Power setting

[Parm]

I've got a Top Weld 160 arc welder, bit old but all working.

Gotta a box of toolstation 1.6mm 6013 rods. I can only get then started at around 110amps which according to the markings on the unit is for 2.5 mm rods. Is this correct?

I've spent a couple of hours laying down some welds onto 3 mm plate. Following the info on this forum I've done a reasonably good job as a novice at getting some straight lines, decent penetration etc etc, but I get a lot of spatter.

If I turn the power down to the indication for 1.6mm rods then I can't get the stick to arc, even tried putting the rods in an oven but still no good.

Whats wrong or shall I just continue with gage high setting?

Kit is only used for hobby stuff as you may have seen on some of my other posts, but it would be nice to getting it going properly

 

[madkayaker]

Rubbish rods. The thin rods are harder to get decent welds with as there is more flux than rod

 

[Parm]

Ok gotta get some 2.5's then. Did order some off the net but got sent the wrong ones.

 

[brightspark]

Ok gotta get some 2.5's then. Did order some off the net but got sent the wrong ones.

your best trying a few diffrent makes of rods as well. i get them from autojumbles cheap some are ok others arent and i bin em

 

[the snooper]

also check what output voltage the welder is and what voltage the rods require when buying them

 

[PTvor]

I've got a Top Weld 160 arc welder, bit old but all working.

Gotta a box of toolstation 1.6mm 6013 rods. I can only get then started at around 110amps which according to the markings on the unit is for 2.5 mm rods. Is this correct?

110A is at least twice the current you'd expect to need for a 1.6mm rod and would be impossible to use. It could be that the pointer on the welder has slipped or bent and isn't accurate, or there's something else wrong with the welder. What current do you need for a 2.5mm rod? They should work on around 80-90 amps.

Some cheap rods are just totally horrible and very strange to use, need much more current than you'd expect and hard to strike and restrike. Quality seems to be more critical the smaller the diameter of the rod. The rods Screwfix used to sell were terrible.

 

[Parm]

I haven't tried 2.5 yet as I haven't got any, bit the 1.6 only work around 100A. I have done a lot of reading and conclude that as you state power is twice what it should be. Agreed pointer may be out of kilter but at a low setting I just cannot get the rods to do anything.

I suspect that the rods are nit good quality. 2.5s should arrive this weekend and I will have another go.

I have although noticed that on 3mm plate I can form a nice bead with a nice layer of slag on top which chips of nice and clean, all this at around 100A

 

[BrokenBiker]

this may sound very very daft, buy are you sure they are 1.6mm rods? I have just tried burning a few on 100 amps with my old buzz box for a comparison and it just flat out doesn't work.

 

[Parm]

Let me go and check to ensure I'm not having a silly moment

 

[Parm]

this may sound very very daft, buy are you sure they are 1.6mm rods? I have just tried burning a few on 100 amps with my old buzz box for a comparison and it just flat out doesn't work.

Right, apology required on this thread. Just checked and the rods I have are Toolpac 2mm bought from tool station, and not the 1.6 that I've been harping on about

This may explain why nothing happens when power is turned down. Also as the welder was probably used to build the arc the calibration of the power control knob and pointer may be a little out.

 

[Parm]

Don't I feel like a T@@T

 

[PTvor]

Don't I feel like a T@@T

It's easy enough to go off on the wrong track and just not be able to see what you are doing wrong.

110A is a hell of a lot even for a 2mm rod. Anyway, you'd find it easier with 2.5mm or 3.2mm.

Unbranded and rebranded rods, Toolstation, Clarke, unbranded bargains from ebay etc, are more trouble than they are worth and best avoided I think. If you are a beginner, you don't know which problems are down to you and which are down to the rods.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Still a bit high for 2mm but i have just run a few at around 100 amps on my buzz box. Burnt quite quick and gave ok ish welds but 2.5 will be much better

 

[Parm]

It's easy enough to go off on the wrong track and just not be able to see what you are doing wrong.

110A is a hell of a lot even for a 2mm rod. Anyway, you'd find it easier with 2.5mm or 3.2mm.

Unbranded and rebranded rods, Toolstation, Clarke, unbranded bargains from ebay etc, are more trouble than they are worth and best avoided I think. If you are a beginner, you don't know which problems are down to you and which are down to the rods.

I think you have a point there! I've got some eBay specials on THIER way but I think I will return and get some proper rods. It's gonna have to be a process of elimination. I'm determined nit to give up. Just need to progress from sticking metal to welding

 

[brightspark]

try and scrounge a few fincord m rods. if u cant weld with them u never will

 

[BrokenBiker]

try the ebay specials first. They may be good rods. And even if they aren't they will serve as a back up for that Sunday afternoon when you reach for the box of branded rods and realise its empty (done it more than once myself).

i use fincord most of the time as i get them in work dirt cheap (after transferring them from the original box into my 'lunch' box) and they are food all round rods imo

 

[PTvor]

I think you have a point there! I've got some eBay specials on THIER way but I think I will return and get some proper rods. It's gonna have to be a process of elimination. I'm determined nit to give up. Just need to progress from sticking metal to welding

The cheap unbranded things can be very good, but more often they are not. They usually don't come with any information on the box, current range, positions, even H&S information, so they don't make any claims about them apart from being 6013 rods. Because they are likely to come from whichever supplier they can get them from when they want some, there's no consistency. If you look on the web, there are dozens of Chinese makers of welding rods.

Occasionally on ebay, you see Fincord, Overcord, ESAB mildtrode etc at good prices even considering P&P, usually NOS. About a year ago I bought a couple of lots for less than £20 all told and they're fine. It seems to come and go in cycles, you don't see any for ages then there are several lots. Most of the major names do a budget end rod and they're pretty good.

 

[Parm]

try the ebay specials first. They may be good rods. And even if they aren't they will serve as a back up for that Sunday afternoon when you reach for the box of branded rods and realise its empty (done it more than once myself).

i use fincord most of the time as i get them in work dirt cheap (after transferring them from the original box into my 'lunch' box) and they are food all round rods imo

Very true, just like the food in your lunch box the rods are a consumable too!

 

[Parm]

The cheap unbranded things can be very good, but more often they are not. They usually don't come with any information on the box, current range, positions, even H&S information, so they don't make any claims about them apart from being 6013 rods. Because they are likely to come from whichever supplier they can get them from when they want some, there's no consistency. If you look on the web, there are dozens of Chinese makers of welding rods.

Occasionally on ebay, you see Fincord, Overcord, ESAB mildtrode etc at good prices even considering P&P, usually NOS. About a year ago I bought a couple of lots for less than £20 all told and they're fine. It seems to come and go in cycles, you don't see any for ages then there are several lots. Most of the major names do a budget end rod and they're pretty good.

Ok thanks, I will have a look over the next day or so and come back with some options before I waste any more money.

This weekend I won't need to weld anything as I now have some leaf spring so will be firing up the forge and attempt to make a knife. Let's hope I can measure that better than I measured the rods


........ Note to self: Stay off the Beer!!!