Is "Hard Wire Welding" simply another term for GMAW or MIG welding or am I missing something?
As a follow-up, correct or not, is the definition of "Hard Wire Welding" found in AMSE anywhere? Or any other code or technical document for reference?
Agnewt,
Hardwire is a slang term for GMAW solid wire ER70S the s stands for solid. Additionally, ER70C is also a GMAW process, but the electrode is a cored wire (metal core).
The fact that a "nonstandard" term is recognized by tradespeople or others doesn't make it "standard" terminology.
Likewise, what may be considered to be standard terminology by one organization may not be considered standard terminology by another.
As an example consider the following terms:
Lack of fusion - API 1104 - standard term
Incomplete fusion - AWS A3.0 - standard term
AWS considers "lack of fusion" to be nonstandard terminology and API considers "incomplete fusion" to be nonstandard terminology.
"Hard wire"; I don't know of any organization that considers it to be standard terminology. In general it is a nonstandard term used to describe a solid electrode used for GMAW.
Having worked in the trades for many years, I've heard many terms used that can hardly be considered to be standard terminology and in some case the terms are not to be used in polite company.