stainless rods overheat

I do not weld much stainless. Recently finished making a big pan out of presumed 304, about .100 thick. Stick welded with 1/16" diam E-347-16, DCRP. Welds nice, smooth ripple, handled fine both on outside corners and inside fillets...

Only problem was that at a current setting sufficient to get good fusion, the 9" rods were glowing orange by the time they were 1/2 gone, which increased the meltoff rate and sometimes made the weld globby. Is this just the way it is for small SS stick electrodes? Welding machine is the same 60 yr old Lincoln engine-drive I weld everything else with.

TIG is not a realistic option for me because I would use it too seldom to justify having the gas sit until it leaked away.

Thanks for your thoughts

1/16 rod of all flavors tends to do that, try AC, or otherwise, you just have to turn down the amps as far as you can, and possibly use the "whip" technique that basically reduces your duty cycle slightly. modern inverter type welders can handle the little rods better in some cases.

All the austenitic stainless rods are pretty resistive to current so they can go limp if you’re using E7018 settings… With E3XX-(15,16 &17 coating) for 3/32” rods, generic settings go from 30-70amp(-15), 30-65amp(-16) and 40-80amp(-17).

That’s a fair bit lower than 3/32” 7018 settings but not as low as you could run 6010 with a whip technique. I can't remember ever seeing 1/16" E3XX coated electrodes... Must be cute somebitches.

Good luck,
Matt

Thanks for confirming that little SS rods get hot. I bought this stuff years ago to weld a spray tank that got full of cracks bouncing through the fields behind a tractor, but it still does a nice job. Last job is a 120 gal pan for boiling maple syrup.

The welding machine is a Lincoln antique with a 2-cyl Wisconsin engine, and three taps, one direct off the generator, the others with resistor grids, so I just choose a tap and tweak RPM 'til it works.

magneticanomaly said:

The welding machine is a Lincoln antique with a 2-cyl Wisconsin engine, and three taps, one direct off the generator, the others with resistor grids, so I just choose a tap and tweak RPM 'til it works.

Click to expand...

Did John C. assemble that one himself ?.....

Found a You-Tube of a welder just like mine, except I built a sheet-metal roof over mine, wheelbarrow-like handles, and iron wheelbarrow wheel instead of the rubber tires and tow hitch.

wisconsin tf engine with lincoln arc welder - YouTube

I have the same problem with it. but even 5/32 308l will be glowing burning a full rod lenth with an engine drive. i ended up buying a 10 unopened cans of 308 3/32 thinking it was 5/32 at an auction seems like we can only burn about 1/2 a rod before the flux is melting off just part of dealing with it and have almost burned it all up.

As mentioned because of the resistance of the alloy it is common practice to weld using half the rod. Set it aside to cool and start another rod. Go back to the original rod when you have at least two half rods cooling.