7018 questions

[injun joe]

ok now at the college i went to they had 7018 and when you welded with them that the slag was almost like a mustard yellow color and then i noticed that there are 7018 rods out there that give off a black slag like the excalibur i know of but i was wondering if this rod makes a big difference. i was also wondering if this rod performs better because i normally get discouraged using the other rod because the performance to me just isnt all that great so much so that i usually use other rod like 6011,6013 etc.

[Rocky D]

7018 runs a little different than the 60xx rods, but I think that once you get used to it you will want to use it more than the 60xx rods.

[Critter]

Hey Joe, if you have AC only like me try the 7014, runs dang neer the same, and hold a little longer arc, not much, bout the diameter of the rod. I've come to like the stuff.

[weldgault]

It should run better because of the Iron Powder addition in the 7018. John

[injun joe]

well theres about 5% more iron powder in the 7014 than in the 18 and i do and have run a lot of 18 because i use it at school and when i took college classes and i do most of my welding on ac despite the ignorance of ppl runs like a beauty for me so most of the time i do use 7014 so no one asked my question would the excalibur exceed my expectations than compared to the cheapo rod from the hardware store.

[tresi]

I'm not real sure what you're asking. Are you asking if the appearance differance of the flux between differance brands makes a differance? Or are you asking if using 7018 over other electrodes makes a difference? As for the flux issue yes different brands may look totally different and still meet the specs for 7018 electrodes. Different brands even run a little different than others. Some welders have their favourite brand. Often times if welding professionally you'll be given a box of rod and told "this meets the specs, learn to like it". Your welder will make quite a bit of difference. 7018 will run on AC but low voltage entry level buzzbox AC welders won't run 7018 worth a dang. In that case use 7018AC which is made to work with low voltage AC welders.
Does 7018 rod make a difference over other rods? That depends on what you're welding. For general purpose mild steel work pick your favourite rod. It's not going to make that much difference. If you're working on something that is really thick, likely to crack, make of low alloy high strength steel, or wear plate using dry 7018 over other general purpose rods will make a big difference. As for myself I only keep 2 types of rod on hand 6010/6011 and 7018. That's enough to handle most anything you normally run across.

[injun joe]

well what i am really asking is does the excalibur rod make a difference because i noticed the slag difference in slag appearence i have never used the 7018 rod that has black slag just the rods with yellowish slag so my question is does the black slag make a difference.

[enlpck]

my question is does the black slag make a difference.

No.

There are differences between brands in terms of arc characteristic, slag adherence, weld bead surface, tendency to undercut, etc., but the color of the slag is not an indicator of anything in particular, other than as it is influenced by chemical composition of the base metal and the composition of any contaminants in the weld area.