2016 250EX AC stick welding

Will this machine even do AC stick? When I set it on stick the polarity control does not work. When stick welding It seems to be in DC and I can change polarity by switching ports but nothing tells me that. I am just going by how the weld is. I have no real need for AC stick welding but I have never seen an AC,Dc machine that would not weld in AC stick mode. I also had a different sensation when welding like the current was going up and down. When I looked in the book it says something about making sure pulse amp control is rolled all the way down. I have not tried it again after checking the pulse amps but I thought you had to turn the pulse feature on for it to work.

Ok I have read the on line manual and there is nothing about pulse mode mentioned in stick welding setup instructions. I do not know if that is what is happening . I am just guessing.

I know for a fact that the pulse control is in the off position. The weld arc seems to fluctuate almost like someone was turning the amp control while I am welding .The weld looks fine but it just should not be doing this. The pulse amp control was at 50% but I would think this should not matter if the pulse is turned off.

FYI ; The edit feature does not work. All I get is a color wheel that never stops.

The unit does not weld AC in stick. Never has. Never advertised as such as far as I know. If it is pulsating, it could be your setting of your arc force control.

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Originally Posted by performance

The unit does not weld AC in stick. Never has. Never advertised as such as far as I know. If it is pulsating, it could be your setting of your arc force control.

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I see that it does not weld AC stick in the literature now that I am looking for it. I just never saw an AC/DC welder that wouldn't before so it never even entered my head that it wouldn't. I have no real reason to need it , I was just surprised. I went out and welded another job with the 250EX on stick and it welded fine. I did not change any settings other than adjust the amps. I have no idea what was going on with the arc before.

Inverters are different somewhat in the fact they convert to DC before reconverting to AC. Ours does not go back through the AC converter.