110 stick welder wont lite 3/32 rods

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last week i got a great deal on a brand new  northern tool 110 stick welder it came with a handful of 6013 and i bought some 5/64 and 1/16th in rods on the box  it says it can weld up to 3/32 rods and i can run 3/32 6013 with a little practice but 6011 and 7018 wont even lite on same prepared material 7018 is low hydrogen so i will try sticking it in bbq grill in a holder i made for it for a few min to dry em out but other than that any suggestionsmiller maxstar 150   hobart handler 210 w mig conversion hobart 250 arc force plasma cutter    boston ind cutting torch miller performance auto darkening helmet milwalkee 14in chop saw 10,000 watt generator huge drill press and industrial band saw
Reply:is it a straight AC power source? unless your using ac specific 7018's youll have a hell of a time establishing an arc. Also how long are your cables? you could be loosing amperage due to, to much cable length. Also are you taking 110 AMP or 110 volt that you plug into a regular recptical? If its a straight lil 110 buzz box good luck running a 3/32.
Reply:Typically,  those 110 units are maybe 70-80 amps.  What's yours?Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:If it is a 70 amp welder then 1/16 rod is about all it is good for. It might say with practice you can use something bigger but for the best penetration and easy arc starting I think the 1/16 is the only way to go. I used one a couple of weeks ago and use 3/32 6011. I thought I would never get it welded. Someone told me they had a 110 volt stick welder and it recommended only 6013 rods and I found doing some experimenting that these worked much better than the 6011. A 70 amp AC stick welder just doesn't have enough heat for anything much bigger than 1/16. It is like my aunt used to say " you can't make a silk purse out of a sow ear". I think this saying says a lot about a little 70 amp stick welder. But if you use the right rod it can hold its own up to a point.
Reply:For what it's worth from a newbie, I have one of those Northern Industrial welders, and I was never able to get an arc going with 3/32 rods.  1/16 or 5/64 6013's seemed to burn ok, but mine never did anything but stick with 3/32. I finally gave in and bought a Stickmate.Nctox,  Stickmate LX  235AC/160DC  HH210
Reply:its a 110volt 70 amp welder it lites 6013 3/32 rods fairly easy 1/16th and 5/64th work pretty slick on lite gauage materialmiller maxstar 150   hobart handler 210 w mig conversion hobart 250 arc force plasma cutter    boston ind cutting torch miller performance auto darkening helmet milwalkee 14in chop saw 10,000 watt generator huge drill press and industrial band saw