Lincoln 7018 AC

[deereman75]

Well I just finished my welding table, and I was making a few practice beads on a piece of scrap sitting on it. I was using a lincoln 7018 ac 1/8. I got it stuck, and went to free it like I have hundreds of times, and in the process of that, every single piece of flux on the rod fell off. The fulx often seems to fall off the rods very easily, the last few inches are normally unuseable due to the fulx falling off while welding. I am glad I just got 10# of them. Next time I get 7018 rods, I will get either blueshield or esab atom arc. Never buying lincoln 7018 rods of any time ever again. :smiley_aafz::thumbdown:

 

[Gary Fowler]

I dont believe I have ever seen that happen to a 7018. It does come off pretty easily with a hammer if you need a bare rod, but I have never had it fall off the last few inches of the rod when welding either. If you stick it, it will loose up to an inch or so of flux from the bending at the end.

 

[k0ua]

I have never used any Lincoln 7018 or 7018AC but I am wondering how wet those rods might be. And Gary do you use a rod oven at home for 7018 when you are just fabbing up and fixing things and not having to do code work? What is your opinion on this? I was wondering if the expense is worth it for a guy like me.. just a hobbyist

James

 

[deereman75]

The rods have just been sitting in an open cardboard box in an unheated shed. They are a bit moist I am sure, but they even did this right out of the sealed box. I have heard that esab atom arc 7018 rods hold on to their flux a lot better, I might try those next time.

 

[rankrank1]

The rods have just been sitting in an open cardboard box in an unheated shed. They are a bit moist I am sure, but they even did this right out of the sealed box. I have heard that esab atom arc 7018 rods hold on to their flux a lot better, I might try those next time.

Only the metal tins are guaranteed to be properly sealed. Most of the smaller packages are only sealed with either wax paper or a plastic bag and I almost always find a hole somewhere in the wax paper or platic bag so techincally not sealed.

 

[Chilly807]

The Air Liquide 7018 rods are pretty good. I'm not sure if the ones I have are AC or not, I weld almost entirely on DC.

Sean

 

[Bigfoot62]

The rods have just been sitting in an open cardboard box in an unheated shed. They are a bit moist I am sure, but they even did this right out of the sealed box. I have heard that esab atom arc 7018 rods hold on to their flux a lot better, I might try those next time.

I would suggest that you keep them in the house until you need them.

ANY rod that is exposed to moisture and temperature fluctuations will give you problems.

 

[Shield Arc]

I've never used 7018 AC, in fact I didn't even know there was such a thing until joining these forums.
But I've seen this happen a million times to 7018, try welding in the rain, you'll see this.

deerman75 load one of those rods into your stinger, stick it to your welding table, and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds, let the moisture boil out of those rods. Unstick the rod and go to work.

 

[lilranch2001]

Atom Arc is the best 7018 I have ever used, it is all I will buy
:thumbsup:

 

[deereman75]

deerman75 load one of those rods into your stinger, stick it to your welding table, and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds, let the moisture boil out of those rods. Unstick the rod and go to work.

I will try that when I go back out. I have been practicing with 6013 rods, and I have had my first Ah Ha moment. I have been moving too slow for the most part. Once I sped up a bit, the beads were much better.