Welding Tips and Tricks

Check this out....THEY'RE ACTUALLY BLUE! I never seen flux this color LOL



I bought these a year or so ago, on either Amazon or Ebay, just for the hell of it. Got around to opening them up, along with some other 6010s from the LWS, "Best Welds" brand. Both made in India. You'd think they were Miller brand stick rods from the color! Gonna light them up tomorrow to see how they run.

I have some 6013 that are green.let us know how they run.crazy

I got green 6013 but it was from Hobart.

I used them today, but just to tack stuff up. Both the Blue Demon and Best Welds 6010s light up pretty dang good! Anchor-brand 6010s, on the other hand, aren't anywhere near as good. They burn like 6011s labeled as 6010s. And of course Lincoln 5P+ and 6P+ are still the apex predators, at the top of the food chain.

The final verdict? They work, but not optimally, at least not with my welder. To compare with, the reference is Lincoln 5P+ 3/32" SMAW rods. Compared to the Lincolns, these India rods light up strong, have a forceful arc as expected, but the flux is what I believe does them in. They have a thicker layer of flux, which may "suffocate" the rod/puddle and can extinguish the arc if you don't hold a very tight arc. I never had such troubles with the 5P+.



5P+ is roughly 0.130" in overall diameter.


Blue Demon is roughly 0.150" in diameter.




For those not mathematically inclined perhaps thinking that 20-thousandths is nothing, that translates into 70% more flux than the 5P+(!). With the Blue Demons, you literally have to have the flux scraping the joint at all times so the actual electrode is within the proper distance. Re-strikes proved more difficult because the excess flux really obscures the electrode from actually touching and initiating the arc. You have to scrap it or tap it somewhere to break off the excess flux to get a re-strike going.



That's my take on it at least.

Very interesting, even though they are classified as a 6010 you can witness a definite difference. I now have other proof to show others that argue all rods are created equal. This Makes me wonder if some of these low cost suppliers really provide what they are supposed to be, I question the physical properties and hope that bridges and buildings are welded with lincoln rods!

I played with a few more rods and cranked up the amps to 60+. This helped quite a bit, but forget about 1/8" butt-joints. Way too forceful for that---blew right through the material. Perhaps they are better suited for 3/16"+ given the fact that they like higher amperage than the same diameter 5P+. The 5P+ is perfectly happy with 50-55A on 1/8" sheet. I think I may have some 3/16" scrap to try them out on.

So it turns out, that they just need more amperage than the box states. I had previously tried running them @ <60A. I did some Googling and found this on, of all places, Amazon:



So I found some rusty old 3/16"-wall square tube, and tried 70A, then went up and down a few amps. I don't remember which is which, but I remember 70A working best, with 73A working OK, and 68A bare minimum. By bare minimum, I mean that the arc would occasionally get snuffed if I long-arc'd it. The "Best Welds" brand 6010s behaved identically; I think they come from the same exact place in India, just a hunch.




Of course it is important to note that my machine, HTP Invertig 221, is primarily a TIG machine. It does have a nice and high OCV of 67-68V, which is what I believe allows it to run 6010s decently. Perhaps someone with a SMAW welder with an OCV of 80+ might have an easier time with these in the 50-60A range

Oscar, your tig machine is the the world's most underrated stick machine. It would be a flat out amazing stick machine on it's own right.

sedanman wrote:Oscar, your tig machine is the the world's most underrated stick machine. It would be a flat out amazing stick machine on it's own right.

Especially with Lincoln rods! 5P+ and 6P+ run awesome. I can only imagine how much better it would be if it had adjustable hot-start and dig controls.

Oscar,
Those are the exact same thing. Welding Material Sales is the parent company that private labels fillers for a lot of companies and sells their own branded fillers, Blue Demon. They also do the private labeling for Weldporn's fillers. I looked into having them do my private labeling but a lot of their fillers are made overseas and I wanted US if I could. Some fillers, like Ti, are mostly made over the pond and can't be helped but I will take what US products I can. I am not saying those are junk at all, just letting you know where they actually come from.
-Jonathan

Oscar wrote: For those not mathematically inclined perhaps thinking that 20-thousandths is nothing, that translates into 70% more flux than the 5P+(!).

I read that and thought "that can't be right..."

Did the math...yeah, it's right - holy crap is all I can say.

That much additional flux has to affect something.

MinnesotaDave wrote:

Oscar wrote: For those not mathematically inclined perhaps thinking that 20-thousandths is nothing, that translates into 70% more flux than the 5P+(!).

I read that and thought "that can't be right..."

Did the math...yeah, it's right - holy crap is all I can say.

That much additional flux has to affect something.

I said the same thing. So I checked the math several times as well.

That one always amazes me. I did some calculations to see how much bigger of a pipe I needed to run for the flow I needed. Thought I was going to have to go from 3/4 inch up to like 3 inch. But only needed 1-1/2 inch.