Wet 7018.

   / Wet 7018. #1  

Shield Arc

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Location
Port Orchard, WA.
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John Deere, 4200
First off let me start with the disclaimer! I don't recommend this one little bit. But I just wanted to see what I could get away with!:D
I took some 1/2-inch plate, cut 45-degree angles on them. Placed them 3/16-inch apart. Took a hand full of 1/8-inch Lincoln Excalibur 7018. This rod has been setting on the bench for years in an open can, never seen the inside of a rod oven. I placed the rod in a welding rod can, and filled the can with water. Poured the water out. Set the Lincoln V350-pro to 120-amps, 0.0 on the arc force. Before using each rod, I placed them in the stinger and grounded them out on the welding table. Once the water started to boil out of the rod I used my glove to dry off the rod. I ran one rod after the other on this test plate, only stopping to clean. Cut the coupons into 3/8-inch strips, and did a side bend test.
I don't think they came out to bad.;)
 

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   / Wet 7018. #2  
I think most of us use rods that are not as perfectly cared for as they say we should, not that bad but it does show what can be done with what is at hand. Thanks for the post Ed
 
   / Wet 7018.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Not so much on these tractor forums, but on the welding forums you can get into serious trouble mentioning you use 7018 that did not come right out of an oven:rolleyes:. Well that's fine, if you're doing code work. But not all of us are doing code work 100% of the time! I can't tell how many times on the job site I had to pour water out of a can of 7018 because some carpenter type left the lid to gang box open. Even though I was building bridge falsework, never did any testing with wet 7018 until this morning.:laughing:
 
   / Wet 7018. #4  
Pssssh.. that's not even that wet!! The flux isn't all white patches and chalky.. and missing in spots :eek: lol.

I usually go buy a box and keep it in my warmer when I'm doing something important, like a trailer or a hitch.. that means I usually have several pounds in partial boxes kicking around, so unfortunately I have to use wet rods a fair bit for less critical jobs.

My biggest complaints about wet 7018 are flaky flux and hard chipping. Plus there is a bit more spatter. Some of that is likely due to the higher amperage I find I need with the wet stuff.

Good test, just goes to show that a sound weld can be made with less than ideal materials.
 
   / Wet 7018.
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Good test, just goes to show that a sound weld can be made with less than ideal materials.
Yeah that was my point. I use to build bridges for a living, even concrete bridges have massive amounts of steel falsework. Something has to hold the concrete forms up right:D? I can't tell you how many times a carpenter type would leave the lid of the gang box open when it was raining and get the 7018 wet.
Like I said, I don't recommend doing this, but just because you don't have an oven don't worry too much!;)
 

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   / Wet 7018. #6  
Always cool threads and pics bud!
 
   / Wet 7018. #7  
As long as the core wire isn't rusty, sticking the rod to heat it up and boil out the water works fine for drying. Prior to getting a rod oven, the only thing I could do was keep the plastic containers taped up which didn't do too well and over time would develop the white powder on the flux which is a sure sign that rods have not been stored properly whether LH with iron powder or cellulose covered. I always had to ground the rod and wait till it stopped steaming and they would weld pretty good. The 60xx usually welded OK but not great and tended to finger-nail bad when they were exposed to too much moisture or if not enough moisture. Lots of times in desert climates, we had to dunk the 6010s in water to give them some moisture so they ran right.
 
   / Wet 7018. #8  
one question about rod ovens, if you store rods in just a regular container most of the time, then in a rod oven maybe a day before you use them does it give you any benefeit? Do you need to keep them in the oven since the first time you open them? I don't weld a lot, but enough to buy a decent amount at a time and don't want to store it for months in an oven if I am not using it.
 
   / Wet 7018. #9  
7018 is supposed to be kept in an oven from when its opened.

It can be re-heated one time by code i believe.
 
   / Wet 7018.
  • Thread Starter
#10  
As long as the core wire isn't rusty, sticking the rod to heat it up and boil out the water works fine for drying. Prior to getting a rod oven, the only thing I could do was keep the plastic containers taped up which didn't do too well and over time would develop the white powder on the flux which is a sure sign that rods have not been stored properly whether LH with iron powder or cellulose covered. I always had to ground the rod and wait till it stopped steaming and they would weld pretty good. The 60xx usually welded OK but not great and tended to finger-nail bad when they were exposed to too much moisture or if not enough moisture. Lots of times in desert climates, we had to dunk the 6010s in water to give them some moisture so they ran right.
Gary I've lived in the North West for over 35-years now, yes I have web feet now:D. Every once in awhile I have to dunk my 60xx rods to refresh them.




one question about rod ovens, if you store rods in just a regular container most of the time, then in a rod oven maybe a day before you use them does it give you any benefeit? Do you need to keep them in the oven since the first time you open them? I don't weld a lot, but enough to buy a decent amount at a time and don't want to store it for months in an oven if I am not using it.
I have 3-ovens. One is on a timer goes on at 3:AM, goes off at 10:00AM. My play time is from 5:00AM until around 9:00AM at the most, if I play at all. Only reason I use an oven at all is I like the way heated 7018 runs.





7018 is supposed to be kept in an oven from when its opened.

It can be re-heated one time by code i believe.
There is a little more to it than that, but close enough for now, but this is for code work! How many of us here are doing code work now? ;)
 
 
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