WranglerX
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Difference in welding wire ?
- Thread starter Smokeydog
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yomax4
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AWS Specs are just old that's all. There are some things like Low Fuming Bronze. I remember selling it in yesteryear and it would work as it should but like a lot of LFB it left black inclusions in the finnished product. We were putting it on with speed fluxers and it just wasn't what they were looking for. I discussed with our bronze guru at the time and he made me up 20# to try. It was like gold, Flowout was beautiful with no black anything. Sadly it was just outside of the AWS spec so they wouldn't use it. Just an example. If you look it up a lot of the specs were written in the Bronze age. Technology has moved faster than the specs. Not all specs can be improved but technology is still doing it's thing. 2 More examples. There is now a 7018 stick electrode that runs great that is still in spec but emits about half the Manganese in the weld smoke. Manganese causes a problen similar to Parkinsons. Then there is Stainless that is still in spec but has half of the Hexavalent Chome as before. So I'm wrong saying all AWS specs are off but many are old and could be improved and technology will take care of the rest.
yomax4
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Then theres the other side of the coin. Awesome products that the AWS doesn't recognize. Weldcote Super 120 and Harris Supper Missile Weld. Both great products. 312 Stainless base with foo foo dust flux. 120K tensile and you can weld leaf springs with them as well as cast to steel and tig rod too. Or ESAB Easy Grind mig wire. Runs so smooth and you can almost hand sand it. Sadly it has a little too much silicon in it for AWS spec. Body shops loved it. Or Harris 20ga. Had a shotgun on the box. Metal cored wire designed to run on short arc. It would weld through paint, rust and axel grease with no spatter. Being it was formulated as a C6 wire but had additives it didn't fit the spec. They went nuts over it at the GM body shop school until they found out it was out of spec and kicked it out. Or Weldcote 88/83 or Harris 83/88. Runs like 6013 with deep dig and 80K tensile. At shows I used to start the arc and walk away while it consumed itself with no one holding the stinger. The watchers were amazed. There are hundreds of specialty products without AWS specs. Look at Eutectic or Nassau Rockmount. Anyway I use a lot of this stuff and i'm sure many on here have too.
Mark @ Everlast
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If any one wants to weld with the best welding wire, with extremely low amounts of spatter and virtually no clean up with a stable arc and beautiful bead, the ESAB Aristorod 12.5 OK is the best I have ever used. I keep it in my machines if the lws isn't out of it when I need it. I pay more, but the labor I save in clean up is well worth it.
You can thank me later.
You can thank me later.
dragoneggs
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It takes me quite awhile to go through a large roll. Does the coating also help with corrosion if it is sitting around a long time? For me the additional price isn't such a factor as maybe for someone using for business and at volumes.
WranglerX
Super Member
I tend to stay with 2 pound rolls so if it gets contaminated is not a "large" loss.... But my weld jobs are small and there is a lot of time machines site idle in between...
Dale
Dale
Sberry
Platinum Member
I priced some, got the generic house wire the LWS has, some China stuff and was as good as L56. ran as good as any I ever had. Of course they changed, next time it was WA or Radnor or something, didnt touch an adjustment, ran like crap
