Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello, new guy here. I’ve been watching tips and tricks for a long time and it has helped my stick and oxy welding a great deal. I am just starting scratch start tig, I have the torch, flow meter, power block, hose etc. I’ve watched all the videos about scratch start set up but I still have a couple of questions, and was hoping I could get some help.
It’s my understanding that you hook the tig torch to the positive and the stick electrode clamp to the negative and clamp that to the power block. So is that all the grounding you need, nothing gets clamped to the work piece?? There is nothing left on my machine to plug a ground clamp into, so I’m a little confused. Any help would be appreciated. I look forward to many great discussions on this forum, thanks.

the electrode holder goes to the power block and the work clam (ground) gos to the table or directly to the piece to be welded. The TIG torch connects to the power block and receives power through that. The "input" side of the powerblock goes to the gas regulator, the "output" side of the powerblock goes to the TIG torch. Make sure your polarity is correct. You want straight polarity (DC elecrode negative) which means the negative goes to the powerblock (and thus the tungsten electrode in the tig torch) and the positive goes to the work clamp (aka ground clamp)

What machine are you using? Does it have a polarity switch?

tuckerweld wrote: It’s my understanding that you A) hook the tig torch to the positive and B) the stick electrode clamp to the negative

Here is where you got confused - part A. You don't hook up the TIG torch to the machine directly, thereby rendering "A" above unnecessary. The TIG torch goes into the power block. Part "B" is correct, the stick stinger clamps onto the power block, and plugs into the Neg port on the welder. The resulting "empty" positive terminal on the welder is where the work clamp goes to.

Thanks for the input. I have a klutch st200i. It has a tig switch on it and the torch has a Dinse end on it, so that dinse connector just hangs there and doesn’t get plunged in?? I will try what you you say. My work hours are a little crazy so sorry if it takes a bit to reply, thanks again for the help.

tuckerweld wrote:Thanks for the input. I have a klutch st200i.

Ok, so you're not using a powerblock adapter?

I didn’t have a manual for the welder so I went on line to find one, and I found one. I feel pretty stupid. The manual says to hook the torch to the machine and the gas line to the tank..I didn’t know that I didn’t need a power block. The videos on you tube are for straight dc machines I’m guessing? With no tig switch, I had no idea. I wish some of the videos would have mentioned that, oh well I learned something new. Sorry for the wild goose chase, but I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions as I start trying to learn this new process. Thanks again for your help.