inverter SMAW rods ?

[Blown S-10]

for those that have experience with smaw rods on an inverter. what rods to use ?
general usage and easy to use, or for a particular application.

also.
does ac smaw use more input power than dc ?

[HAWK]

Blown S-10,

There is not a lot of difference in the actual rods with the exception of some specialty rods made to perform on lower amperage inverters such as an 80 amp output from the little Thermal Arc 120VAC Drag Gun or similar machines.

The 6013 is a good rod for general purpose mild steel that is easy to burn and has good restrike characteristics. The 7014 is also easy to burn. It is excellent for filling gaps on poor fit ups and running irregular paterns on up hill travel. Both these rods really like AC and will perform well on DCSP also. If run on DCRP they will tend to mound up on the surface and not penetrate.

If you are referring the the Dynasty 200, I have run SS 309, Nickel 55 / 99, 6010, 7018, 6013, 7014, and a few specialty rods with good results. The dig control is very helpful with the ss, nickel, and 6010 rods.

Does the AC use more input power than DC? Here I am speculating, but think the opposite to be true since the AC does not experience the same percentage power loss as the DC through the filter caps and rectifier bridge.

[Blown S-10]

Mr HAWK

the reasons i ask :

i read on another thread, that intervers use rods a little different. and may need different rods to work optimaly. so i thought i would ask.

i have a clarke 95e ac smaw. i believe its 100 amps. i could weld all day long at full power and not pop my breaker. but with the 200dx on (i think it was about) 70a it would pop the breaker after a 1" bead
i figured i would be able to run it close to 125amp seeing as how this machine seems to be not very power hungry (tig @ 110amp easy). maybe i was doing something wrong. the arc and the bead looked pretty good though.
i think it was 5/32 7014 rods. i'll check on that.

i will try it on ac and see what happens.

thanx, jess

[HAWK]

jess,

Back off the 5/32" rods unless you have a dedicated 30 amp 220VAC input supply circuit. I have run 5/32" 7018's w/o trouble on such a dedicated circuit around 170 amps. On the little 100 amp inverters there are some rods designed to weld well at these lower amperage outputs. Most designed specifically for these units. On 120 VAC I have never tried anything larger than a 3/32 7014 at 90 amps. The 7014 rods really prefer AC and a slightly longer arc gap than most other rods.

[Blown S-10]

i still haven't checked, but i think they are 3/32 7014 rods. i tryed some of my 1/16 & 5/64 rods on the machine. and i'll tell ya, on the clarke machine, it just ate the rods fast. but on this machine, dc-, it hardly used up the rod . i will try them on ac and see what happens.