This past weekend I learned a good lesson about welding wire quality.
My local hardware store only carries Forney brand welding materials. I had a bad time with their ginding disks and was concerned about buying the flux core wire, but bought anyway. Got home started welding and could not believe the spitting and sputtering coming from this wire. What really concerned me was the color of residue. Instead of tan colored, it looked the color of gray like cigarette ashes. I am not sure if that means anything or not. I am a novice welder. I ended up taking it back and going 50 miles round trip to welding supply store. I really hope this was just one bad unit, but I will not risk buy that brand again.
My local hardware store only carries Forney brand welding materials. I had a bad time with their ginding disks and was concerned about buying the flux core wire, but bought anyway. Got home started welding and could not believe the spitting and sputtering coming from this wire. What really concerned me was the color of residue. Instead of tan colored, it looked the color of gray like cigarette ashes. I am not sure if that means anything or not. I am a novice welder. I ended up taking it back and going 50 miles round trip to welding supply store. I really hope this was just one bad unit, but I will not risk buy that brand again.