Stick welding questions:

[I_Love_Plasma]

I talked to Alex today. He said that you are getting a new 300 amp SMAW welder in. What size rod could 300amps burn (max)?

[bobwills]

A 3/16 7018 would probly be a good choice for a 300 amp unit. Its a little low range to get into the 1/4 " 70 seriese electrodes as they like just above 300
But if you go for 6010 or 6011 then the range for them is like 210 to just a bit over 300.

[performance]

3/16? 300 amps would burn it up. I burn 5/32 at 100-140 amps and it gets hot at the high end. 1/4" would/should burn fine. 7/32 would give plenty of margin for comfort.

[bobwills]

I looked it up and 1/4 6010 or 6011 is range from like 200-315 so it would be good no matter what. Also 6013 is right in the range from 250-350. 1/4 7018 the low side starts at 320 so prolly a 7/32 would be about right, it shows a range from 260-340. But Im not sure how hard it is to find that size. Cause it sounds like it could be a bit hard to come by at any local lowes or tractor supply. And i looked up the 3/16 7018 and they run form 200-275 so that aint quite utilizing all that welders power.

[performance]

Depends upon what rod it is and WHOSE it is...Those figures are rough and not always reliable.

[I_Love_Plasma]

I was just curious. Thanks for the replies. My Dad asked me yesterday what rod to use on aluminum. I didn't know. What rod do you use and do you switch the work clamp to the negative with the rod positive? We would be using a EverLast PowerArc 200 or 300. Grade 3003 aluminum and whatever is common.

[DaveO]

I found a link to some information:
http://www.hildstrom.com/projects/st...x.html#method1

In this article mentions the author mentions he used an Everlast machine. From what I've read the rods burn quickly so the welds take some practice. You can get them from cyberweld.com and even amazon.com, but interestingly I couldn't find any info on the Harris site.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Thanks a lot Dave! Great information. Now It kind of implies that 4043 rods are the most common and can be used on most of the aluminum alloys that they cook up. To me it would be worth getting the appropriate rod and match it to the base metal. For say; If I wanted to weld 3003 aluminum, wouldn't I look for a 3003 rod for filler? I searched "most common aluminum alloy grade" at www.Google.com the results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6061_aluminium_alloy

[DaveO]

If I wanted to weld 3003 aluminum, wouldn't I look for a 3003 rod for filler?

I am way out of my depth here, so I'll look forward to one of the experts joining the conversation. But this Esab site suggests that filler metal choice depends on a number of factors, and Nxxx base material can be welded with Yxxx filler, for instance.
http://esabna.com/us/en/education/kn...um-Welding.cfm

[I_Love_Plasma]

Yeah ESAB makes it into a complicated science. I'm not going to be welding airplane parts anytime soon. So this much information could be irrelevant to heavy commercial to light industrial welds. Mark or Mike any ideas???

[DaveO]

Correction to an earlier post: this rod is on the Harris site at this link:
http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/e.../Alloy-26.aspx

It's annoying, though, that nothing on the Harris site identifies the alloy of this rod. If you click on the part number you can get a "typical" certificate of compliance, which lists components of the electrode as
Beryllium 0.008
Copper 0.3
Iron 0.8
Magnesium 0.05
Manganese 0.05
Silicon 4.5-6.0
Titanium 0.2
Zinc 0.1
Remainder Al

That amount of silicon puts it in the 4xxx series, but I haven't been able to confirm the earlier reference that it is a 4043.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Hmm, okay. I might call my local welding guy and fetch his opinion. Mike must be really busy. Left a message on his phone to call me. If you find anything more that'd be great. If I find out something, I will definitely post it.

[DaveO]

I've think I've run it to ground: with the exception of the beryllium content, the components from the certificate of compliance is a dead nuts match to the 4043 composition at this wiki site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_alloy

[I_Love_Plasma]

Ha Ha, okie dokie. I just sent Harris inc an email asking them if it was 4043. So, we will see what they say. It would and also wouldn't be funny if they said it was different.

Thanks a bunch for helping me dig up answers!

[DaveO]

I got on the online chat with Harris, and they sent me a spec sheet. I couldn't post the whole PDF file, so here is a clip of most of that doc.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Thank you Dave. I will have to give those rods a try sometime soon. Have you ever welded aluminum with a stick welder?

[DaveO]

For the moment I'm limited to my little AC crackerbox welder (altho I'm planning to upgrade when finances allow), so I haven't stick welded aluminum. At $25 a pound these electrodes are pricey, but keeping some in the inventory sounds like a smart idea- could prove very useful for a field repair, say, if MIG or TIG is impractical.

[I_Love_Plasma]

haha we are in the same boat.. We have a 1940's-50's AC buzz box with kill-ya-off 295 amps. Gotta be really careful not to step on the cords or drag the cords across one another it WILL shock you. Even through 600v rated Redwings...Lots of bare spots in the cables. We are really thinking hard about a PowerArc200 or 300 (Everlast stick welder) to replace the killer queen buzz box.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Well I got a email back from Harris inc. She said the beryllium content was in the flux and the filler metal was indeed 4043. So yeah, Hobart sells the stuff too as 4043. It's about $9 for ten rods. Buck per rod 7018 rods are $0.16 for me....

[I_Love_Plasma]

I bought rods yesterday...6011's say DC-,DC+, and AC. 7018's say DC+ and AC. Is, DC+, where the electrode is positive or work piece is positive?

I guess I sound dumb for not knowing.