I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

"Ignoramus6496" <ignoramus6496@NOSPAM.6496.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y-udnfVVibEmJibYnZ2dnUVZ_r_inZ2d@giganews.com...
I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

7018 will run AC or DC+. In my experience, though, I have had better
success when using the AC for flat position welding. You can get it nice
and hot for penetration and fusion, but when you go to the other positions,
it gets tricky. Also, on AC, I tend to think (from my experiences) that on
flat welding, it is very (repeat) very important to keep the arc length very
short so that you don't lose the arc and have to start again.

Because we were welding on oil rigs, AC was never used, and I don't have
much experience with AC except what I got on the beach. 7018 run flat on AC
will give you a beautiful strong weld. Just be careful and don't burn
through. May run at a slightly different amperage setting, too. Just go
get some scraps and play. As you find them from the trial and error method,
write down the correct settings on the wall above your welding machine in
crayon. Works for me.

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:21:23 -0800, Steve B <dsrttrvlr@aol.com> wrote:

"Ignoramus6496" <ignoramus6496@NOSPAM.6496.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y-udnfVVibEmJibYnZ2dnUVZ_r_inZ2d@giganews.com...
I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

7018 will run AC or DC+. In my experience, though, I have had better
success when using the AC for flat position welding. You can get it nice
and hot for penetration and fusion, but when you go to the other
positions,
it gets tricky. Also, on AC, I tend to think (from my experiences) that
on
flat welding, it is very (repeat) very important to keep the arc length
very
short so that you don't lose the arc and have to start again.

Because we were welding on oil rigs, AC was never used, and I don't have
much experience with AC except what I got on the beach. 7018 run flat on
AC
will give you a beautiful strong weld. Just be careful and don't burn
through. May run at a slightly different amperage setting, too. Just go
get some scraps and play. As you find them from the trial and error
method,
write down the correct settings on the wall above your welding machine in
crayon. Works for me.

Steve, I do not have AC, I have a DC welder. Can I use those rods in
DC+ for regular mild steel like trailer making, or is that for
something special?

i

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:21:23 -0800, Steve B <dsrttrvlr@aol.com> wrote:

"Ignoramus6496" <ignoramus6496@NOSPAM.6496.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y-udnfVVibEmJibYnZ2dnUVZ_r_inZ2d@giganews.com...

I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

7018 will run AC or DC+. In my experience, though, I have had better
success when using the AC for flat position welding. You can get it nice
and hot for penetration and fusion, but when you go to the other positions,
it gets tricky. Also, on AC, I tend to think (from my experiences) that on
flat welding, it is very (repeat) very important to keep the arc length very
short so that you don't lose the arc and have to start again.

Because we were welding on oil rigs, AC was never used, and I don't have
much experience with AC except what I got on the beach. 7018 run flat on AC
will give you a beautiful strong weld. Just be careful and don't burn
through. May run at a slightly different amperage setting, too. Just go
get some scraps and play. As you find them from the trial and error method,
write down the correct settings on the wall above your welding machine in
crayon. Works for me.


Steve, I do not have AC, I have a DC welder. Can I use those rods in
DC+ for regular mild steel like trailer making, or is that for
something special?

Ignoramus6496 wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:21:23 -0800, Steve B <dsrttrvlr@aol.com> wrote:

"Ignoramus6496" <ignoramus6496@NOSPAM.6496.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y-udnfVVibEmJibYnZ2dnUVZ_r_inZ2d@giganews.com...

I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

7018 will run AC or DC+. In my experience, though, I have had better
success when using the AC for flat position welding. You can get it nice
and hot for penetration and fusion, but when you go to the other positions,
it gets tricky. Also, on AC, I tend to think (from my experiences) that on
flat welding, it is very (repeat) very important to keep the arc length very
short so that you don't lose the arc and have to start again.

Because we were welding on oil rigs, AC was never used, and I don't have
much experience with AC except what I got on the beach. 7018 run flat on AC
will give you a beautiful strong weld. Just be careful and don't burn
through. May run at a slightly different amperage setting, too. Just go
get some scraps and play. As you find them from the trial and error method,
write down the correct settings on the wall above your welding machine in
crayon. Works for me.


Steve, I do not have AC, I have a DC welder. Can I use those rods in
DC+ for regular mild steel like trailer making, or is that for
something special?

Igor, I never heard of any 7018 rod you couldn't run DCEP on mild steel. Suggest
you simply take a piece of scrap and run a bead. Then you'll know.

Normally E 7018 is a DC rod. Electrode positive!
You have purchased the AC version of this electrode. It can be used
either on AC or DC. Personally I do not like them. Something in the flux
makes them more susceptible to porosity at the beginning of your weld bead.
They seemed to be even more difficult to strike up again halfway through
than regular DC rods.
In answer to your question: Yes, they will be fine for welding DC on your
trailer.
You can pretty well know if your welds are going to work. A visual
inspection is all you need. You do not want craters at the end of your
beads, undercut or coldlap. If your welds look decent then they will hold
under normal circumstances.
Randy

"Ignoramus6496" <ignoramus6496@NOSPAM.6496.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y-udnfVVibEmJibYnZ2dnUVZ_r_inZ2d@giganews.com...
I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 15:58:33 -0800, Grant Erwin <g...@NOSPAMkirkland.net> wrote:
Ignoramus6496 wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:21:23 -0800, Steve B <dsrttr...@aol.com> wrote:

"Ignoramus6496" <ignoramus6...@NOSPAM.6496.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y-udnfVVibEmJibYnZ2dnUVZ_r_inZ2d@giganews.com...

I bought some 1/8 7018 electrodes on eBay made by "Washington
Alloy". They turned out to be described as AC/DC+ electrodes. Which
surprised me since most electrodes welding that I have done was with
DC-. My question is, what are they good for, can I use them for
welding my trailer for instance.

i

7018 will run AC or DC+. In my experience, though, I have had better
success when using the AC for flat position welding. You can get it nice
and hot for penetration and fusion, but when you go to the other positions,
it gets tricky. Also, on AC, I tend to think (from my experiences) that on
flat welding, it is very (repeat) very important to keep the arc length very
short so that you don't lose the arc and have to start again.

Because we were welding on oil rigs, AC was never used, and I don't have
much experience with AC except what I got on the beach. 7018 run flat on AC
will give you a beautiful strong weld. Just be careful and don't burn
through. May run at a slightly different amperage setting, too. Just go
get some scraps and play. As you find them from the trial and error method,
write down the correct settings on the wall above your welding machine in
crayon. Works for me.

Steve, I do not have AC, I have a DC welder. Can I use those rods in
DC+ for regular mild steel like trailer making, or is that for
something special?

Igor, I never heard of any 7018 rod you couldn't run DCEP on mild steel. Suggest
you simply take a piece of scrap and run a bead. Then you'll know.Grant, relieve my confusion please, does all 7018 rod require DCEP? Or
just 7018 rod that is specifically labeled "reverse polarity"? Thank you

i

it runs beautifully on revers polarity it does not run right on
straight

I was always told to run it DCEP and as soon as i saw how nice it ran
that way i never saw a reason not to

"Brent" <b_phil...@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:1169951603.610758.264250@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...

it runs beautifully on revers polarity it does not run right on
straight

I was always told to run it DCEP and as soon as i saw how nice it ran
that way i never saw a reason not toPolarity is confusing.

Straight - stinger negative
Reverse - stinger positive

I finally remembered it by SSN, Social Security Number

SSN - Straight Stinger Negative
Reverse would be opposite that.

DCEP and DCEN are easy.

DC- and DC+ are easy too, because the - and + tells what the electrode
stinger should be.

There's been more than one discussion about polarity and how to remember
what's what with straight, reverse, negative, positive, etc.

Just find one thing that you can remember easily, and stick with that.

For me, it's SSN.

Steve

I'm from an electronics background to me it just makes sense at a
bunch of theoretical levels and the way the current is flowing even
the work clamp not being at "Ground" makes perfect sense to me

I am a little surprised that so much effort is spent on memorizing a
simple fact that DCEN is straight polarity.

i

I'm from an electronics background to me it just makes sense at a
bunch of theoretical levels and the way the current is flowing even
the work clamp not being at "Ground" makes perfect sense to me

the trick is explaining it to others