It's slowly coming back...

[deereman75]

Well, after 6 months, I am finally back to welding. I got my stickweld 250 wired up yesterday, and with simon's help I got it right on my second try.... Darn 3ph cable... LOL

Anyways, I burned a few rods today, and I was surprised how fast it came back to me. These were my first welds since November.... 7018 1/8. Amperage was somewhere between 120 and 130. I still have no clue how to set the arc force, but this one does seem to change a lot. The first one I went a bit fast on, and it shows. The second one isn't too bad...

I think another few pounds of rods, and I will be back to making consistently nice and strong welds. If only I had some steel.... I am all out of plate, and those little bits were the last of my scrap. The rest is likely part of a Chinese toaster now.
Anyways, here are some pictures. I am loving this stickweld 250! The Bernard shortstub makes it a joy to run.

 

[deereman75]

I forgot to mention, I had the polarity wrong for the ugly one....
7018 really doesn't like dcen....LOL

 

[Shield Arc]

I still have no clue how to set the arc force, but this one does seem to change a lot.

The way I look at arc force when welding with 7018. If I'm running vertical up hill I want a dry puddle. So I turn the arc force up. If I'm running over head I don't mind a little wetter / flowing puddle. So I turn the arc force down some. If I'm welding flat only, I want a wet / really flowing puddle, so I'll turn the arc force down a lot.

High number = dry puddle.
Lower number = wet / flowing puddle.

When doing open root with 6010, I'll turn the arc force all the way up. Any other welding with 6010 is pretty much the same settings as with 7018.

 

[deereman75]

Thanks! Good to talk for you again.

I am working on building a single cylinder cart for my argon tank, so I will give that a try tonight when I'm back in the shop.

Any tips for running 6010? I tried a bit with some 1/8 Lincoln 5p+, and it didn't go well.... I couldn't seem to find a sweet spot.... It was either way too hot or not running... I bet my arc force was part of it.... Does 70-80 amps sound about right? I was using the 6010 port. They seemed to run like a road flare once I did get them running... Mind you I did only run two rods before I ran out of space on my last piece of scrap....


I am still on the box of Lincoln 7018ac, and this machine loves them! I can't wait to try the blueshield rod!
Hey, maybe I should catch the blackball ferry, and pay you a visit sometime.... LOL I could bring the a few cans of blueshield rods...

 

[Shield Arc]

When member Furu brought his replacement 250 over I played with it some. It still liked ESAB's 10P-Plus 6010 the best! I seem to remember the arc force working best just past center on the dial, but don't hold me to that. Maybe PM Furu, I think he wrote everything down that I did. There was one other 6010 I had that the 250 was OK with, and I forget which one it was:confused3:. But his 250 really liked the 10P-Plus 6010:thumbsup:. Seem to remember it liked Lincoln's Excalibur 7018, and ESAB's Atom Arc 7018.

Personally I think his 250 was much better with 7018, than with 6010. It was one of the nicest machines I ever ran 7018 with. It welded every bit as nice, if not better than my V350-Pro:shocked:, and every bit as nice as either one of my SA-200 Red Face machines! Not a real good 6010 machine:confused3:, but a fantastic 7018 machine, now this is just my opinion!

Oh, I forgot to say! When running 6010, hold a very close arc length. I know it's hard to get the stack of dimes look with a short arc length, but it can be done. It will take a little time to get use to is all!

 

[yomax4]

Arc force really only kicks in when your arc is too tight to the work. It adds amperage to keep the rod from sticking. Turn it way up and you can push the rod through a 1/2" plate without sticking... Great advancement in stick welding along with Arc Force. If Buzz Boxes had those features they would be $1000.00..I need to mess with it when doing out of possition stuff. Unsure what to expect from overhead.,

 

[deereman75]

I think I am starting to figure out the arc force. I managed to do some little vertical beads without the puddle running away on me. And I got some real nice flat beads.

My first welding project this year is coming along well. Its a cylinder cart for my argon bottle. I will get some pictures tomorrow.