Amperage

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I need to weld some 1/4 wall thickness square tubing at work. I will be using 1/8 7018 and an old Miller Dailarc. What amperage setting do yall recommend?Miller Dialarc 250Miller Bobcat 225Hobart Oxy/FuelCouple of Dewalt and Milwaukee GrindersJET Bandsaw and Drill Press
Reply:I'd use about 120.
Reply:For us newer folks to welding, could you explain how you came up with 120?  I'm just learning to stick weld having retired a little over a week ago and it'd be super if there was a chart with recommendations?  Probably too much to hope for I'm sure.  LOL!
Reply:Here is some good information, includes a good chart.http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/guidelines_smaw.pdf
Reply:That helps a lot.  Thank you!!
Reply:Most companies put the suggested amps on the box of rods you buy. If not you can probably get the amps for the rod size and type off their website.With stick, amps are mostly chosen based on the rod size and type you choose to use. From there, you can make adjustments based on material thickness and position.As good starting point for most is mid range of the suggested amp setting. For 1/8" 7018, that usually works out to roughly 120-130 amps DC+. If using Ac, your amps will need to be a bit higher on average. This usually allows you to have the rods start easily and either drag the rod on the plate, or maintain a reasonably short arc.As far as how thick you can weld with a given size rod, that's a bit harder to explain. Typically, you want the rod to be smaller than the size of the plate you are welding. This rule of thumb breaks down with thinner material. As you go up in thickness, rod size is typically determined mostly by fill rates. If you are trying to do multipass fillets on 1" plate, 1/8" rods probably isn't the best choice. Not because you can't get enough heat into the welds, but because of the number of rods it will take to fill up that 1" fillet. A larger rod would probably make more sense, say 3/16" or maybe even bigger if you have the machine big enough to run them.1/8" and 3/32" are good generic rod sizes for most hobby stuff with  230v tranny type machines. The machine has enough power to run these on average. 3/32" will do from around 1/16" up thru about 1/4" no problem.  1/8" rods will do from about 14 ga up thru 1/2" and beyond if need be. Typically at about 1/2" you probably want to start thinking about moving up in rod size, simply to fill faster. Smaller rods are better for thinner material, but stick is a hot process and poorly suited for stuff below 1/16" typically. Those rods are also are very flexible and are harder to run well because of how "whippy" they are. If you have a very small machine like many of the 110v inverters, small rods like this are your only option and they will usually do up to 1/8" with no problems, maybe a bit thicker with good prep in noncritical application.Rod selection also plays a part in this. Some rods like 6013 are low to medium penetration rods that are often better suited for thinner materials. Some rods like 6010/11 are deep penetration rods that can be a good choice when you need to get better penetration. Then there's things like how fast the rod freezes that can change things some. 6010/11 may be a deep penetrating rod, but it's also a fast freeze rod, and that means it can be a good choice to do thin material if you have the skills to run it correctly on thin stuff. Other rods like 7024 are high fill rods that lay down a lot of material for a given size, but that same thing works against you because the puddle is very runny and it's only a rod designed for flat or horizontal fillets.There's no simple easy answer to the question of what rod/amps to use for X material thickness. There's just too many variables in the equation..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Great info DSW.  Very helpful folks here on the forum.  I'm taking a class at the community college local to me but one can never have too much data to refer to.  Thanks again.  That was very beneficial to me.
Reply:Miller, Lincoln and Esab all have a ton of great info available on their web sites. Some are easier than others to locate. Lincoln has a ton of PDF's on all sorts of specialty applications and so on, but those PDF's cam some times be hard to find. A few years back Lincoln rearranged their web site and all my links on those PDF's no longer work, and I have to hunt when I need to reference one again for someone. Miller also had some really great stuff that isn't as easy as it was once to locate. They used to have all the stuff in their learning package available for down load in one place. Then they broke things up and moved them around so they are a bit tougher to dig out than they used to be. Esab has a ton of information in their learning section, but some times there's so much stuff, it's hard to locate what you want..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I like the Miller welding calculators.   http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/calculators/ is the on line versionI keep the slide rule version in my shop, so I don't have to go back to my computer.Sculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:I'd use about 121Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Originally Posted by farmwelderI need to weld some 1/4 wall thickness square tubing at work. I will be using 1/8 7018 and an old Miller Dailarc. What amperage setting do yall recommend?
Reply:Miller's calculator is also available for my iPhone as well.
Reply:A good starting point for any rod is the decimal equivalent of the size of the rod, 1/8 - 125, 3/32 - 90 and so on then go up or down to suit the application.Mrfix