A METHOD FOR INITIATING AN ARC; A CONTROLLER AND A WELDING APPARATUS WITH A STICK WELDER FOR ACHIEVING SUCH A METHOD

摘要

A system (10) and method for forming an arc between an electrode and a workpiece (52) is disclosed. The present invention includes a method of initiating an arc that includes comparing voltage across output terminals of a stick welder to a voltage threshold, and if the voltage across the output terminals is less than the voltage threshold, increasing the voltage across the output terminals to an arc formation OCV. The output voltage of the stick welder will be driven to a lower OCV if an arc is not formed between an electrode and a workpiece within a given period of time.