As some of you know I have a PA140ST just purchased recently and have run it on 120v with no problems. I have just hooked it up to 240v and it's HOT. Yowsers!

I have Lincoln E6011 3/32" rods at 50 amps and was sticking pretty bad so I upped it to 65 and was ok but I noticed that it burns really hot and faster now. Is this an electrode characteristic? I'm use to gas and it takes a little bit to get a bead and the pace was managable. But this seems insane. I was trying to join 2, 5/8" bolts together and then stand them up on a 3/16" mild steel plate. It was wild almost blew right through the bolt on a 1 cm tack. Wow that's a lot of power for this little package.

Now I understand I'm a noob so the skills aren't there yet. But can anybody suggest any changes that could help with this situation? I'll try to get some photos up when I get more stock. What setting and hardware would I need to say joining a 5/8 nut to a 5/8 bolt without chewing them up? What settings do you guys use for thinner materials on this box?