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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / limp rod
- - By Sourdough (****) Date 06-14-2013 03:59
Lincoln Electric has a new type of rod nowadays that sticks, grabs, but won't start, restart, or do anything unless you beat it hard enough that you knock the flux off the rod. It is guaranteed, bonafide, and dignified! Yet, costs much more than a comparable brand. If you want half burn stick, flux only burning off of one end and a money spent guarantee for porosity throughout your welds .....ACT NOW!!

Send your check or money order to:
LINCOLN ELECTRIC.....care of Excalibur 7018

This crap makes Radnor a top contender.....
Attachment: IMAG0189.jpg (112k)
Parent - - By F-17 (**) Date 06-14-2013 16:20
Try Bohler and a chunk of fir 2x4 ensures like new restarts
Parent - By 357max (***) Date 06-18-2013 13:58
Bohler is also outsourcing/insourcing we have electrodes made with the Bohler name made in China.
Parent - - By Len Andersen (***) Date 06-14-2013 17:27
Ladies and Gentlemen,
     As an engineer CWI I worked with people going from one stick or steel to another with scared wanting to keep job situation. That being said not burning the stick and knowing details I suggest talking welder to welder with
Lincoln Electric Co.

888-935-3877 & press 1

888-921-9353

800-833-9353
(Service)

216-383-8025 FAX

info@lincolnelectric.com

       .   I hope this is helpful 
                      Sincerely
Len Andersen weld@spemail.org
               914-536-7101   / 212-839-6599     8-4 New York Time , 4042 FAX , Co-worker 6381 / 914-237-7689 (H)
POB 1529 / NYC 10116-1529 ( $1160 per year Caller Box GPO NYC / Most Secure Service At Largest Post Office )
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 06-14-2013 20:10
Myself and a.few guys i know have had the same problem with Lincoln lohy rods.....I switched back to good ole.Hobarts and when I want slickness i buy UTP out of Germany.   Been trying to sell all the lincoln I have in storage except for.5p
Parent - - By 803056 (*****) Date 06-14-2013 21:31
Is this a recent problem?

In the past I've used Lincoln Excalibur with very good results.

Al
Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 06-16-2013 16:10
Yeah, its recent. I had the super on this job convinced to buy a pallet of anything but excaliber, but available stocks put us right in a sinking boat. My day goes from bright and shining, to pure misery by noon. These other welders are young, and waste at least half a box of rods. I'm "sticking" it out.

Thank goodness the inspector passes arc strikes...criminy!

Watch my next post to see the worst welds in the world...
Parent - By MRWeldSoCal (***) Date 06-17-2013 17:40
Post up some of these photos! I love seeing terrible work almost as much as i love seeing incredible work hahaha
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 06-15-2013 02:01
I checked UTP around here, $8, 9 and 10 per pound!! :eek::eek::eek:
Parent - By Sourdough (****) Date 06-16-2013 16:15 Edited 06-16-2013 16:23
Len, I tried the numbers, but its Sunday. However.....

Am I to assume that the best person to discern between bad rod, or operator error isn't a man who has burned 10,000 pounds of Excalibur electrodes?

Just wondering if I oughta just pack it in, and go home with my tail tucked.

Just saying.....I used to crank my machine to 160 and burn overheads with 5's all day while talking on my hands free. Now, I have to babysit that arc like a parole officer. Something is good and wrong.....
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 06-15-2013 01:59
Boy, I could not agree with you more Sourdough!! I would use excaliburs religiously for years. This year, exactly as you said. I had some on that tower job and what pain in the stones!! I thought it was me, my machine anything but the rod. Ended up buying some Hobarts at TSC and they lit off easily, welded better and everything seemed better.

I don't know what Lincoln did but whatever it is they sure screwed up.
Parent - By newinsp (**) Date 06-16-2013 19:25
We've got 250 lb.s more of Excalibur to go through.  I thought that it was sticking a bit more than usual. 

I've got a guy that strikes it like a match first, making sure it arcs, then does his regular arc start.  Seems to work well for him.  We haven't had any porosity though.
Parent - - By 357max (***) Date 06-16-2013 22:28
Who makes & packages electrodes for Radnor? Is it Hobart, Lincoln or Esab?
Parent - - By thewelder (***) Date 06-16-2013 23:37
as far as i know is made, packed and shiped from china.
Parent - - By 357max (***) Date 06-17-2013 03:47
would that be from the Lincoln factory in China?
Parent - By thewelder (***) Date 06-17-2013 06:23
i don't know, i asked a rep from lincoln one time (if they made the radnor welding rods) but he said "i can answer that but are a good rods", i don't know what to think.
- - By lo-hi (**) Date 06-17-2013 10:09
I went from the old easy arc in the cardboard box to excalibar and once i got used to it, liked it.Any body notice the differnce between the 10 lb can or a 50 lb tin? Started useing the 10lb for the winter and have a couple left. I tried hobart years ago and would loose all the flux on restart, plus poping and splatter. Bought some linclon in a tin once,ran a dozen rods or so couldnt give the rest away, left it on the job and it got thrown in the dumpster.I miss the old easy arc , it ran tight and had a crisp arc. When they get it right ,why cant they just leave it alone.
Parent - - By 803056 (*****) Date 06-17-2013 13:25 Edited 06-17-2013 13:34
My suggestion is to return unopened containers of the electrode to the store where they was purchased. Nothing gets the manufacturer's attention like "returns!"

Simply using all the existing rod takes time and provides little feed back to the manufacturer. Ultimately there is a dip in sales, but that could take months before the manufacturer realizes there is a problem.

Years ago I was on a project where the contractor purchased several pallets of filler metal from Hobart. It was the old "718" brand of E7018. I told the superintendent that if that was the wire they wanted us to use he could get my check. Most of the welders agreed, so the contractor returned the Hobart and purchased "Atom Arc." There were no complaint with the "Atom Arc" brand.

It wasn't long after that job that I noticed Hobart started marketing their "418" brand of 7018. It was a much nicer running rod than the old "718" brand. Did the stance we take on the project get the manufacturer's attention? Who knows, but when enough people speak up, they have little choice but to listen.

Speaking of welding electrode; I just received some Arcos stainless welding electrode. I am looking forward to running a few filet break tests to see if they are able to get fusion to the root. I have a can of XXX-15, a can of XXX-16, and a can XXX-17. I love an opportunity to prove I am wrong. That's how things improve. Experimentation! Thanks Arcos! Now all I need is a break in my schedule so I can run my tests.

Al
Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 06-17-2013 13:46
I don't know how many of you run Eutectic, but its good stuff. I did, however, run into a couple boxes last year that burned flux off one side only. Returned it and got new ones, and a free 50lb box.

The rods come in a box separated in 3rds, which are vac sealed. You only open a 3rd of the box at a time. 30 bucks cheaper too.

It runs smooth, and starts quick. It's clean, clean when the slag falls off.
Parent - By 803056 (*****) Date 06-17-2013 14:20
Eutectic is known for producing premium electrodes, but this is the first time I have ever heard they were less expensive that other brands. Good to know.

Al
Parent - - By weldwade (***) Date 06-17-2013 17:33
Where are you getting the eutectic at? It is a great electrode but in my neck of the woods it is almost twice the price of Lincoln.
Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 06-18-2013 11:27
Little place called high country supply, in Rifle Colorado. It's about 20 bucks cheaper per box than Excalibur.
Parent - By Shane Feder (****) Date 06-18-2013 12:22
We all know that everything is being outsourced to wherever in the world it can be manufactured cheapest.

Sourdough,
Did you by any chance have access to the batch certificate ? They may be Lincoln electrodes but they may have been manufactured under license in Nepal from recycled baked bean tins !!!!

As a pipe-welder I spent years welding the KOBE LB-52U (E7016) made in Japan and they were the best electrode I ever used.
Moved up the food chain to Welding Co-ordinator years later on a major power station rebuild and we rejected 10 pallets of KOBE LB-52U electrodes - every electrode chock full of porosity.
Turned out they were "outsourced" and were actually manufactured under license in Singapore.

I think you can forget the old saying - you get what you pay for. Now you think you are paying for a reputable name or brand and it could very well be made wherever in the world the sweatshop laws are least policed.

And before everyone jumps in and throws stones at the Asian countries for poor quality - who is responsible for this ? The bean-counters in the major American (or Australian or wherever)  companies who outsource the work without putting expat supervision in to oversee the work.
The third world countries cannot produce quality acceptable to first world unless they are taught/shown but the bean counters do not care about that.

This link is a few years old now but it shows Lincoln electrodes are manufactured in China, Colombia, Indonesia, Holland, Britain and Venezuela (as well as presumably the US ????)

Sorry for my rant,
Cheers,
Shane
https://www.cdlive.lr.org/information/default.asp?preOpen=Approvals
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / limp rod

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