Wifference in FC welding wire?

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Just picked up a spool of .030 flux-core from my local Air-Gas.  The brand of wire was Harris-Welco.  Guy at the desk said there was no discernable difference between that wire and any other wire you can get off a shelf.  Getting it home and comparing it with some Lincoln .035 FC wire, the Harris-Welco seems to  have a residue that rubs off the outside.  In addition, the wire looks substantially duller in appearance than the Lincoln.  Is it just my imagination or did I get an inferior spool of wire?Last edited by superkaz661; 07-06-2008 at 11:11 PM.Reason: SOrry for the typo in the Title.  Cant figure out how to correct it.
Reply:I have no comment on whether or not that wire is inferior or not, never used any.BUT, you need to weld with it, then compare.   The appearance of a wire, or it's characteristics, of the wire itself, before welding, normally have no correlation to it's performance, or the characteristics of the weld itself.
Reply:I use Harris-Welco bare wire all the time and I find it to be good quality stuff.David Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Lincoln owns Harris. I've never used Harris wires due to no supplier, but their 7018 is right there with Excalibur.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:The residue is likely lubricant from drawing the wire out.  I had a problem with that before on a robotic setup using Tripple-7 gas shielded flux core wire from 500lb drums.  Had to clean the wire conduit, drive wheels, and change the liner every drum.  Felt wipers just gummed up after a while and caused a greasy coating on the wire instead of a fine powder.  I've never had a problem with the same wire off 33lb spools in semi-auto operations.  I would not worry about it.
Reply:speaking of weird wires....We picked up some stuff from air gas the other day and they gave us a roll of fluxcore to try out for free.  It doesnt have an AWS rating on it, so we arent gonna use it for any jobs, but one of the guys is gonna take it home for stuff around the house.  I forget who makes it but they call it "easy grind" i think its made by esab, anyone ever use this crap before?  I can only imagine the quality of weld it lays down with a name like that.sorry for the hijack...
Reply:Easy Grind is made by ESAB and Its not crap.  Its good ER70S-6 wire.  Its made for body work.  Read not flux core. Or the name was stolen!DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Another weird wire story, We are trying two new types, An .035 hard wire and a 1/16 dual sheild. Both look like stainless wire on the spool, they have a clear wax coating on them instead of the usual stuff.Yup
Reply:Originally Posted by BurnitAnother weird wire story, We are trying two new types, An .035 hard wire and a 1/16 dual sheild. Both look like stainless wire on the spool, they have a clear wax coating on them instead of the usual stuff.
Reply:Thats what I said, but I looked (before opening my mouth ) Its dual shield. Some chinese crap. It runs like crap too.Yup