Welding Rod brands DO make a difference: see this testimonial about a 140ST.

[performance]

Had a customer call last night kinda late, and was about to eat supper, but I took the call anyway. He was having trouble duplicating my results with the 140ST in the video. He was using 6011 and 7018 (AC?)....Neither was performing satisfactorily. He said the amps were low and welds were cold. He was using both Harbor Freight, and Forney rods....presumably bought somewhere like a NAPA or some other parts store and of course Harbor Freight. I like HF for the record...but their rods are junk IMHO. I told him to switch to Lincoln Fleetweld.
Name has been blanked out, so customer identity is secret unless he wants to chime in further about his experience. He is a great guy...and willing to follow what I suggested even though I know he was skeptical...I think he is glad that he did...You decide:

Hey mark,
Its ****, I was on the phone with you last night about my little power arc 140.The Fleetweld 3/32 6011 worked real good! I switched back to the Harbor freight 6011,s and the welder felt like it was working on half the amps.Must have been a bad batch.After I tried the fleetwelds,I made up new 10' leads,new stinger,better ground clamp.Now compared to an Arc one 100 inverter,it really shines,function and price.Thanks for taking the time to talk to me last night.Your product,and tech service,just sold me on a Imig 200 next LOL!.Thanks again, ****

[I_Love_Plasma]

I bought some off brand from amazon.com. And they are a complete waste of money. But K&T Industries are really good as are Hobart's rods. Maybe I should shell out a couple extra bucks to try some Fleetwelds' out. I just became the proud owner of PowerArc 200. It'll be here in a couple days. To keep this on topic: Keeping those 70 series rods crispy dry also make a huge difference! I keep mine stored in dry heat at 155-180 normally (155-160*F).

[willysmb]

Hey Mark,
YUp the little bugger welds real nice with decent rod LOL!.Also runs 3/32 rod @ 80 amps 115v,instead of the HF 6011 that needed like 120 amps.Best of the 115v inverters Ive had so far (3).Ill be giving you a call for that imig 200 real soon.Thanks again,Merry Christmas!

[Haywire]

After talking with Mark, I'll be giving Lincoln rods a try when I run out of the Hobart that I have now. At the rate I'm using them though, it'll be 5 years. LOL

Ian

[bobwills]

I been using hobart for a while and they been working good but I did order 5lbs of 6010 5p to try with my powerarc and they are lincoln so Ill be trying them soon.

[welderdude]

Hey I_Love_Plasma, if you think the Hobart rods are good, try Esab's rods. I really notice that their atom-arc 7018s and their 6011 run way better than the hobarts. Also, all the hobart 7018 rods I have bought came damp out of the package. I believe
Esabs Atom-arcs are moisture resistant, which is nice, because I don't have a rod oven.

[bobwills]

Do you order the esabs or buy them from somewhere and also how much are they for 5lbs.

[jerky]

Esabs 7018 are complete garbage. They fingernail, run very irraticly and are just crap. The only thing i do lik about them though is the little gunpowder on the tip for an easy start. I reccommend air liquids blue shield 7018. Much nicer rod all around... As for 6010 all ive ever ran was lincon 5p+, and after hundreds of boxes burnt through, i have nothing bad to say about it.

[welderdude]

@ Jerkey. Here are some pictures of the esab rods I use. They dont have the black thing on the tip.

@ bobwills. I get them from my local welding store. they are about $3.50 a pound. The smallest can they stock is a 10 pound metal can.

[DaveO]

Welcome, Willysmb- sounds like you may be the customer Mark wrote about in post #1 in this thread. What part of NJ are you in? (I was in Parsippany for a few years.)

Mark's starting post in this thread says he doesn't like HarFreight rods, and the customer he talks about couldn't get HF rods to burn well... post #6 and #8 talk about two widely different opinion of Esab rods... probably safe to assume the HF rods are from offshore. Welderdude and Jerky, if your Esab rods are still in the package, do you mind checking to see where they are made? I'm interested to see if there's a pattern.

[welderdude]

Sadly, the can is long gone. I got them back in march and put them in a sealed plastic container to try and keep them dry.

One thing I like about the rods is that there idn't a noticable difference between fresh rods that are kept in an oven and rods that has been sitting out in a tub for who knows how long at the LWS. Thats not to say that the welds the old rods make wont have hydrogen imbrittlement, but its great for practicing.

Hear is the link to rod info on Esab's sight.

http://products.esabna.com/EN/home/f..._arc_7018_7018

[jerky]

Welcome, Willysmb- sounds like you may be the customer Mark wrote about in post #1 in this thread. What part of NJ are you in? (I was in Parsippany for a few years.)

Mark's starting post in this thread says he doesn't like HarFreight rods, and the customer he talks about couldn't get HF rods to burn well... post #6 and #8 talk about two widely different opinion of Esab rods... probably safe to assume the HF rods are from offshore. Welderdude and Jerky, if your Esab rods are still in the package, do you mind checking to see where they are made? I'm interested to see if there's a pattern.

we go through lots of this stuff, last time i check it came from sweden. our company buys it cause its 'cheap'. ill check tommorrow for more info.

[DaveO]

I googled "ESAB electrodes made where" and found this link dated Feb 2010, also at the esab site, and a quote from that link:
http://www.esabna.com/us/en/newslett...ler-Metals.cfm

"All our aluminum wires are manufactured by AlcoTec in Traverse City, Michigan. The majority of our green rod sources for Stick, SAW and MIG products come from domestically produced steel and 100% of our Dual Shield, Coreshield, Alloy Shield and Coreweld products are made from domestically produced steel."

This doesn't mention the atom arc rods, though.

My bigger concern is the reliability of off shore rods, and if they say "6011" or "7018" can we rely on that. Everlast is made in China and their manufacturing is closely watched by Everlast people here; other manufacturers (the ones that brought us toxic sheet rock and antifreeze in the toothpaste, for instance) may have less integrity.

[SeanMurphy265]

I have had bad luck with Hobart rods from the box stores Northern Tool, Tractor Supply, etc. About the only thing I have had decent luck is with 7018AC rods. I have had good luck with Forney 7014 rods from the local hardware store. I have had good luck with cheap rods sold by the lws, they seem to run better. I think it has something to do with how long they sit on the shelf and where they store them before they arrive at the box store.

[jerky]

so here is the crap esab rod we use. i burned about 75 of these today. out of those 75 most fingernailed during the weld. maybe ten or so the flux just cracked right off the whole rod. they are always kept in a rod oven that is calibrated monthly. basically the whole shop agrees, these rods are cheap crap. also there 3/32" so u dont have to convert

[willysmb]

Welcome, Willysmb- sounds like you may be the customer Mark wrote about in post #1 in this thread. What part of NJ are you in? (I was in Parsippany for a few years.)

Mark's starting post in this thread says he doesn't like HarFreight rods, and the customer he talks about couldn't get HF rods to burn well... post #6 and #8 talk about two widely different opinion of Esab rods... probably safe to assume the HF rods are from offshore. Welderdude and Jerky, if your Esab rods are still in the package, do you mind checking to see where they are made? I'm interested to see if there's a pattern.

Hey daveO,
YUp,North Jersey,Parsippany is maybe 20 miles from me.Im near Paterson.On th HF rods,Ive never had issues with them running an arc one 100 amp 115v inverter,Forney 100amp inverter or my thermal arc 161.The everlast 140 did not like them,need to run this batch thru the thermal arc again to confirm if its rod or machine.The everlast 140 runs Lincoln excalibur 7018,Forney 7018, really well,also forney 7014 nice.I tried Lincoln 7018ac rod (home depot) runs nice,but i get pin holes if i dont keep a real tight arc.On the 60 series rod,the Lincoln fleetweld 6011 work,and the forney 6011 also.Very impressed with this little machine so far,and I havent tried it on 220 volt yet

[welderdude]

I gotta wonder if the box had been dropped. It doesn't seem to take much to do some damage to a box of 7018s. Were the rods sealed in a plastic bag? One other thing I notice, although I doubt it makes a difference, is that they have the -1 suffix, which means the welds are more impact resistant.

Also, by finger-nailing, you mean that a chunk of the flux sticks off the rod and doesn't melt, therefore causing it to long arc and/or arc out the side?

[bobwills]

I always run the Hobart 7018s from like tractor supply. While back I got some hf 7018s 5 lbs for like $4 and its safe to say they suck. But the hobarts are always good on the everlast. Today ran some hard surface rods the powerarc. They ran great. I got some lincoln 5p 6010s i wanna try. Im sure they will run awesome to. What 6010s do everyone get. The 5p or 5p+?

[jerky]

Its not just this box, we changed to this over a year ago, been through countless boxes, fully sealed, and like i said they go into a rod oven. By fingernailing i mean as you weld the flux cracks off the rod, about a half inch long just above the tip. Its a real pain in the ### and time consuming fixing that. Im just venting as i can probably guess no one else will ever come across this type of rod. And if u do, you will know what i ment in all of this and steer clear of them. Dont know if i mentioned but we did have a box of air liquid blueshield 7018 and they work great. They are kept side by side in the same oven

[performance]

Jerky,

PART of the problem is that "boxed" rods, unless sealed in a vacuum packed canister with a pull tab are wet. Holding them in a rod oven does not dry them out properly. You MUST BAKE them at about 600 degrees, or whatever the mfgr suggests to be the proper baking temperature. Just sliding them in the rod oven won't do it. Each rod will react differently if not properly rebaked from brand to brand.

Those are the "Atom Arc" rods I don't think.