I checked the airflow with some tissue paper, and found that the AC was in fact blowing over the area where I was welding. So I turned the AC fan off to run some more experiments.
Below are my gas and welder settings on my Hobart 140. I am welding 18 gauge to 20 gauge and wanted it a bit hotter since I am doing spot welds. I also held the trigger for 1.25 to 1.5 seconds (2 seconds blew holes). With the longer trigger, the welds were flatter.
View attachment 3381478View attachment 3381479
The welds still look a bit sooty though. Some were and some were not. Go figure. Then the wire started getting stuck in the tip. I changed the tip and cleaned the nozzle. Below are the results. Question? Why still sooty? The shiny welds were after the cleaning. But so were some of the sooty ones.
View attachment 3381480View attachment 3381481