Let me first state that I am by no means an experienced welder. I have welded small personal projects with a mig most recently and managed to use a stick on another project about 15 years ago - that being the only experience with arc welding until recently with a new job.

The job requires that I resurface bits and auger flights. No problem until I ran out of 7014 rods. It's a bit of a mickey mouse operation but that is another story...

The boss has some 7018 filler rods that he would like me to use but I can't seem to get them to work very well. It seems I have to strike the rod to get an arc and it is very short lived. It seems they are very finnicky with the distance they are held from the material and I lose the arc right away then it takes for ever to get an arc again - that coupled with the rod sticking; it is very frustrating.

I've been using about 120 - 125 amps with the 7014's and they work quite well. I tried everything from 120 to 220 amps with the 7018's and just can't seem to get them to work consistently. I did manage to run a few nice 2" beads *somehow* but its just to time consuming and frustrating to continue.

Does anyone have any tips for getting these 7018's to work better? Would less power work better with these perhaps? That is one thing I didn't try as it was getting late when I was starting to use these rods.

 

Is the E7018 rod dry? Are they old rods? Have you checked with the Lincoln welding website?

 

Yes make sure they are dry if not in a sealed container they will act like crap. Try putting some in the oven to dry out for a few hours and try em.

 

I agree sounds like mabey your rod is wet also make sure you are using dc reverse polarity thats what 7018 is supposed to be used with unless it is marked 7018 ac

 

I agree, it sounds like the the flux is old and has absorbed too much moisture. You did'nt say what size rod though. Some other things to keep in mind is make sure you have a really good ground connection. No rust or loose wire. Also the workpiece needs to be free of rust and mill scale. Down to clean white metal.

One other thing to do to keep from wasting time, is go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get a 5# box of 1/8" E7018. It's only about $8. If that works okay, then don't waste any more time with the old stuff. Tell the boss you want to buy some new 7014 or 7018 if you liked the new stuff.

FWIW, E7018 is one of the more difficult rods to learn on. But once you get the feel for it you'll want to use it all the time. You don't need to hold it perpendicular to the work. You can tip it back and drag it so it rides on the edge of the flux coating. That maintains about the perfect arc length and helps keep you from welding yourself in.

Scott

 

The rods may have absorbed some moisture but I can't be sure. I will grab some tomorrow and put them in the oven and try them the next day. The rods are 1/8". I tried connecting the ground directly to the piece instead of through the vice and it wasn't any different

I tried messing around with them for a few minutes today and I completely forgot to get the specs of the machine. It's blue, not quite 24" tall, 220v, has a crank on top for amperage, and two plugs, one for 30 - 125 and the other for 40 - 225. I think its AC so if, like gbrett said, the rods are for DC then maybe they won't work properly at all; I don't recall seeing an 'ac' beside 7018 and that's something I probably would have noticed.

I didn't know the rods were that cheap, I had only called around about hardfacing rods and they're about $160.00 CDN for 10# so that is good to know, however it wouldn't be my money anyway.

When I did actually get them to work I was quite impressed with the results and quality of the weld. Too bad about the problems though.

Thanks for the replies.

 

sounds like its a miller thunderbolt machine the 30 to 125 amp side I think is dc and the 40 to 225 is the ac side dc reverse is electrode poss so put the stinger in the hole for 30 to 125 and the ground clamp in the ground hole those are pretty good little welder a farmer friend of mine has one I have used a few times

 

gbrett,

You're right about it being a Miller Thunderbolt; it appears to be only AC though.

I think that is the problem as the rods are E7018 and according to Hobart's (rod manufacturer) web page I need 7018AC to work with this type machine. I think someone else mentioned the same thing. I think I will suggest the 7018's instead of going back to the 7014's cause the 18's are supposed to be stronger and that is what we need.

 

If drying rods in oven, what temp would you suggest? Time: a couple of hours?

 

I would say 180 - 200 deg for a couple hours should do it....

 

yea i would try drying them like stated. ive seen lots of welding shops with there rods kept in a oven and the oven it turned on every now and then

 

The first #'s on the rod are the tensile strength 2nd to the last are the positions & the last is the flux. There is a little more to the #'s than that but in general thats it.
You should pretty much drag 7018 on the work piece.
The best running 7018 1/8" rod I have found is Airco. You can start and stop all day with no beating on the end of it to get started again.

 

Low hydrogen electrode (E7018) needs to be dried out at 650-750 deg. F for two hours if it absorbs moisture. We have a rod oven at work that maintains the rod at 300 deg. F. That just maintains the quality of the flux right after we open the container and keeps it from absorbing moisture until we're ready to use it.

Check here on page 46 for info on storing and redrying low hydrogen electrode:
http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...ature/c210.pdf

I still think that furball's 7018 rod is probably just too old and been exposed to the air for too long. Drying it at this point may not do any good. So the best option may be to buy a small box of new 7018 to verify the problem is with the rod and not some other part of the weld process. Then get rid of the old stuff and buy some new rod and a rod oven. A Phoenix Dryrod oven is $150 for the 10# capacity. I think the 50# ovens are around $350.

BTW, rod ovens for low hydrogen electrode that maintain 300* are for low hydrogen electrode only. We made the mistake of putting E6010 in the oven along with our E7018. It charred and vaporized the flux on the 6010 and deposited the residue on the 7018. Ruined everything in the oven. None of it would light off and maintain an arc after that. So we had to throw it all away. Plus it stunk up the shop for a week!

Being guys as an afterthought we read the instructions for the oven. It says E6010, 6011 type electrode should be stored no higher than 120 deg. F.

 

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldit/filler/stick.html

The rods I was using are the second from bottom on that page and it says 'not recommended for low voltage AC welders' and the ones directly underneath marked 'AC are useable with the small AC welders. I picked up three boxes today and they are working fine. The guy at the shop was familiar with the problem and said the other ones wouldn't work worth a spit on that welder.

Now for the fun part... The boss bought an old set of augers and most of them need over an inch in diameter of built up... basically a little over half an inch on the edge of the flight.