High and low setting question

[propane1]

On my sears stick welder, I have a high and low setting. You plug the positive lead into which one you want. What is the difference other that one has higher amperage. You can set it for a 135 amps on either high or low scale. What is the advantage. I know I will never get to the high end of the scale on either one.

Noel

 

[sea2summit]

Voltage?

My welder is much newer but same basic idea.

 

[propane1]

Ya. Sort a the same but maybe not. I don’t know.
Noel

 

[dstig1]

See the 2 sets of numbers on the dial? One says High one says Low. Read the number based on which port you are plugged into

Edit, in fact there is a clear explanation printed right above the scale. I guess i don't understand the question... Put it in the one that makes the most sense for your work. It does appear that you lose duty cycle the more you go to the left on the dial (higher amps = lower duty cycle, as is typical), so if you are near the upper end of the low, it probably makes more sense to run on high.

 

[propane1]

So if I use the high outlet at 135 amps or the low outlet at 135 amps there is no difference, other than some duty cycle. ? Does that question make any sense.

Noel

 

[dstig1]

I guess so...Not much there to go on...

 

[Thirdroc17]

Reading the manual for my Miller, welding voltage, duty cycle, etc. are all the same between the two. I suspect the overlap is simply a handy feature so you don't have to continually switch the cables in varied welding circumstance.

This is the only variable listed.

 

[propane1]

Thanks Thirdroc17. So most of the welding I do is within the low range so that's were I'll leave it.

Noel

 

[Gary Fowler]

Sometimes the voltage will be a bit different on the high setting which will make a more stable arc (sometimes noticeable, sometimes not). I always like to set the machines on the setting that puts me in the middle of the range selected. For instance if I have a range setting that is 50-125 and I need to run 100 amps, the I will switch to the higher setting and crank the dial back

 

[Old Irish]

dstig1 nailed it,
you plug your lead in on the the low tap and set the dial to 135 you will have 135 amps output, if you move the lead to the high tap and leave the selector on 135 amps you would read from the high scale, you now have 160 amps output.

 

[cwby]

Different rods run better with higher voltages or lower voltages. Low tap = higher volts, high tap = lower volts for the same amperage. Travis Field (Fieldres on Utube) tries to explain it.
I like to run 6010 low volts/high amps & 7018 high volts/low amps. High volts allow shorter arc length.

 

[Veemaxx]

This is the manual for my old welder, it talks about what the high and low a/c settings are good for.

 

[PILOON]

The high/low setting directly affects the duty cycle as well as the voltage output.
High voltage = easier ark start but less duty cycle.
Basically there is a few more windings on the transformer output side. to provide higher voltage.