That flux core wire from last week left me scratching my head

I grabbed a new spool of flux core from the supplier on Tuesday. Put it in my Miller 252 and ran a few beads on some 3/8 plate. The slag just peeled off weird and the weld looked like crap. Took me an hour to realize the polarity was set wrong for this particular wire. I always run DCEN on my old stuff but this one needed DCEP. Anyone else ever grab a different brand and get tripped up by the settings?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo_mason24d ago

Honestly I gotta push back a little. I've been running flux core for years and polarity is pretty standard stuff in my experience. Most modern wires want DCEP so that's not really a brand thing, it's just how flux core works now.

wilson.claire9d ago

Right on, Leo. I had the exact same thing happen with a spool of Hobart I grabbed on clearance. My old setup was always dialed in for DCEN and I just assumed it was universal. Ran a test piece and it looked like a bird pooped on the plate. Turns out the Hobart wanted DCEP and I wasted a good hour fighting with it. It's crazy how one little setting change flips the whole weld from garbage to smooth.