Stick welding questions

[reedfish1954]

Lazy,

If what you say is true then why is Lincoln producing a SEPARATE 7018AC electrode? Read what Lincoln says about the characteristics of their 7018 rod. Plain 7018 rod without the "AC" flux is tough to use on a AC welder. It may work on a 440 volt welder but since I don't have any such welder I will have to take the word of the folks from Lincoln. All I know is that I tried plain 7018 rod on a AC 220volt welder with poor results intil I went back to the 7018AC rod. There is a point in time when 7018 or any rod for that matter, has absorbed so much moisture it is much better to just throw it away. Some guys believe that you can only heat 7018 ONE TIME then it needs to be thrown out. I never preheat more than I can use at one time and I never heat it twice.

The following is the official description at the Lincoln website of 7018AC rod. A low voltage power source is considered by Lincoln to be a 220 volt welder.
========================================

Lincoln 7018 AC E7018 H8 AC, DC+ AC? DC? This electrode performs beautifully either way! Lincoln 7018AC is a great choice for low open circuit voltage power sources. Cold restrikes are no problem with this versatile, all-position electrode.

 

[Lazy]

Hi
Use whatever works best for you I don't have any problems using the rod on a 220 lincoln a/c welder I have had since 1967, maybe the new welding machines are made different. I use coat hangers for welding rods when I gas weld

charlie

 

[reedfish1954]

LAZY,

Didn't anybody ever tell you the paint on the coat hangers contaminates your gas weld making it a really POOR substance to gas weld with? With what you said about coat hangers I can see somebody doesn't have much knowledge about welding and it is not me.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I remember back in the old days of discussing E7018 with other guys who weren't experts but still skilled at welding. The consensus was the tombstones (Lincoln buzz box A/C machines) would burn plain E7018 okay. But, and again this was from guys quite skilled but not necessarily in anyone's opinion, expert, for some reason the Thunderbolts (Miller's A/C buzzbox) wouldn't.

I don't know the why or how come of this. I just know I wasn't the first to observe it.

Maybe someone really really knowledgeable on welding can explain it for us.

 

[_RaT_]

Harv, you just described my Lincoln 180. A early 60's vintage machine. A simple transformer with multiple taps.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

RaT I woke up this morning with muscles hurting that I never even knew I lived in the neighborhood.

One of our pumpers at the fire department had it's front bumper removed by an at the sleep at the wheel semi a year or so ago. It was repaired by professionals. Those repairs were repaired by other professionals.

Chief asked me to look at it.

So last night I spent four hours fixing the fix. Two and a half of those were under the truck welding.

I will confess a little bile came up over how experts will judge a weld for undercut etc. Nine hundred and ninety times out of nine hundred and ninety eight they couldn't do a good weld unless it's under the perfect conditions.

I was lucky last night though. I was on concrete and not in mud. I made the brackets out of three quarter inch plate and welded them up. After they were welded up we bolted them in with grade eight bolts. When they got the battery on the truck disconnected I got to go underside and weld the plates between the fab'd brackets together.

The height was just wrong, too high for a comfortable reach and too low for a sit down approach. I know the discomfort has nothing to do with being fifty five. I'm even more sure the after effort discomfort isn't age related. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I see my donation of time and materials as an investment. If and ever there's a situation where I might need CPR I'm sure the responding officers would take one look at this face and decide I was dead or so close that taking a chance wouldn't make a difference.

But-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t now they'll have to deal with that face belonging to that funny old guy who fixes the trucks.

I'm always looking for an edge....... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Jim_in_Omaha]

Thanks to all that have contributed to this thread about stick welder rods. Didn't mean to create a hot topic of debate.
thx
Jim

 

[_RaT_]

Very good Harv, you deserve a healthy dose of thanks. Most of the time, thats all I need or want.