Retesting 7014 results from “Stick rod shootout”
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- In this episode we test 7014 again on 1/4 in plates. Will higher amperage make a difference?
0:00:00 Intro
0:02:14 let’s weld
0:04:34 review of results
0:08:49 conclusion
I found that the comment section is full of good knowledge, in addition to the episode itself. Cheers.
I was told, as a young man, that the 7014 was a rod for decorative welding and appearance work. I used to fix floor boards in old farm trucks with them because they fill without burning holes and there's very little splatter.
Considering how the penetration is I bet they would work excellent on thin material, especially with the mini 1/16th rods. Any help you can get on thin material is a benefit, it’s no easy stick welding sheet metal lol.
It’s crazy how people get excited about stick welding, MiG welding, Tig welding… But treat flux core like it’s the bastard child of welding…😂 In my opinion they all have their place.
Yeah I always thought that too. I think a lot of people think flux core is just ac only harbor freight boxes that barely make a weld lol. It’s a great process for thicker metal, far more than Mig.
I still think 7014 is a better choice for 16ga and 14ga tubing projects. Anything to help prevent blowing holes. I would agree on running 6010 and 7018 on everything 3/16 and up.
Glad you came back with more amps. You’re right, very interesting. Thanks!
Thanks for following up in this test. Much appreciated.
You’re welcome 😀. After the results in the stick weld shootout video I had to know how much more amperage would help. Not a whole lot, that’s for sure lol. Had I ran 7018 at 130 amps (my normal for thicker plate) it would have definitely surpassed 7014.
This is 1/8" stick, right?!? On 1/4" plate, at 130, and 120amps.
I really like 7014 for light work, it seems to be easy to use, but I don't have enough "time in the saddle" to say too much about it. I did get a good supply of 5/64" and 1/16" sticks before the post- pandemic inflation-pocalyse. The 1/16" sticks literally more than doubled in price.
If you wanted to do that joint again with 1/8", you could bevel the edge more and do a root pass with 3/32" 6010/11, then weld over like you already did. On the other hand, that weld looks pretty damn strong as is.
I appreciate that you try stuff, and then test the result. Thanks for the stick welding series, it makes a great online tutorial.
It was a 1/8th rod. I have done more testing off camera since that video, and 7014 seems to have a rougher time with root fusion than 7018. I think the nature of the rod really seems to favor thinner material, or butt welds. When welding fillet welds where the weld puddle thickness increases, it doesn’t seem to have much penetration. In the flat position butt weld it seems to be less bothered. I have seen the same results with 7024, it has huge penetration in the flat position butt weld, but on a fillet or lap of 1/4 to 3/8th plate it loses to 7018.
7014 to me works great on thinner material, and for flat welds. It’s also better for me than 6013 because it seems to be less likely to have slag entrapment, and it does have a stronger weld. Very easy to learn with and to restart.
I made a small welding table out of some kind of square tubing rack the neighbors gave me and welded 16ga on the table top with 7014 menards rods mainly it came out good for something to have small projects built on I used some 1/8 inch plate too....mistakenly I also bought some 22ga plate on accident but hell I welded that up also as a bottom plate under the 16ga works well for smaller stuff
A custom welding table is a definite must do project. Sounds like you got it handled well. Since this video I actually have grown to like the 1/16th and 3/32 7014 rods for a lot of thinner material work. They work pretty good for that 😀.
i ALWAYS RUN 7014 at 145 amps and this is its sweet spot. Don't dis 7014 untill you work with it more. It will run uphill and down hill at 145 amps. on 1/4 in or 3/8 plate. on 1/8 125 amps is just fine.
I ran a bunch at upper amperage and still struggled a bit. I still have a bunch to go around so I will give it a revisit for sure 😀.
I’ve used 7018 to make hotrod cuts in hard to reach places or to cut grating over top of a stringer so that I didn’t have to worry about hogging into the top flange with a cut off wheel. Crank up the amps and let er eat. I’ve even used them to burn holes in 1/4” when I didn’t want to go to the ground for a drill and bit. I’m not too familiar with 7014, but it definitely seems to go opposite of what I would expect. That lack of penetration in the root is pretty wild.
Rods with the 2, 3 and 4 flux type contain rutile in the coating. The slag is slightly electrically conductive and the arc doesn't have a problem terminating into it, rather than piercing through it, like in 6010/7018, for instance. Because of this, even though the rod has a spray transfer of the droplets, the slag can run in front of the puddle and soften the impact of the molten metal from the tip of the electrode, resulting in decreased penetration. Rutile rods also require much lower arc voltage to run, contributing to the problem, in this case. 6010/6011, which also have a spray transfer, but barely any slag coating, have a very tense arc, which gouges deep into the base metal, and very low recovery, will always cut deep into the steel, providing excellent root fusion. 7016/7018 are a bit like the bastard child. Their slag is thicker, but non conductive, so the arc has to blast it out of the way of the droplets. If you look closely while welding with a 12-13 shade, you can see the arc dancing around, reflected in the weld pool. You can also see they have a globular metal transfer and the slag gets deposited ahead of the bead, but it quickly flows to the back of it, picking up contaminants, if it slides along the edges of the pool. As far as the gouging and cutting with welding rods, I have done it successfully with 3/32" 6013 on 130 amps in the vertical down position. The pool gets extremely fluid and it just runs down on the ground. It should be much easier with cellulose rods, considering they give off a much stronger blast of shielding gas, which can acts as an air-arc gouger.
Thanks for sharing that info 😀.
The vertical plate has no backing resulting in a hotter weld surface while the base is on a cool steel plate/surface (heat sink) which might explain the difference.
Excellent--the table is a heatsink.
I've become a fan of 7014 for some particular use cases. For me, it basically replaces 6013 for everything where I want a bit less penetration. It's the *perfect* rod for tacking something. Especially in the smaller 5/64 size that Blue Demon and others offer. I think everyone into stick welding should have a supply of the 5/64 Blue Demon 7014s. They tack brilliantly and the slag chips off to reveal a bead that looks chrome-plated, it's so shiny. Plus the slag doesn't get trapped in the toes so no wagon tracks or issues with additional passes on top of it with 7018.
I've not yet tried a rod that starts more easily and consistently than the small 7014s. IMO they are the ultimate rod for working with thin tubing like many of our home gamer fab projects will require. I have a stack of 1" 14ga tube waiting for me to dive into, and I guarantee that most of it will be the 5/64" 7014. Especially since you can find the stuff for under $3/lb, it's a good bargain and since the smaller rods are giving you fewer lb per inch, it's an even better deal when you consider how many inches of weld you can get for $1.
I've been trying lots of rods since I started learning to weld, and a couple rods have made the short list of "must buy more" within a couple rods of burning:
- Blue Demon 7014 in 5/64
- Esab Red rods (sureweld) in 1/8"
- Lincoln 5p+ in 3/32"
- Excalibur 7018 XMR.
- Hobart 7018-1 H4R n 1/8".
The 5/64 rods are probably the most unknown underrated rods out there. Very few people have heard of them it seems, and I would definitely agree they work great In 7014. I have mini 7018s and they are a bear to weld thin material with in comparison. The 6013s tend to get slag inclusions due to excessive flux for me. 7014 seems to have less penetration than the mini 6013s which is perfect for thin material.
Your list of must buys are definitely a good list. The usefulness of 6010 red and 5p+ are a game changer for “solving problems” lol. I can’t imagine not having one of those two and trying to do repairs.
It makes sense that the vertical plate would get more penetration. It's melting the edge of the plate after all. The horizontal has plate on both sides to heat sync.
On heavy metal, 60,10, 60 11, 7018 and stainless 312 your best welds
What I think is that making two more cuts to look at would give us a better representation of what is going on. Also that the gaps from poor fitment are hugely distracting and possible distorting the penetration profiles. I don't know I've not studied that many cross-sections. I've not tried 7014, but do like the 7018. Appears that 7014 might be good for thin stuff. I'll try it for such.
So I have done a bunch more testing with 7014 since that video (a lot off camera and some in upcoming videos). Universally it has worse penetration and bend test performance in comparison to 7018. It runs a decent bead, and is easy to weld with, but I definitely won't use it as a replacement for 7018.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Yes it's not appropriate to replace 7018, nothing is. but on thinner materials 7014 might be less likely to over penetrate. Horses for courses. I have some really thin stuff to work with coming up and will try some 1/16 7014 to see if I can get a functional weld for my purposes in that application. thanks for making some videos.
No doubt on thinner material it works better. I have both 1/16th rods and oddball 5/64th rods of 7014. They work great when I have used them. With real thin material the main benefit is restarts. You can snap out and restrike a arc without any trouble with 7014 (great to fill a hole). The 1/16th 7018 rods are tough to do work like that with. I swear the mini 7018s have a ball bearing on the end of the rod making restarts impossible on thin material lol. @@wadepatton2433
cleaning action on AC might knock that air pocket out???
It’s possible ac will help the rod, I find that I like 6013 on a/c more than dc, I bet 7014 is much the same.
I've used Hobart 7014 rods for literally years on a portable welder welding pertner everything and never hard any busted equipment and pipe welds..it's kinda like a beer..all taste good but u always have that favorite one..uther people may bitch and say ick..that beer tastes like shit..so that bein said I use and like 7014 rods..hope that helps😊
7014 sucks. Just go with 7018 as it works way better, has deeper penetration and has a way better work flow. Even tacking is a lost cause with 7014. Re-striking or scratch start is a beauty with the 7014. I have to give a plus on that. If you have a welder with adjustable arc tart force, then 7018 should be your only rod to use on pretty much everything, considering you already have its best companion, the 6010.
I am in the same boat, 7018 and 6010 is all I pretty much run outside of hardface and higher strength xx18 rods. I think the 7014 might be a viable option on thin material and on older AC buzz boxes. Beyond that it pays to learn 7018 and 6010. 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Yes on thinner materials it could be a survivor!! Now a days, you have some 7018 that are rated for both pos. and neg. so the buzzer box can keep on buzzing!LOL.
That said, would you recommend say a 5/16, or 1/8 7014 for welding exhaust? I'm a newb and have been trying to figure out the best rod for the thin pipe. I have a Yes Welder Flux-135, but it won't run thinner than .30 flux core and I'm concerned about blow through. Love your videos. You're my official welding teacher. Lots to learn. So far I learned that I bought the wrong welder 😂. @@Freetheworldnow