favourite stick rod

[JB4310]

On the whole AC vs DC thing, yes DC is nice, but a necessity hardly. I have a nice 500 amp Diesel engine driven welder sitting in my shop, it welds very smooth and is a joy to use. However, around the shop for 95% of the stick welding I do I use my old Lincoln 225-AC. It's easier than pulling the engine drive welder out, starting it up, having to listen to it run etc. And with years of practice IMO the difference in weld quality between the two is minimal.


To the OP, as I mentioned before, I use Lincoln 7018AC rods (for both of the aforementioned machines) and they work great. As with any 7018's they take a lot of amps to run compared to other rods. Don't hesitate to try them and with enough practice they'll probably become one of your favorite rods for an AC machine. Just make sure they are good and dry, even a tiny bit of dampness makes 7018's all but worthless.

IMO these welds don't look too bad for an AC machine (1/8" 7018AC, 135amps):

I agree, I only had ac for over 20 years and I got by just fine, I never even knew what the numbers meant for the first 10 years, and would use what ever rod I could find or steal, talk about baptism by fire

My weld rarely looked as good as yours but nothing I ever welded failed ever, even over the road 8K LB GVW utility trailers.

I've got an AC/DC thunderbolt now for the last 2 years, I wont go back to ac, but it sustained me for all those years.

I'll add that from my experience, there is very little (visible to me) difference in weld quality when using 7024 on AC or DC.

The first thing I noticed when I went to DC was that sweet sweet sound
Wasn't as easy as I imagined using DC, still have to think about what your doing, but at least you take all that crackling, spattering crap out of the equation.

No matter what, I always stick the 7018 for a few seconds to warm it /dry it and have never had an issue with dampness. I do store my rods in an aluminum ice chest cooler that has a 40 watt bulb in it and the bulb is on all the time.

Stored like that I doubt your rods are anything but dry. when you say stick the rod, do you me low amp short to warm and dry??

I've heard that before and have to remember to try it next time Because I don't dry mine like your supposed to.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

JB

 

[SPYDERLK]

remember.. for a given population, of X, there will be X+1 opinions ...

soundguy

I am of two minds on that. ... Somebodys gotta volunteer.:confused3:
larry

 

[Chilly807]

What qualities do they lose with the dampness? I bought a 1lb box of 7018 to try and they weren't even in plastic. Just a pound of rod in an unsealed cardboard box.

Ian

I'll probably get burned replying to this, but here's my take on it. The 7018 is a "low-hydrogen" rod, in that it gives off very little hydrogen gas when it's burned due to the type of coating. With certain types of steel, such as higher carbon, higher strength material, hydrogen exposure during welding or heat treating can make the metal brittle, known as "hydrogen embrittlement". When a 7018 gets damp, the hydrogen gas in the water molecules is vapourized as you weld, and you can have this problem.

I've used 7018 a bit, mine are kept quite dry as well as being roasted at 600-700 F for an hour when I get them. I don't usually weld high strength steel, so it's not a real concern for me. I have no idea what they weld like when they're damp, as far as striking and sustaining an arc goes.

Sean

 

[Shield Arc]

I can't tell you how many times I've poured water out of a can of 7018 because some carpenter type left the lid of the gang box open during a rain storm. I'd just stick the rod under my left armpit grab a hold of it with the stinger, stick the rod to the base material, and watch the water boil out of the rod! Then go at it. If you're doing single pass welds I wouldn't get too caught up in the heated rod ordeal. Now of course this was not on any code work, just bridge / overpass falsework.

 

[jake98]

There he goes, bashin the carpenters again.. why didn't you get your own gang-box??
ps is that why weldors all smell like fried arm-pits? :laughing:

 

[Shield Arc]

ps is that why weldors all smell like fried arm-pits? :laughing:

Only time you'd get shocked putting the rod under your arm is if you were soaking wet, because you couldn't find your rain coat.

 

[Chilly807]

These are from today, using 1/8" 7014 @ 120 amps DCEP. One piece is 1/2", the other is 1/4" plate, part of a snatch block project I'm working on. 120 amps is what the welder says, it may be actually a little higher or lower.

 

[k0ua]

Looks good Sean:thumbsup:

James K0UA

 

[Shield Arc]

Those do look nice!:thumbsup:


I'm sure you could give a rat's azz less about my opinion, but I'll give it to ya anyway. I try to never to stop on the corner like that, I would much rather stop in the center of a weld zone. It's a structural thing!

 

[deereman75]

Very nice welds:thumbsup: Makes mine look like crap. (not hard to do)