At 22 m in 4°C water today, I ran 1/8 in Hydroweld at 135 A DCEN with a 3–4 mm standoff after full lockout/tagout and a topside knife-switch test with the tender. If you’re jumping in from dry work, what settings are you settling on in cold water, and are you enforcing comms checks and a standby diver before we call ‘electrode hot’?
I usually bump to 145–150 A at about 20–25 m in 4°C and keep the arc tight (2–3 mm) to keep the bubble stable; if the plate’s thin I’ll pull back about 5 A and speed up a touch — cold water eats amps like a hungry seal. We enforce a three-way comms check and a topside knife‑switch test, then call “electrode hot” only with standby fully kitted and the tender’s hand on the switch — are you seeing porosity at 135 A with a 3–4 mm standoff?
Cold starts at 22 m in 4°C kept snuffing on me until I bumped OCV to about 80 V and added a quick pre-strike tap, then held a slight 10° drag; I’d keep your 135 A DCEN on 1/8 Hydroweld and only tighten stickout if the bubble wanders. @chloe_mason21 is right about staying tight, but I get more mileage from OCV than chasing amps; if your box can’t raise OCV, shorten the lead and do 20–30 mm stringers. On comms, we run a strict two-step “knife open/closed” challenge-response before “electrode hot” with a tap test — , it’s basic but saves grief; what topside set are you on?