So on the farm I do lots of welding, more welding, endless other repairs and some hard facing. I usually choose my welding current based on what works and got pretty good at judging it. I got a new rod, stoody 35, hardfacing rock picker teeth. I'm not perfect enough to get it to self peel but I can get it so once it cools a bit a light tap and it falls off. Comes out nice weird purple/red color. 3/16 rod I believe (big one) maybe 3/8? I forget but I am using around 140-150 amps. It recommends like 230-250, if I do that I'll just incinerate everything. I find all the hard facing rods are like that, the recommend an amperage that would damn near blow a hole in inch plate.... why do that do this? Why give such an insane number? Am I thinking wrong? Thanks for any info
Any welders here?
- Thread starter Shadow_storm56
- Start date
Generally, hard facing should be applied with just enough current to generate fusion with the base metal. Anything additional "heat wise" promotes admixture and dilutes the chemistry of the electrode.
Some fancy electrodes complete their final chemistry blending in the arc. I used some electrodes that were actually a steel tube filled with tungsten carbide granules and some other stuff. Right angle grinder would bounce off of those beads.
Also, verify your polarity or if the electrode is AC only.
Some fancy electrodes complete their final chemistry blending in the arc. I used some electrodes that were actually a steel tube filled with tungsten carbide granules and some other stuff. Right angle grinder would bounce off of those beads.
Also, verify your polarity or if the electrode is AC only.
Runs With Scissors
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L2501 TLB , Grappel, Brush Hog, Box Blade, Ballast box, Forks, Tiller, PH digger
I'm not a welder by trade, I just love to TIG and MIG, but I have never stick welded anything yet.
GreensvilleJay
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BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
I usually use 1/8" 7018AC rods around 120 amps, for building trailers and general repairs.
3/8" rod is 'huge' and yes, would need 225 amps..that's a LOT of metal to weld.
One trick I was shown was to put the bucket on a sheet of copper, as 'weld' don't stick to it, allows you better control to 'grow' the edge .
3/8" rod is 'huge' and yes, would need 225 amps..that's a LOT of metal to weld.
One trick I was shown was to put the bucket on a sheet of copper, as 'weld' don't stick to it, allows you better control to 'grow' the edge .
That's what I always do, but the recommended current thing had me curious. Whare does that number come from? It's the current I would use to weld heavy plate with good depth with that rod size.
Oh that's the thing, in practice 225 amps is waayyyy too much.
From ESAB's website: Stoody 35 is a solid core electrode with a heavy extruded coating that contains the alloying elements.
I think this is why more current is being recommended by the manufacturer; final chemistry is achieved at the puddle.
I think this is why more current is being recommended by the manufacturer; final chemistry is achieved at the puddle.
When I started welding our school only had Stick or Gas, Stick was great for thick metal, 225 amps is really high, with that you would have to move faster. When I see those hardening welds, they are all more the surface only and never pretty, wonder if the type of metals is not happy with each other.
The amperage is correct for 3/16 rod. This rod is designed for DCRP current only. If you are using AC or DCSP current it will be unstable. Especially DCSP. Now let’s talk about the base metal. How thick is it? How weldable is it? The second question is one you can’t know for sure but some higher carbon steel and high manganese steel will require preheat if it is weldable at all.
I’ve done some hard facing on excavator buckets with this rod and it requires preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent thermal shock. In position (flat) only
I’ve done some hard facing on excavator buckets with this rod and it requires preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent thermal shock. In position (flat) only
Maybe, hard to say..... Whatever it is I'm getting a nice oil on water colored beads
It's just a plain mild steel, it welds fine just if I use the recommended current I have to go alot faster or I'll just blow an inch into the material. Keep in mind my welder is an old idealarc 250, transformer style welder. Apparently transformer style tends to put out alot more amperage than listed I guess?
The important thing to note here is I'm not having trouble getting it to weld, just trouble getting the real and listed numbers to match
mcmxi
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Lifetime Member
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***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25DLB
It's possible that the rod needs the current range referenced by ESAB in order to work as designed. Have you considered other ESAB rods such as Stoody 19 that might be optimized for the material you're trying to weld? The color of the weld bead that you mentioned is interesting, so is that indicative of something not working as designed? I would think that you'd want to start out with an amperage range based on material thickness, then function, and find a rod that does what you need at the desired amperage range. Mabye a call or email to ESAB.
I like 1/8" 7018 for general fabrication work since it's a rod that works well in most applications, although it requires considerable skill for vertical up. 6011 is my go to for rusty, old steel and general repairs. Maybe Stoody 35 isn't the rod you need to be using for your chosen application.
The c
The color described is correct according to videos, also I need the hardness as even stoody 31 wears off pretty fast. 7018 is what I use for almost everything else it's great, vertical, upside down everything. See I can do the 200+ amps probably just do 200 as I know my welder shoots higher and it'll work I just gotta go faster. What I'm welding is rock picker teeth so they are only maybe 1.5x the rod width so high amps they want to heat up fast and run away.
The color for stoody 35 according to videos should be the color I'm seeing in a nice even consistency
The color described is correct according to videos, also I need the hardness as even stoody 31 wears off pretty fast. 7018 is what I use for almost everything else it's great, vertical, upside down everything. See I can do the 200+ amps probably just do 200 as I know my welder shoots higher and it'll work I just gotta go faster. What I'm welding is rock picker teeth so they are only maybe 1.5x the rod width so high amps they want to heat up fast and run away.
The color for stoody 35 according to videos should be the color I'm seeing in a nice even consistency
mcmxi
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Lifetime Member
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***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25DLB
Interesting stuff. Could you drop down to 1/8" or 5/32" since the teeth don't offer much in the way of a heatsink?
I worked as a welder both above and underwater for around 12 years. There were very few days when I didn't enjoy working as a welder. I haven't kept up with the latest and greatest but have a Millermatic 185 and Lincoln Square Wave TIG 200 that offers stick too (DC only). I really enjoy welding projects and am always messing with something that requires welding. I'll be making a custom receiver for the M1078 in a few weeks so that I can pull my trailers around.
Is it possible your amperage-selector knob has slipped? (not putting out the amps you believe you’ve selected?) The end-results are what you’re after….not the “theoretical”.
No it lines up with min and max, see the other thing I forget is these amperage value recommendations are also going to be for a certain travel speed too. I'm pretty good at adapting to current with different speeds. I did find at 200amps the stoody 35 worked better though but had to go faster. But again it recommends around 250 amps which would dust my rod, entire rod start glowing, smoking then gone. Then again I never tried this with any other welder for hardfacing who knows at 200a setting it could be outputting 250 and at 250 outputting 300..... I have a new welder which is Tig/Stick, bought it for Tig but wanted to do some stick with it. But it's max output in DC is 160, too low for hard facing very well......
If I put both welders at 160 the new one seems far weaker, although I still managed to do some hardfacing with the big rods with it, just very slowly...... It could very well be that what welders have told me in passing is true, old transformer based machines are tough as nails but the current settings are far from accurate..... idk like I said I just use the specs as a starting point and move it around to what works for what I'm welding.
Side note my big welder must have a bunch of dust in it, was getting warmer than usual today. Hasn't been opened in 15+ years so probably due for a cleaning.... maybe a fan.
I'm always welding stuff on the farm, hard facing, repairs.... building new stuff. My newest welder does tig so that's fun and now I can fix my aluminum pipe. My 2 welders are a big old Lincon 250, and a new Ecowave 200.. or is it 210 I forget. Oh and a little portable mig welder too. The lincon can really pump out the amps, the Ecowave is very smooth and stable. As a farmer I think I get just the right amount of welding for my tastes
Those Lincoln Idealarc machines are bulletproof. Put tons of 3/16 x 7018 rod through one where I used to work many years ago. Always cranked to the max and never one issue