That may not be easy to come by where he is. About a year ago or so I was going to send 1 lb of tig wire to a guy in NZ. The wire didn't cost me anything as it came from my former employer however the postage was well north of $50.00. I didn't send it. E-309L is the preferred dis-similiar fill wire but E-308L will work.
I would think with all the boat building on the North island, stainless filler should be abundant. But then again I could be wrong. It seems to happen daily.
Thanks Guys! I work in the pulp & paper industry & they stick stainless onto carbon steel quite a bit so there's a good chance the rods for it will be available here, if not, or if they only come in big packs I'll see if I can bum a couple of lengths from one of the local workshops. Cheers Clint
Thanks. I read somewhere that 7018 could be an AC or DC rod, but mine just says "7018", so it's probably made for DC like you say. I'll get a little starter kit of some of the 6 series rods.
7018 will run on AC, but its aggravating. It sticks to the plate when starting especially with a buzz box. Not the best way to learn to stick weld. Good idea to use something easier until you get the hang of it. Then try the 7018. Have fun and show us pictures of your welds. David
I've got a couple boxes of 7018AC you can have. They're just collecting dust since I have a mig at home now.
That would be most excellent for my screwing around with metal. I wish PG+E would get around to giving me 240v. . . .
So I called in at a local engineering business that does a big variety of stuff & asked for a few lengths of 309L, the bloke said 'Nah mate, what you need is some MG600' So for a couple bucks I walked out with some of that. It seemed to lay in nicely considering my n00b skill level. The butt welds on the rest of the tube with normal ss rods were nowhere near as pretty. I think I need to set up a purge on the inside to improve those. Cheers Clint
Hi Zak, some 7018AC rod has a little bit of potassium in it to help the arc when using an AC buzz box. It would be easier for you to maintain your arc with it. The old rod probably has alot of mositure in the coating so if you see porosity in your welds it is from the hydrogen mixing into your liquid metal from the H2O. You wont pass an x ray test but it would be ok to practice with.
My water cooler rig is seized up on my tig welder. It's been sitting for lots of years unused. I've only used the thing to stick weld a couple times. I'm not planning on doing any heavy work, so I don't think I need the water cooler. Apparently there is still water in the line because I could strike an arc. I'm I in danger of screwing something up without the cooler/pump going? Do I need to swap the torch and lines out with a dry one? Also, FYI argon co2 mix does not work for Tig. Couldn't figure out why I was burning up tungsten
You should be able to strike an arc; current doesn't care whether there's water or not. Yes, the leads are depending on water to keep from melting the liner. bbzzzzzttttt Wasn't so funny at the time was it. fwiw: My answers are for the TIG torch, not arc welding.
I guess I'm confused about my torch setup, there is just 3 lines, gas, coolant supply, coolant return. Is the copper line inside of one of the coolant lines?