I cannot get any arc current. The rest of the unit is working and the wire is feeding. No overloads are tripped

As usual which circuit breaker is an important indication of the type of fault.
RCD - residual current device compares the current in the positive line and compares it with the current in the neutral line and trips if it is different - it means current has become lost, most likely leaked to ground because of an insulation or similar fault.

ELCB - earth leakage circuit breaker trips if current is detected in the ground line.

MCB - micro circuit breaker; the modern version of the consumer unit fuse and is resettable. This trips in response to a short circuit or overload.

I believe it is supposed to have a 15. Remember, breakers are installed TO PROTECT THE WIRE, NOT THE EQUIPMENT. If a breaker is tripping you just don't put a bigger breaker. The wire must be the correct size for the breaker. Take it to the manufacture.

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When current is going through wiring and devices it normally operates warm. That is why most wire and devices such as breakers are rated at 70 degrees Celsius. In a panel, heat can be transferred through the buss bar they are connected to.
Breakers will trip for 2 reasons. Overload amperage and heat.

try to use bare .032 wire and co2 shielded gas, If the equipment does not have a gas solenoid you may have to wire a solenoid to the trigger mechanism to get the gas to flow while the wire is feeding. The bare wire usually copper coated burns much hotter than the flux core when there is a gas shield. Also a .032 bare wire with a gas shield burns a a lower amp range and will get better penetration.

You may have to experiment with the feed rate and gas flow to get the correct setting, but the bare wire has a lot less resistance to current flow than the flux core and will burn a lot hotter when you use a gas shield.

At 115 vac there is not a lot of amperage left to create an arc and run the feeder and the rest of the unit , and the flux core wire takes a lot of amperage to burn both the wire and the flux . .

There is a possibility that the two outlets that are not working are on the lower end of that particular circuit. If that is the case, there is also a big possibility that the connections on one of the working outlets is not transferring the current to the other two that are not working. Suggest you verify that the the connections feeding current on down the circuit line are tight and well connected. Hope this works. For safety sake, ensure that the breaker for that circuit is turned off before you start fiddeling arown with the connections. Good Luck.

Please don't give me a bad rating for this. Its just a little extra info. you didn't mention that may help you find the problem. Depending on your specific model, there should be 1 or 2 breakers on the unit it self. If there is only 1, it will shut down the entire machine when tripped. If there are 2, the top one is for the whole unit and the lower one is for the wire feeder motor only. There is also a thermal overload that will shut down everything except the cooling fan. Secure the trigger closed and let the fan run for a while to see if it re-starts when cooled. If the depth of the weld was stable before the problem occurred, I would suspect a short in the motor and not the rectifier. That is not a sure bet though. If the transformer does not start when it cools, UNPLUG the welder and short the transformer to ground to be sure the capacitor is discharged. Then isolate the feed motor and transformer and use an OHM meter to test them individually to ground for a short. With a little luck, it will be the feed motor. Please let me know if this helped at all. I am new and still learning how to explain what I am thinking. Thanks for writing us.
Roger

20 amps seems like a fairly feeble arc welder--most light models run up toward 80 to 100 amps for a stick welder with wire feed models somewhat lower. Even accidently touching the two leads together should have produced some arcing. You may have a defective unit. Hope this helps!

If you are using flux wire and not shielding gas, your clamp should be positive and the wire should be negative. Heat is provided by the electrical arc that happens between the wire and the material. Your welder by itself does not pre heat the material and with 3/16 material you should not need to preheat anyway.

The electrical arc is kept consistent by adjusting the wire feed rate and the current applied. You will need to experiment with these settings to find what works best with your welder. For this welder and 3/16 material, I would suggest you start at the upper end of the current scale and about a third of the way up on wire speed. The welder might have a chart for these settings in the manual or inside cover.

If the wire feeds too fast, it will push the probe around and you will feel pressure as the wire feeds out. If the speed is too slow you will get large spatters and intermittent arcs. When properly adjusted the arc will sound even and consistent. The arc gap should always be about 1/8 of an inch.

To maintain enough heat for good penatration, do not move the probe too fast, work in a pattern and watch the weld pool (melted metal) and not the arc. Watching the weld pool will clue you in if you are moving too fast or too slow.

I hope this helps.

-Scott

The C1 code indicates the "instantaneous current limit" trip. This signifies problems with the drive motor, thermal protector, motor controller. Overloading the machine will cause high amps and trip the unit. Instantaneous current trip occurs if there is a current spike of 26 amps instantly at the motor windings in which the motor overload trips. check bearings for lubrication - or as stated above overloading the washer.