Thought I'd weld up a split in the frame of my swivel chair. Simple! I'd run out of gas so I swapped the polarity round to weld no-gas and pressed the trigger to test the wire feed. It moved weakly then smoke started emitting form the gun. As you can see the live wire has a clean exposed section and the first two inches of it have also been hot. But it was the liner that was lying/melting against the earth. I think I will have to cut open the conduit because I cannot pull the liner out. I presume it's welded to the conduit somewhere. Anyway my poor old trusty welder is looking a bit sorry for itself!
Here are some post mortem pics, what do you happened here? I'm guessing that maybe there was a short between the live wire and the liner rather than the earth which looks melted but not exposed. But should the outer liner offer an earth path?
Here are some post mortem pics, what do you happened here? I'm guessing that maybe there was a short between the live wire and the liner rather than the earth which looks melted but not exposed. But should the outer liner offer an earth path?