[jd7750]

I grew up welding rusty metal like rusty coral fences,gates and such with 6011 and clean heavy metal in the shop with 7018. a friend of mine has a small welding shop said that before he got his mig he used 7016. I went to my local welding supply shop (Praxair)an they said they cant get 7016 anymore. they wanted me to get a 5pound box of 7014.

just wondering what types of metal, rusty, dirty, clean and rods you use to weld them with?
witch rods work good for vertical up, down hill and flat welding?
I can weld up with 7018 but its a ugly weld.

 

[Gdyh]

I use the same as u. I don't like 7014's, they seem horrible compared to 7018 when it comes to welding upside down (maybe it's the operator). One nice thing about them is they are not as sensative to moisture as the 7018's.

 

[sasksodbuster]

7014 are only good for flat welding, not vertical.

 

[brent3369]

For non structural, 6011. For general use 7014. If I heat up the rods, I can use 7018. I tried welding cast (anvil base) with 7018. It wasn't easy, but it's still holding.

 

[rickfly]

flat=7014, verticalup 7018, down 6013, it does take practice for vert up and over head, but any fulltime welder will use 6010 for root pass, and then 7018 for the remainder of almost any welding they do, it is old school and the rods do need to be dry- oven baked, although for most farm welds as long as they are kept dry it usually is sufficient. x-ray and slight porosity usually is not a big problem. there are numerous suppliers that have alternate rods equivalent to a 7018 that are slightly easier to use, some are water resistant, some you can literally dip in a bucket of water and then weld without issue, check around the weld shop suppliers and they may have options. i have found numerous brands that are very nice to use and have all the qualities and spec of namebrand at far lower prices, but they are often selloff from companies and are not consistently available. unless you burn a lot of rods i would stick to the namebrands and buy them as you need them or if you can ensure the storage and find one that works for you stock up. lots of weld suppliers will give you a selection of rod to try out, read up on the settings and applications, make sure you have your welder set properly and practice, practice, practice....

 

[Neil Burg]

Rickfly has it bang on. I think we used to use 7014 for uphand welds as well? Been a while since I was a welding full time. If you are not able to keep 7018 in a oven or something I personally would not bother buying them, IMO.

 

[SWMan]

These make me a better welder: RED TEK - Products

I use them for pretty much everything.

 

[deetwocat]

In my farm shop I custom fab most of the winter as said 7014 only good flat as long as you hav a DC welder go with 7018 the best rod for the farm if you only have AC welder try some 6013 I like them better than a 6011.

 

[albertabuck]

Second on those wise words from Rickfly.

In my experience, I have always had the best results with Liquide Air rods...ya they're more expensive, but they do stand up better sitting on a shelf for a while til the box gets used up I find. I also only buy the little ten pound boxes, and leave all but a handful in the box in a steel cabinet in the shop. Keeping them in a heated building makes a big difference as they are not exposed to humidity present in unheated. Before I used to keep the boxes in the house actually. A rod oven is a good thing, even an old fridge with a light bulb in it to keep things dry, though I get by with neither.

And the other half of the equation is the welder, not all are created equally. Same goes for ground clamps, cables and electrode holders. For years I only had a Lincoln buzz box and got by just fine, then stepped up to a Perkins diesel powered 335 DC Hobart...then during this last cold snap, bust a set of bale forks, batteries were down and diesel wouldn't fire, so what the hey, fired up the buzz box hanging on the wall of the shop that hadn't been used in three years...oh my...talk about painfull Guess I'm spoiled now

 

[Northern Farmer]

I don't personally weld that much myself although would more if I had a mig, as we have a very old Lincoln DC welder and back in the day when dad was here he would use 6010 and 7014 and just as Rickfly pointed out, 7014 is useless for anything other then flat welding. Last fall I got tired of all the crap laying around the welding table and finally packed out all of the boxes of old 7014 rod and hauled them to the dump as they will never get used. Other then hard surfacing rod of various types we stick ( no pun intended ! ) to three different rod types.

Small diameter 6013 rod for thin metal (a mig is far better in that application) which are Liquide Air brand.

6010 of Lincoln brand as they are said to weld quite a bit better then Liquide Air's own 6010 and its that supplier we get them from.

7018 Liquide Air rods ( they call them Blue Shield to be more exact )



I have a relate that has been welding in the oil patch and mills for years and other then specific specifications calling for a specialty rod, most of what he and all other welders around him use is 6010 and 7018. They use small oven warmers that plug into the welder gen set to dry/keep dry the 7018 for porosity free welds.

 

[Diesel Dan]

We keep 7018's around for in field repairs with the gen-welder.

I run a MIG with .45 wire in the shop.

 

[jd7750]

thanks for the info guys! .....has anyone ever ran E7016?? how does it weld? clean metal only? I was online an came across some 7024,7028 and 8018 I couldn't find much info on them.

 

[hired hand]

Arc tec rods are little expensive but I believe they are called 223 and excellent all position rod very forgiving. Ive welded cast steel gravel crusher bases right though paint grease ect in tight spots where I couldnt clean it up properly and had great success.

 

[farmboy686]

6010 for penetration,
7014 mostly everything else, They are out in the shop and will always burn
7018 when doing more vertical stuff.
I like others find the 7018 don't like sitting around on the self for yrs. Dad puts 7014 in a bucket of water to soak them if he is doing thick stuff.... Not sure why lol. But I don't remember what he told me.

 

[snapper21]

6010 or 6011 if you're welding through rust or cow crap then follow with 7018. All I ever use is 7018. I keep what I'm not using in the furnace room of the house. Used to use 7014 when we had an ac welder but threw them away when we got a dc. Cast is not too hard to weld with 7018 but time consuming. Small beads and peen the crap out of them. Preheating with a torch doesn't hurt neither.

 

[Combine Pilot]

You guys are going to laugh, i still use my dads AC Comet. With 6010's, then i grind off the mess and cap with 7018. LOL

But haven't had a weld break ever, LOL

I have been trying to get a DC welder off of Kijiji, but someone always beat me to the punch, LOL

It works, i have pulled rabbits out of the hat with it, and the yard is full of projects dad built with it. (ATV trailers and the such)

but 6010 is my go to rod always, it is just that rugged, i wouldn't bother with anything else until i get the meat in and feel good that it is going to hold, then focus on presentation on top so as to look a bit more professional.

My rods are kept on a shelf in there boxes with no humidity or damage issues.

A good grinder was the main thing for me, for prep work, and have a good supply of disk's and flapper wheels.

 

[kenworth man]

Anybody know what the numbers stand for? I remember reading on a box once what the digits meant, but haven't seen it on the later boxes. The first two digits are tensile strength and the last two had to do with position if I recall, I just can't remember if it was specific to that brand.

 

[farmboy686]

E stands for "Electrode"
The first two digits (or first 3 if it's a 5-digit number) are an abbreviation of the weld's strength. To figure out the strength of the weld, take the 2 digits, in this case 60, and multiply by 1000 to get the weld strength in PSI.



Typical vales are 60,70,80,90,100,110.
The 3rd digit tells you what position the rod is recommended for.
1 : Flat, Horizontal, Vertical, Overhead.
2 : Flat and Horizontal only.
3 : Flat, Horizontal, Vertical Down, Overhead.
The last digit tells you about welding current and the coating.
1 : DC:ROD+ ................... cellulose sodium
2 : AC or DC:ROD+ or DC:ROD- .. cellulose potassium
3 : AC or DC:ROD- ............. titania sodium
4 : AC or DC:ROD- or DC:ROD+ .. iron powder titania
5 : DC:ROD+ ................... low hydrogen sodium
6 : AC or DC:ROD+ ............. low hydrogen potassium
7 : AC or DC:ROD+ or DC:ROD- .. iron powder iron oxide
8 : AC or DC:ROD+ ............. iron powder low hydrogen

 

[Auscocky]

In Australia E48xx,
E stands for electrode, 48 (x10) is the tensile strength of the weld metal in mpa, xx is the type of electrode.
10s&11s are high cellulose electrodes for all positional welding. They are used in running root runs in full pen butt welds, ie pipe work, but they are not something I would use in an ag workshop.
12s&13s are similar general purpose electrodes. Both are smooth running, easy to start and all positional. 12s can be used in vertical up and down hand position, 13s only in vertical up. All ag workshops should have a box of 2.5mm and 3.25 12P electrodes.
16s are a low hydrogen electrode and can be used to weld higher tensile steels. 16s have a higher yield strength than 12s&13s and can be used in down hand, vertical up and overhead position. They are more difficult to start but breaking the flux off the end will help. All ag workshops should have a box of 16TC electrodes, ideally in a hotbox. If you really don't want it to break, you will increase your odds with 16s. Just warm them up first in the oven to take the moisture out.
18s are very similar to 16s but from memory have iron powder added. Iron powder increases the deposition rate but can only be used in a down hand position. I wouldn't recommend 18s for an ag workshop.
24s are a iron powder electrode used in the down hand position only. High deposition rates for bigger welds. A 3.25mm electrode should give you a 6mm CFW ( continuous fillet weld) wouldn't hurt to have a box of these, but I don't use them.
In summary, I keep a box of 12s and 16s and that will do all the (repair) work you should encounter on a farm. If you are fabricating your own equipment you need a MIG.
As for welding over rust and cow ****, your on your own.
Cheers

 

[Northern Farmer]

Combine Pilot, I was grinning as I read how you grind off the mess as you put it when done using the 6010 and then capping with the 7018. I know for a fact I would do a worse job then you are with the tools your using and that's why I wanted to point out that you should buy yourself a box of a good quality 6011 and see how they work for you. Simply put 6010 were never designed to be used with an AC welder and no wonder you are struggling and think of the work savings and grinding wheels you won't need to use as much of with the right rods for that welder

Here's a link to some Lincoln welding rod information which I think you will find valuable info and help you out until you do get yourself a DC unit. As to welding rods being dry, I have been told by the welding shop/welders to keep 6010 in a natural air environment and do NOT put them in a welding oven thinking that will make them weld better as baking them will destroy the coating, crack it right off. 7018 on the other hand is very touchy for those that get their welds xrayed and if you don't have a special oven box you can put a layer of them on a cooking sheet and bake them on a lower heat in the kitchen oven if you are starting on a project and have an open box of rods.

DC vs. AC Polarity for SMAW