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Stick welding vs mig on a boiler patch in Detroit last week... not even close
Had to patch a 30 year old boiler at a factory outside Detroit last Thursday. Tried using a mig welder at first cause it's faster and I was in a rush. Honestly the slag just wouldn't clean out right and I kept getting porosity. Switched over to my old Lincoln stick welder with 7018 rods and the weld laid down perfect first try. Anyone else find stick just works better on dirty old metal no matter what the new guys say?
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emma961mo ago
Man that's exactly what I keep telling the guys at my shop. MIG is great for clean new steel but you throw some rust and old boiler scale in the mix and it just fights you the whole way. Stick with 7018 is like cheating on that kind of patch work it just burns through all the junk and leaves a solid bead. I had a similar job on an old steam line a few months back and the MIG wire kept birdnesting and spattering everywhere. Switched to stick and it was done in half the time with no headaches. The older methods still have their place for sure.
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lucast811mo ago
7018 is low-hydrogen though, not a rod for rusty dirty metal.
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beth_park1mo ago
Add to what you're saying there too. Stick with 7018 is just flat out more forgiving when you're dealing with mystery metal and corrosion. Plus you dont have to worry about your liner getting gummed up with scale and dust every time you drag the gun across a dirty patch.
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