Firepower 1440-0195 Type 7018 Arc Welding Electrodes 3/32-Inch Diameter, 1-Pound

The media could not be loaded.  Update (4/26/2019)-------------------------I've added a video to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Firepower electrodes are budget friendly and work equally as well as those more expensive brands!-------------------------I've use Lincoln, Forney, Hobart, Blue Demon, Anchor, etc. and these electrodes are just as good as any brand out there.I bought 50lb. of the Firepower 3/32" E6011 electrodes a year ago and I'm really happy with them. I use them almost daily for welding practice so I thought I'd give the 3/32" E7018 (10lb) a try since I was running low.I like to practice my vertical up and prefer 3/32" electrodes because the metal I'm welding on it 1/8" angle iron (2 pieces tacked together gives me 4 fillet joints to practice on).Anyway, I ran about 10-12 electrodes and these electrodes perform equally as well as the more expensive brands. I also might add that the packaging was open when I received them so who knows how much moisture they've sucked up till I moved them to a o-ring sealed container. Technically, they were wet when I ran them and I didn't have any porosity, hydrogen cracking, etc. so I'm a happy camper. If I were to weld anything around the farm structurally important, I'd throw them into my portable rod oven for an hour or more at 300 degree before using them to cook the moisture out just to be on the safe side of things.The flux is different looking that's for sure. These rods look more like 7014's (dark gray flux) than the 7018's from other companies! They run like 7018's though and lay down a pretty slick bead to boot (easy to start arc and slag chips off most of time in one piece) 😉I have over 30+ years of experience (college-level weld classes) welding farm equipment so take my advice for what its worth. If I had a large rod oven and could keep them dry, I wouldn't hesitate to buy these in 50lb. quantities because of the savings versus buying in 5-10lb at a time.

Four of us tried these rods and all of us have welded over 20 years, some of us far more. They where put to use within the same hour they were delivered. Most of the rods we already had (for comparison)where not this new. My decades of welding can only comment on the BATCH WE RECEIVED. All reading this please make note of the previous sentence. Seasoned welders know production batches can change and manufacturer methods can vary over time. We were burning through lbs of weld per day, per welder, on a number of different jigs for custom brush bars, bumpers ,and off road smack ups. Only these rods behaved so badly on a re-strike,and QUALITY rods this size don't require CONSTANT refile thats smoke and mirrors talk. These electrodes didn't allow re strikes as well as Lincoln, Hobart or other brands of 3/32 7018 used within the same minute-on the same work pieces. These rods slowed down work. All other brands of 3/32 7018's we have did not,and are far easier to use with less sticking and splatter. Had to re weld a brush bar everywhere this batch was first used. Marked and quick painted for our own verification of what was Lincoln and etc vs Fir pwr. Good thing this was a repair item. Even with various welders all of us kept throwing these duds into the deal with it later rod bin because their a drain on time. These are the only box of 3/32 7018 rods we have tried that re strike this poorly. So there is no logic in covering refile and re strike method thats obviously not the issue. We had all other electrodes work effectively without this hassle. We had this dud box for weeks while burning up and buying new 3/32 7018's (because other rods struck better & cleaner) ,and that even includes a few older 7018 Firepwr leftovers used on other pieces. All of those other rods performed far better for everyone. Only this box being reviewed had these issues. When my associate heard this he was doubtful too, so I said " Here they are -free-their yours! He took them to his welding shop where four days later he junked them. Regardless of your batch received,or even if rainbow's and nickel rows of weld flow out of your box of these rods it doesn't change the bit of wasted money and (far more importantly) wasted time. I am not interested in any replacements because burn me once shame on you, burn me twice would be a shame on me for not learning.

I like for my weldig jab