Arc welding electrodes

[vmaximus]

I will be buying some new 2.5mm mild steel rods in the near future and would like some info. Has anyone used Weldarc mild steel rods and if so are they any good and also has anybody bought anything from a company called Fawsltd of Nottingham, their feedback looks very good but i have not heared of them before, thanks in advance.

 

[HughF]

Suggest you buy some decent, known brand rods:



Hard to beat that price... Hard to beat those rods imho.

 

[Appyasme]

What type of rods are you looking for?

 

[Wozzaaah]

I'm guessing the OP wants common or garden 6013.
There's an awful lot of rubbish out there, as Hugh says, try and buy some well-known ones as they will be much easier to use than the Clarke or similar ones.
Having said that, I bought some "white box" 6013 years ago and they were a joy to use and still are.
I think I found out who made them too, Oerlikon rings a bell.

 

[Appyasme]

There are still a lot of welders out there that prefer the good old Pink Vodex 6013.Or Satinex is a brilliant "touch"electrode,even I can use them and I am lust a thick service engineer!

 

[Appyasme]

Sorry should have been just

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I'm using Oerlikon E6013 2.5mm rods bought on offer from HIS in Inverness - under £12 a box, and find them easy to use being a beginner.

 

[Appyasme]

If you are happy with them good!

 

[HughF]

Oerlikon Fincord, Esab 46.00, Bohler Union (those I linked to above) all get good reviews. Personally I don't like the Fincord or the Esab as much as the Bohler. White box rods are generally a gamble and are best avoided in my opinion.

Other good brands are Lincoln, Elga, BOC, Murex. Plenty of these 'other brands' on ebay at the moment.

If you want to try some of these various brands, small handfuls are available on ebay.

 

[Appyasme]

What concerns me is that if cheap rubbish welding machines are coming into the Country, are we accepting cheap rubbish electrodes also. Any way to make a quick buck

 

[Appyasme]

I can understand that you can buy a loose hand full of rods from all the suppliers you have quite rightly mentioned. What we seem to forget is the fact that if the electrode covering(flux)is damp what sort of a weld will you get then?.Heated Quiver comes to mind

 

[HughF]

If they're damp, send them back. PayPal is your friend

People will never accept cheap rods. Cheap chinese inverters work, and work well. Cheap rods are just that, cheap and nasty. Anyway, let's not ruin this thread.

 

[Appyasme]

In trouble again

 

[Appyasme]

Yes you are quite correct about the cheap Chinese invertors work, but for how long.............................?

 

[Wozzaaah]

We're drifting way off topic chaps, the OP wants advice on electrodes and a recommended supplier.
The company he's asked about is actually Fastarc and here is a link to the rods.
Personally, for the extra few ££ I'd buy a well-known brand rather than those.
What puts me off is they're branded "DIY", that sets alarm bells ringing, what makes them DIY??

 

[Appyasme]

As daft as it seems, the D.I.Y.electrodes could be from one of the leading manufacturers. Who knows. My recommendation is good old fashied vodex.You can`t go wrong

 

[Wozzaaah]

They could very well be or they could be cheap Chinese ones, unfortunately that's the chance you take with unbranded ones, I got lucky with mine.

 

[Appyasme]

Just a thought Woz.There isn`t a lot that can go wrong with an electrode(any welding engineers will be cursing me know)You can break it down into two sections ,metal and flux. I have always been taught, from a QA point of view ,that the rod has to be baked for a certain amount of time and then put into a rod oven before use

 

[Wozzaaah]

We're digressing again but I hadn't burnt a rod in anger for several years until 2 weeks ago when I was asked if i could do a minor repair to a farm gate on site.
I grabbed my Chinese inverter set (there, I said it!!) plus a handful of my (probably damp) white box 6013s and carried out said repair.
Each rod I used struck fine and maintained a nice arc even at low amps.
While in theory you should probably bake rods before use, in most of our cases on here I don't think it's really that necessary unless they've got very damp.
I once bought some top brand rods which were truly awful to use but a very kind forum member who at the time worked for the company who made them sent me a different type to try and they were much nicer to use.

 

[the snooper]

We're drifting way off topic chaps, the OP wants advice on electrodes and a recommended supplier.
The company he's asked about is actually Fastarc and here is a link to the rods.
Personally, for the extra few ££ I'd buy a well-known brand rather than those.
What puts me off is they're branded "DIY", that sets alarm bells ringing, what makes them DIY??

lower quality steel ? and a weld that wouldn't pass inspection / test