Bought some new welding rods today (for the Miller thunderbolt transformer)

[rankrank1]

I broke down and bought some welding rods a few days ago. Been using some garage sale finds of unknown brand for the past several years. Fresh new rods sure make a difference over some of the junk that I have been burning lately. Here is a brief summary of each.

a) US Forge 1/8" diameter 6013. First time I had used any 1/8" diameter 6013 from US Forge (Messer) although I have used some of there other products like 80T AC and their 5/64" 6013 Quick Strike line for 115 volt arc welders. Anyway these things burned excellent on both DC electrode negative as well as on AC. I did not try any on DC electrode positive. I will definitely be buying more of these when I use them up. Price was $11.97 at Menards for 5 lbs. Menard's also stocks 5/32" but not 3/32" in the 5lb size which is kinda weird. I think I will try some of the US Forge/Messer 6011 when my trusty supply of Hobart 335A 6011 runs low as I have yet to try any of those in 1/8".

b) Have NOT bought any 7018 in years as it has always been so tempermental to run plus the storage issues of it. Anyway I bought some Hobart 7018AC at Rural King for $13.99 for 5lb. (I splurged for an O-ring sealable rod guard to put them in too). Wow - these things burned excellent on my Miller thunderbolt on both DC electrode positive as well as AC. Slag was pretty easy to get off too and no problems with restrikes either. I will definitely buy more of these when needed.

c) Also bought some 1/8" Hobart 7014 for $12.99 for 5 lbs at Rural King. 7014 has always been my go to rod, but not sure what brand I have been previously running. These things seemed to burn better on DC electrode positive than they did on AC. The other unknown brand of 7014 that I had been previously using actually seemed to burn better on AC than DC. Maybe I will like them better with time - will have to wait and see.

Anyway the Hobart 7014 rods were okay and I would buy them again if I need some but they were not the home run that the Hobart 7018AC or the US Forge 6013 were for use on a generation one top crank Miller thunderbolt transformer.

 

[BukitCase]

I keep various flavors/sizes of 6011, 6013, 7014, 7018, 7024, and Stoody 35 hardface rod - I switched the leads on my 250amp ac/dc transformer machine from AC to DCEP sometime around 1980, and I don't think they've been changed since. Every problem I've had has been traceable back to ME (or the wrong rod for the job), not the machine.

I know there are special circumstances when DC can cause arc blow, but I've not run into it yet. (Or maybe I just didn't recognize it :=) Steve

 

[grsthegreat]

just get a rod oven, than it doesnt matter what kind of rod you get.

Ive never looked back after i got my oven,

 

[Arc weld]

just get a rod oven, than it doesnt matter what kind of rod you get.

Ive never looked back after i got my oven,

The only rods that ever need an oven are 7018 and that's only if you're doing code work. As long as they're kept dry they'll be fine for 99% of the jobs you'll do. Putting 6010/6011 in an oven actually does the opposite and makes them weld worse. They need some moisture in the coating and it's not uncommon to dip them in water to add moisture so they weld better.

Arc blow doesn't occur until you get up around 180 amps or more. If you want to see what arc blow does, get a short piece H beam and stand it on end on a plate or the flange of another piece of H beam. Then take some 3/16" 7018(5/32" at higher amps might do it) and weld all around the "H". With experience you learn the best technique to combat the arc blow but first just go about welding it and you'll soon learn what arc blow is all about.

 

[Shield Arc]

If you want to see what arc blow does, get a short piece H beam and stand it on end on a plate or the flange of another piece of H beam. Then take some 3/16" 7018(5/32" at higher amps might do it) and weld all around the "H". With experience you learn the best technique to combat the arc blow but first just go about welding it and you'll soon learn what arc blow is all about.

No kidding!
Or beat the he!! out of an H-beam like this, then try to splice another section on top.:laughing:

 

[Arc weld]

You need a pretty big hammer to do that.

 

[yomax4]

All the Low Hydrogen rods need to be kept dry. 7018, 8018. 9018. 11018 and a few others.

 

[rankrank1]

Yes I am aware of the storage requirements of 7018 and 7018AC to maintain the low hydrogen properties. Mainly why I had not bought any in several years. Course back when I bought my last 7018 is was regular ole 7018 and all I had at that time was a Lincoln AC225 which was AC power only. Needless to say it was not a good experience and throw on top of that the storage hassles.

That all said, These Hobart 7018AC ran real sweet even on AC. That said, there will be no rod oven in my future which is another reason I splurged on the o-ring sealable rod guard. I am not going to pay for the electricity to run an oven even if I got an oven for free. I do not do code work, nor do a I weld on anything critical - basically just weld on old worn out farm junk that never leaves my property. If the 7018AC starts acting up then I will simply stick em in an old toaster oven for a bit, or do Shieldarc's patented stick the rod method.

6011, 6013, 7014 all easily handle my welding requirements and no rod oven needed for any of them so they likely to remain my stick welding mainstays, but I was pleasantly surprised with this 7018AC. I tried it more on a whim instead of a real need which is probably why it worked so well. Had I actually needed it to perform well then with my luck it would not have worked out.

 

[Arc weld]

I only listed 7018 because I doubt many on here are using stronger low hydrogen than 7018. Even still, if they're kept dry and in a sealed container they'll be fine for anything but code work.

 

[rankrank1]

I also tried the US Forge/ Messer on a whim too after reading some of Yomax4 posts that Messer's 80TAC was basically just an enhanced version of Messer's 6013. I like the 80T AC rod from US Forge/Messer but my only practical source for getting it is at Menard' s in the little dinky job pack quantites (maybe a 1 lb'er size) for $7.99 which makes it a bit pricey. In comparison got the 5 lbs of Us Forge 6013 for $11.97. I sure wish Menards stocked more of the 5 lb boxes of rods than they currently do. Right now E6011 in (1/8" and 5/32") and E6013 (in 1/8" and 5/32") is all Menards stocks in the bigger 5 lb boxes. Still, I find it odd they stock 5/32 over 3/32.

Although I am not usually a huge fan of 6013 but it still has some uses for me. I especially like it for parts build where I will then have to free hand shape the finished part back to shape with handheld power tools. 6013 cuts almost the same as virgin steel with a carbide burr tool in a die grinder. I will say this US Forge/ Messer seemed much less prone to wormholing than some other brands of 6013 rod that I have run. Wormholing has always been my biggest complaint with 6013 but this stuff ran great.

Anyway, Rural King is likely to be primary source for rods. They are typically cheaper than TSC on exact same brand items and they do stock Hobart in quantities even bigger than 5 lb'ers (as does TSC) which decrease the cost even further.

Mail order not really feasible for my needs. Shipping too expensive on my small orders, plus I believe the government is going to start charging sales tax very soon in the year 2014 on all mail orders further making online ordering even more expensive and who wants to get rods in the mail that have all the flux cracked off them anyways from rough shipping. Many professional welding supplies are starting to charge HazMat fees to buy electrodes which has increased costs too. Plus LWS usually only want to sell rods in huge Qty's which is impractical for me as a low volume user.