Just curious about which brand of lo-hi do other welders prefer to use. We've been using Mckay for some time now but we used to use atom arc until they went on strike and we couldn't get it any more. Most welders I've talked to don't really have a preferance but the older welders do say that ,in the past, lo-hi was better than the rods manufactured today, in regards to the appearance of a finished bead.
I like Hobart 418 as well. The regular Hobart (black print) 7018 isn't great at all unless you can get them to start right.. not very productive. Anyone know of a 7018 that can start and restart well.. to be productive?
Lincoln Excalibur starts and restarts very well. I try other brands but keep coming back to Excalibur. I'm talking pipe. On miscellaneous steel(stairs/handrails) we use either Hobart, ESAB, or Excalibur.
I used to use only Hobart,McKay,Murex rods until a distributor gave me a box of Washington alloy rods to try. The Washington Alloy Lo-Hy7018's seem to be as good as the Hobart rods,but they are more reasonably priced around this area.
I've been using the lincoln 7018MR rod(that's what the company buys us).The old lincoln rods were much better than todays rods.The 7018MR we use today you have to beat the rod on your restrike and most of the time your flux will come off.When I use my own welding rig(for side jobs I use the Excalibur).
There are other manufactures out there now that have graphite in the flux for better restarting capabilities like the Lincln Excalibur. I still prefer the Lincoln Excalibur over any other 7018t though. Any of you ever try runing your 7018's on A/C polarity with the high freq on Continuous? You need to do it in tig mode and use a foot pedal, but you can just put a brick on the foot pedal and you'll be good. You will get a fresh start just like you would with a brand new rod every time because of the high freq. No beating the flux off the end required. ;-)
Lincoln also makes a 7018AC, but you can only run with a AC machine. Starts as good as 6010- great for tacking,plus it's Lo-Hi. Beeen using in our shop for 10 years. Greg
Hobart 418,best rod ever used in all my nearly 40 years of welding. I have used just about all brands of 7018, but for me the 418 has easy starts,less chance of porosity,excellent bead appearance,and to top it off I do not seem to have to try near as hard to get excellent beads in out of position work.I tell myself it almost welds itself. The best looking bead of any rod I have ever used. Oh,and the price here in Michigan is about 20-30% less than other Lo-Hi.I have used it on practically everything in the oilfields. Thanks.
The 7018AC electrodes are designed/flux formulated to weld with low open circuit voltage/limited wattage output welding machines. These machines normally are AC only. Usually the tapped (low, medium and high range) adjustment transformer welders have low open circuit voltage on the highest tap setting. At this setting the highest amperage output is provided. Low Hydrogen XX15,16, 18, 28 & 48 requires high open circuit voltage and high frequency arc starters were installed in the machines for SMAW welding.
The instructions on the welding machines say not to use HF for stick welding. I guess the reason is due to the electrode holder not being insulated for it. Comments?
Airco Easy Arc which is now owned by lincoln is what I use in 7018 on my pipe work. Cant get it in anything other than 7018 but I go with atom arc on anything else
I hate that Airco wire, every box I have ever used, the flux chipped off, it pissed and farted, and would not restrike with out, tap, tap, tap, stick.....fu%& it gimme a new rod.
If I had to pick a favorite I would have to say ARTECH 223 is a great rod flux falls off with the mere touch of the hammer and the welds are always nice and shinny. Flows real nice and is easy to manipulate when out of position.Some have said it has not yet recieved all it's certs AWS,CWB etc but I think that has changed????