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Yesterday I finally figured out why my beads kept looking like crap
Been running 7018 rods way too hot for like 8 years, and this old timer at the shop just glanced at my weld and showed me the difference with 5 amps less. Anyone else have a basic setting they ignored forever that turned out to be the problem?
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william_carter1mo ago
Yeah 7018 is super picky about heat, I run mine around 115-120 amps for 1/8" and that made a world of difference once I stopped trying to blast through everything.
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rileynelson1mo ago
How's your joint fit-up when you run that hot? @william_carter I've had way better luck with 7018 around the 90-95 amp mark for 1/8" on most stuff. Any hotter and the puddle gets too fluid and starts running all over me, especially on vertical or overhead. I think those old timers who say run it hot probably had crappy machines that lied about the numbers, or they were welding thick plate with gaps you could throw a cat through. What kind of position are you usually in?
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