7018 H4R Welding Rods

I just acquired the above listed welding rods , 7018 H4R . What type of metal are the rods used for . Aluminum , steel , etc.. What minumum and maximum thickness that they are used for and what type of machine , as in AC Or DC or both . To look at them , I'd say at least a 220 VAC machine . Could they be used on a 120 VAC 75 amp. machine as that is the only stick welder that I have . I don't own a 220 VAC machine , yet anyway. They are about 18 inces long and about as big around as a no. 2 pencil . The powder was comming off of some of them . I'm therefore assuming that they got wet but not for sure. Can the powder just naturally fall of without them being wet ? I say that it could , but I'm no welder by no means . Well , anyway what is the spec. and requiements on these rods ? Thanks for any and all help .

Thanks ,
Whizkid

If the flux is already coming off, you might as well pitch them now!

7018 is a low-hyrdrogen rod, medium strength, medium penetration. It absorbs moisture from the air and gets useless pretty fast. When I use it from an open can that's been sitting around, I lay it out on top of my woodstove and bake it before using. When it's dry, it's a hardp-starting rod (unlike 6011), and damp it is awful.

It's AC or DC. 7010 is the DC version. Good for welding cast steel and some dis-similar metals. Dry 1/8" rod takes around 80-120 amps.
Your 120 volt welder might work in short runs with 1/8" rod (depending on duty cycle) but not with 5/32"

Bake them at 400deg for a coulpe of hours(do not tell the wife) they will be fine.

Hi Whizkid,

In their Stick Electrode Product Catalog, Lincoln Electric says that if their 7018 electrodes have come in contact with water or been exposed to high humidity---which it sounds as if yours have---they can be dried by preheating to 180-200 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours, then brought to a final redrying temp of 650-750 degrees for 1 hour. Several hours of lower temp will not equal the correct higher temp. Put another way, you're not going to be able to get them back to spec.

You could still use them to practice welding with, but, unfortunately, probably not with the welder you have. 7018 electrodes are extrememly difficult to strike and keep going with an AC welder until you get to the larger sizes (3/16 and up) which require 200 amps or more. A welder which tops out at 75 amps (and almost undoubtedly has low open circuit voltage) probably won't even strike an arc with 7018. I have an 80 amp DC inverter welder which won't even strike 3/32 7018 because the OCV is so low.

Welding is easy, but welding right is not easy at all, and requires a huge amount of practice. Trying to learn to weld on a cheap, underpowered welder is like trying to learn to ride a bicycle that has only one pedal---pointlessly difficult. Get yourself a real welder (there's nothing wrong with a Lincoln tombstone 225 AC welder which you can buy for $100 on craigslist) and really learn to weld, or don't bother.

All the best, Stan

Of the 4 basic types of mild steel electrodes(cellulose 6010, rutile 6013, iron powder 7014 and low hydrogen 7018) 7018 is by far the strongest. 7018 is the go to rod if you're not sure what type of steel you're welding. 7010 is an entirely different rod than 7018 and used in different applications. If the rods you have are crumbling apart, they're almost useless but could make good gap rods for fitting pipe if you knock the flux off. If they're 18" long they are a minimum 3/16" rod and you'll need approx 200 amps to burn them properly and close to 300 amps if they're 1/4" rods. They work best on DC reverse polarity but can be used on AC if you have a good AC welder. There is no way they will work with a 120 volt welder. They strike an arc as easy as any other rod if you have a decent welding machine. The biggest problem is that the end of the rod gets a slag covering that makes restriking an arc a little more difficult unless the slag is knocked off. Dave

I took a few of the rods to a friends small engine garage this evening and it just so happened that he was going to weld on a lawnmower deck out from under a MTD Brand White mower . The mower was app. 10 years old, so it wasn't the heavy guage steel like they had twenty years ago. He had to crank up the amperage on his old 220 V AC Forney welder as you guys said that they required. He also had a time getting them started. He finally got one to burn for a few seconds. He gave up and went back to his old rods that he normally used . The weld looked like you had melted a wax candle . The weld also turned brown looking. Never seen a weld do that before. A guy there that works in a farm hardware store said that they were for welding real thick metal at high amps. Oh well , I'll try drying them in the oven , but as I don't have a big welder ,I won't be using them anytime soon. Wonder how long that they will keep and still be usable ? Thanks for all the replies.

Thanks ,
Whizkid

Your baby welder cant run them.Save them for a 220 welder.Many 240 welders cant run them.Lincoln 225 welders can be bought new for 268 bucks.used go for 100 bucks.Dont waste time with a baby welder.

Here is a 7018 weld, done with a 25-year old Miller 240-volt single phase welder. Not perfect, but good enough for a hobbyist :wink:

Just discussed this with an old time welder this week. He places the rod rapped in tin foil in a toaster oven at 350 for about 3 minutes for moister. Small amount of rod.

Yes, that was a typo. That's what I get for trying to post using a lap-top. My fingers don't fit the keyboard, and I can't see what's on the screen unless I'm wearing glasses.

What I meant to "say" was AWS 7016.

The strength of any of them is self-evident since the first two numbers denote average tensile strength. I.e., 7016 and 7018 are both 70,000 lbs. tensile strength, whereas 6010, 6011, 6013, etc. are 60,000 lbs.

I used to buy a lot of surplus 7016 since it was used in bridge builing project.

For higher-strength, I use 11018 rod.

7016 are an earlier low hydrogen electrode and hard to find. I think there were 7015's at one time too. They were phased out when 7018 came along. Tensile strength is only a small factor in determining rod strength. A 6010 or 6011 weld has superior strength to a 6013. The first 2 or 3 numbers indicate the minimum tensile strength. Mild steel is around 60,000 psi tensile strength. Dave

You can still weld with them if its just the end the flux is coming off of.Strike it where the flux is coming off but at the top of where its missing.If they are good they will still work.If they are bad then the weld will be full of porosity and the coating will fall off in chunks.Heating them in an over for a couple of hours might get them to work.

I always keep my 7018 rods in an oven

The "R" in this spec stands for low moisture absorption rate.

The "H4" in this spec stands for low hydrogen content in the deposited weld.

Scott
Fab manager
http://www.welders360.com/