I think you will like 7014. I am not aquainted with 7016 electrodes, so will not comment about them.

 

From what I have read here and other forums 7018 for the home user does not really lose anything as long as it is kept relatively clean and dry.

 

The casual home/hobby/farm welder does't need to get too hung up about heated storage. Keep them from getting wet and you should be fine

I see what you guys mean but I feel that the 7018 I have now does not perform as it used to when I opened the sealed package. They don'r run that well. I am going to give them another try but I recall having the coating flaking off on spots and sticking a lot.

I am about to get a new 220 inverter (sold mine because it couldn't run 6010 at all) and I will give them a try with that machine. It should arrive today. BTW, all we have arround here is 1ph 220v or 3ph 400v, no 110v outlets here in Spain.

There's a company in your region called Solnor, they do a very nice basic electrode called IIRC the SN-70. I'm not sure if it is a 7016, although they have the same glassy slag and are great for 'out of position' work..

Thanks for pointing them out. I just cheked them and they are in Vitoria, which is about 45 minute drive from here. They seem to have a dealer closer to me as well. According to the description the SN-70 is listed as basic as you stated and needs to be rebaked just as 7018 does, so it doesn't help much. What I liked is that they seem to manufacture celulosic rods as well... so maybe (just maybe) when I burn the 12kg of Bholer Fox CELL I have stocked, I may buy some from them instead of bringing them from Germany. LOL.

Mikel

 

There's a company in your region called Solnor, they do a very nice basic electrode called IIRC the SN-70. I'm not sure if it is a 7016, although they have the same glassy slag and are great for 'out of position' work..

I've not used the Elga ones in your link (although Elga are known for making good consumables), and in the UK ESAB Filarc 56s seems to be the industry favourite.

 

Mwalden is right clean and dry theyll work fine for your application. 7016s if I am not mistaken will be limited on the positions in witch you can use it . I not sure about this but flat an horizontil is all this rod is good for I think.[/I]

 

7016 is still a low hydrogen, or "hydrogen controlled" rod, as one manufacturer puts it. Storage requirements would be similar to 7018. The '1' indicates it is an all position rod. A '2' as the third digit would indicate flat/horizontal only, as in 7024. The casual home/hobby/farm welder does't need to get too hung up about heated storage. Keep them from getting wet and you should be fine.

 

7018 - Low hydrogen, iron powder in flux, depositon rate similar to a 6010 rod one size larger.

7016 - Low hydrogen, no iron powder in flux, depositon rate similar to a 6010 rod of the same size

7014 - not low hydrogen, iron powder in flux, deposition rate similar to a 7018 rod of the same size or a 6010 rod one size larger.

Suggest 7014 for those who don't want or need low hydrogen welds or rod storage ovens required by 7018, yet 7014 welds similar to 7018.

 

Ive used a bit of 7014 and have found that for non-critical work it makes a very nice bead and is easy to run with a heavy slag that comes off easy and clean

 

7016 is what you used to weld on galavinzed or zinc paint coated steel and still have have to have a low hydrogen weld. It has to be kept in an oven like 7018. I use it all the time.

 

Plus, If you happen to have an AC only buzzbox then 7014 runs very well on a 220 volt AC buzzbox. 7014 not the best choice though for a 110 volt dinky transformer as it likes a few more amps than other rods of equivalent size.

On my Lincoln AC-225, I run mostly 7014, 6011, and some 6013 for non-crtitical stuff. Heck, all my stuff is non-critical so who am I kidding. I usually use 6013 for stuff that is the least critical of my non-critical stuff. 7014 for anything requiring strength and 6011 for anything dirty and rusty.

 

If you want to use 7018 try lincoln. They have "moisture resistant" 7018. Plus you could always keep the rods in something like a 40mm ammo can after you open the package.
What I do is I put them in plastic rod holders by size then keep them all in the ammo can. Keep it closed and only open it to grab what I need.



I haven't met a 7014 that doesn't run AC well.

 

I see Air Liquide is now selling a 7018 LMP (low moisture pickup) rod.
I havent tried one myself but I do use their blueshield 7018's and like them.

 

bake your rods in the kitchen oven for a few hrs. the temp and time should be on the box or rod makers website. get the plastic air tight containers and pop them in there after baking. several folks have put those silica desiccant packet in too to keep any moisture in check. there was a recent thread that had lots of good discussion on storing LH rod. several folks using Vacuum sealers too.

 

Wrong forum lol

 

I could be wrong, but my understanding was 7016 is for the same applications as 7018. Just more suitable for areas where arc blow is an issue, by leaving the iron powder out of the flux coating. It still has the same storage requirements of any LH rod.