what am I doing wrong?

By gocanes719 Date 12-02-2005 00:32

I am trying to weld some mild steel with a 7018 3.32". I open a new box of rods and start at bead at 90 amps and the rod is turning orange and melting. I lower ampreage to 75 and I can't even get it started without sticking to material. Granted I am not a real experienced welder but I can usually strike an arc with little trouble.

I had a few Lincoln AC 7018 and I weld a bead on the same material at 90 amps with no problem. What could be causing the problem with the other rods? None of them had ever been opened before welding.

By aevald

Date 12-02-2005 02:15

Don't take this wrong, but are you welding with an AC machine, or a DC machine, and if a DC machine, what polarity are you welding on? Saying that you had some E7018AC and that it worked fine makes me think that your machine is an AC machine. Regular E7018 will stick very badly when it is run on an AC machine, thus when you increase the amperage to the point where you are saying that it will run, but the rod turns orange and seems overly hot it is because of that very reason. If you are using a DC machine, the polarity should be set to reverse polarity, meaning electrode holder + and ground clamp -. Forgive me for the simplistic answer but the information that is in your post doesn't give a lot to go on. aevald

By gocanes719 Date 12-02-2005 02:23

It is a Lincoln AC welder. I guess the difference is the other electrodes I used are AC7018. The box of electrodes that didn't work were 3.32 7018 labeled for AC and DC.

What rod you recommend to weld on 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 x 1/4 angle iron for beginners. They have no welding experience and they have to weld on the angle iron because the school can't afford to buy plate with budget constraints. Thanks for all of the advice.

By aevald

Date 12-02-2005 04:22

Hello again, a descent rod that will work on the machine and the material that you are talking about would probably be 1/8" E6013 or E6011, the E6013 can be run as a drag electrode or you can use an oscillating motion if desired, the E6011 is best suited to be run with oscillation. Alot of folks who teach welding with AC machines will use these two electrodes because the technique for the E6013 fairly closely matches that required for E7018 and the E6011 runs almost exactly like it's DC counterpart E6010. 6013 and 6011 are sometimes affectionately referred to as farmers rods because they can be run on AC machines, they will also run on DC machines, the 7018 and 6010 rods are mostly designed for operation on DC machines only. Good luck and Regards, aevald P.S. If you would like to discuss this more in depth I can be reached via email at aevald@lcc.ctc.edu, I teach welding at a community college in the state of Washington.