Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys a friend of mine gave me some Lincoln code arc 7018mr's and all I have is a Lincoln tombstone 225ac. My question is are these rods ac compatable because I was burning them, and they seemed to burn ok kinda hard to get an arc lit and keeping it lit but once they lit the seemed pretty decent. They went out sometimes and I had to do a quick little strike and they lit back up. Don't really know if this is normal or what but are these things supposed to run on DC+ or what? Never really ran 7018's before so I have no idea how there supposed to be.

These rods can run on DCEP or AC.
On AC you typically have to run about 10amps hotter than you would on DCEP.

Ok, they are 3/32 and I ran them on 105amps. I tried running them today on a flat t joint and they really ran like crap, flipped it to vertical and did vertical up and they seemed ok. Are they ment to run vertical up or what, might have to try a small box of 7018ac to see how they run.

I run my 3/32 7018 down around 75-85 amps.

You may want to post a pic of the rods and an example of a weld.

I tried running them on 90 amps but it was almost impossible to get and arc started. I will post a pic of the rods and a weld. Will have to go make one, I covered my t joint ones with 7014 because they look better.

Lincoln list 80-120amps on ac for these rods. So if you are doing a flat tee joint I would try 110 amps and adjust up or down from there.

I think that brings into play what Coldman said earlier about bumping up the amps for ac. I mostly am useing dc machines inverters or gas powered.

My buzzbox doesn't care for 7018 3/32 electrodes either. Jump up to 1/8 and I think you'll see a big improvement.

Ok, I would try 110 amps but the Lincoln only goes up by 15amp incremants so the next closest amp setting is 120. I was welding a big solid 3x4" block and they did start to run better when it heated up. Can anyone tell me how to post pics on here I tried posting one and it said it was a invalid file?? I will try 1/8" rods when I need more since I normally use 1/8" rods but for now I'm just trying to make use of these ones.

In that case I would definitely give 120amps a go.
Make sure your pics are in jpg file format or they won't be recognized.

Ok when I give 120amps it runs a little better but the rod basically melts right out of the stinger! And I know this is probably a dumb question but how do I know if its in jpg format lol, for a 16yo I should probably know this kinda stuff haha.

From what ever viewer you are using click on "save as" give the pic a new name and location and select from file format options "jpg".
This will ensure you have a true jpg file.

What is the condition of the rods?
How have they been stored and how old are they?

I got the rods towards the end of the summer and opened them up to try them and couldn't weld with them because I had about 5min of stick welding time with no training, just going from what I learned from jodys videos. Anyways I thought they were do only so I took them to school where there's a dc welder where they stayed for about 6months in a locker, they had the cap not the container but they had been previously opened. Now I have them in a tray we have on the bottom of wood stove and it keeps them probably 150* or so not really sure but it's definately warm and dry. Sorry for the long post figured I'd give you there history just so you would have an idea.

Ok I give up on the pictures lol.

OK. A couple of things.
150 degrees might be ok for maintaining the rods, but if they have been lying around exposed for 6 months they need to be reconditioned (baked at about 300 degrees for awhile. The packet should have manufacturers instructions.)
This may not make much difference with what's going on right now unless they have gone past usable condition.

So it looks like 120amps on your machine is too much for these rods. You are also welding on very thick steel (3"x4" block) which requires a lot of current and maybe more than these 3/32 rods can work with. Also as the previous poster said of his experience, your particular machine may be finicky with 3/32 rods as well.

So without pics I can't offer more advice other than suggesting getting some new rods and trying them.

Anyone else care to chime in?

Ok thanks coldman, I will keep trying to get some pics uploaded and try some larger rods. Again thanks for your help.

Well I don't think it the rods because I took some back to school and they ran great and the slag popped right off, btw I ra them on dcep.

Maybe it is just your machine not liking those rods in 3/32. Be interesting to see how it plays with 1/8.

So, I dont have a ton of experience with 3/32 7018, but I do remember having to run a 'long' arc, to get them to burn and stay lit, that might help because of the big jump up in amps. Id say 120 sounds hot, with 3/32, I would try 105 with slightly longer arc than buried up l Ike normal 7018. But like I said, I dont have a lot of experience with 3/32.

I have the same Lincoln 225 ac welder and ran into a similar problem with 7018's, but they were 1/8". after re-reading the box I saw they were only for DC welding, and NOT AC. After doing a little research I discovered that 7018's were historically a DC only rod. Until recently and AC version has come out.
So the DC 7018 ran like crap right out of the box and I gave them away. I picked up some AC 7018 (Hobart brand) and they were fine. They were a bit picky on arc length I would say, and would go out if I strayed further than 1/4" from the puddle.
This may be your entire problem, having a DC only rod and trying to run them on AC.
BFT.