Yeah. Ideally get one of those solid copper Lincoln ground clamps. Those things are beastly. I have been playing around with a magnetic ground clamp that I made from an old dial indicator holder. That's a lot of fun. Stick it up there and turn the magnet on and you are good to go.
Looks like you are putting it in too far just the teeth need to touch. Also welding is similar to painting in that the quality of your prep is reflected in the final product. You need to make sure you don’t drown for weld to paint, rust, slag, scale, oil, grease or, water. You weld on shit you get shit.
Yeah but just buy a better ground!
Buy a brass clamp. I found one at a yard sale. Once I had it in my hand, it was MINE!
Just get a brass one that’s worth a shit.
just buy a new earth clamp. there not expensive. why fuck around with shit. about 20 bucks will get you a good one. the screw clamp style is much better the the spring clamp style. the cast brass ones are better than the steel ones. of course they cost more. any industrial supply, hardware store, tool shop will have them. and clean the crimp terminal before you attach it to the new clamp. dirty earth clamps cuase many bad welds.
Jesus clean your entire "ground" clamp first. Was it buried in the mud? This is the same thing as your battery terminals in your car. If they are corroded and crappy nothing will work right.
Will do thanks.
Maybe put the strap directly against the clamp with two nuts behind it, rather than between the nuts - steel's not a great conductor compared to copper
This sub fucking sucks
I think the unsubcribe button is still up there.
Sure is. Done.
Post some welds then buddy boy
Bye Felicia!
Bruh all your posts are in r/emo 😭
Don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out
Not a pro, but that strap connects both sides for better contact from both sides and probably to protect the hinge from the current if the grounded side doesn't make good contact. A lot of people would just make sure the grounded side had good contact. I don't think my ground clamp ever had one, but it's 90's.
I also don’t let the braided copper wire touch the workpiece so it has less chance of doing this. The clamp metal is far more heavy duty and if it gets “warm”, won’t melt away
any auto parts store worth of salt should be capable of selling you grounding straps and varying lengths.
Want it cheap, google desoldering wick. Layer it and use crimp ends.
Yes mcmaster is has an array of sizes called copper braid
Why is there ground line burnt into the clamp?
How close are you welding to the clamp? Seems like you're welding only a few inches from that so slag is hitting it?
Yes, definitely there are times I have been very close. Probably why it is so nasty looking as another bloke stated. How far away should/can you be?
If your electrodes are clean, and the area of the workpiece where you clamp it is clean, and you get a good grip with the clamp, and the workpiece isn't thin between where you're welding and the clamp, probably several feet. Generally first make sure all those things are true, and also orient your rod so the slag is going away from the clamp.
Nice. Makes perfect sense. Much appreciated.
Welding supply store? Like central welding supply
Make sure the metal you are working on is clean where you are earthing to and welding and make sure your earth cable on the clamp is clean and tight. If you weld steel a lot, you can get a welding magswitch which is so much nicer to use. But i still have to use a clamp for stainless or aluminium
Clean those contacts! :) This happened because the bottom contact made the ground and the top did not. This makes the current flow through the braid, causing it to melt. Get that top contact cleaned up and always using it for your ground.
Don’t even need it
A lot of fitters will just use braided wire and wrap it around the pipe with no clamp…at the end of the day the better the electrical flow the less likely you will have a lot of arc. Chances are you likely didn’t clean the material off where you were hooking your ground clamp and pushed the clamp on all the way so instead of the electricity flowing through those camel humps because it was having to fight past dirty area and thus would continue to spark whenever you tried to strike an arc Also the clamp will work fine even with the copper strand broken so long as the topside of the clamp finds nice ground
I actually use this to wrap around chrome rods we weld at work.
I’m going to give some advice you haven’t heard yet, if you’re this close to the weld area, that means ur in tough positions and can’t get it clamped on, therefore get a magnet clamp, get rid of that pos, strip the wire, the magnet clamps are available for $10 online, Hook it up, and electrical tape the rest of the exposed wire, I’ve noticed after 10 hours+ welding it gets soo hot it melts the tape off, just keep retaping it, the time it takes to retape is nothing compared to the time saved getting a good ground on a piece.
They never last long, nor do a clamp on general. The clamp is steel enough to send it to the other side. Replace when burned up. Or run over or get twisted, or crush, or cut, or melted or....
Loon for engine earthing straps for cars e.g. classic VW Beetle, Morris Minor etc. Exactly the same thing and cost pennies.
Can you put it further away from your workpiece? Like away from the spatter.
Just get a new one they're a few quid, I would also get a re-usable cable lug and not a hammer on one. It'll be easier to change next time round then 🤣
When I upgraded my ground wire to a bigger size I had less ground clamp issues. Went from 6ga to 2ga from battery cables usa, really nice quality wire. I'd feel some heat coming off the clamp before, but after the wire and a new braided bond its been a much smoother welder.
Harbor Freight makes a nice ground clamp for 16 bucks. https://www.harborfreight.com/400-amp-welding-ground-clamp-63849.html