Maintenance (miracle) rod?

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A long time ago I was given some great electrodes to weld with. I then purchased some from the company, Weltec Welding Alloys by Maintenance Technology Services. Has anyone used these products or heard of this company? I was told one of their big customers was Vulcan Materials Co. a nation wide aggregate mining company.I did a repair on the bucket in my bucket thread using this rod more than ten years ago. It has held up just fine. The salesman stated in writing "you can weld over dirty, rusty, painted, greasy metal as is and without prep and you can weld pass after pass without cleaning the flux". Then he told me that you can leave these electrodes sitting in water and it will not effect their performance. ( I have never tried this, I always clean the slag and store them properly). This is VERY expensive rod. It is about the nicest running rod I've ever used. What could it be made of to be this "miracle" rod?  It is marketed as mainly a maintenance rod with the properties of a Low Hy/7018. Below is a link to their site. I have the letter and other product sheets on the S-78 (which I purchased) and the S-180. I tried to scan them and upload them but the file is .50 too big.The S-78 product sheet shows: Applications- Carbon Steels - High Sulphur Steels - HSLA Steels - Tramp Steels - Truck Frames - Farm Equipment - Tank & Boiler Repair - Pipeline Welding - Structural Steel - Shelving - Channel Iron - Shaft BuildupBenefits- Special moisture resistance coating - Eliminates underbead cracking, even without preheat - Exceptional arc stability - Low amperage requirements - All position - Ductile, X-ray sound deposits - High strength - Super impact resistance - Fully machinableProcedures- Close arc use straight stringer beads without weaving. Backwhip to fill crater.Properties- Tensile Strength up to 89k psi - Elongation up to 30% - Yield Strength up to 70k psihttp://www.weltec.us/ Click on the Weltec Welding Alloys on the left side."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Most miracle rods are 309L, 310, or 312 stainless alloys.
Reply:308L or 309L was the original TIG "miracle rod"not much relevance here, but it will do wonders for trying to join carbon steels
Reply:Sounds like a 7010.
Reply:It is marketed as mainly a maintenance rod with the properties of a Low Hy/7018.
Reply:oh yea and i know this is gona ruffle some feathers but it is my opinion that most people that like these so called miracle rods in my experience cant weld worth a hoot to begin with and like these types of rod due to the fact that they are easy to use and do take the skill out of using a regular rod.
Reply:so then how could this rod possible be sitting in water and not affect its low hydrogen qualities???Im gona call BULL$HEET
Reply:All I know is i cuss every time I have to grind a bunch of that so called miricle rod off of something so that it then can be fixed right.  thats just my experience with this type rod.  Not in using it but in removing it lol
Reply:The "miracle" is how much people will pay for these electrodes.  One of the most common is the 312 grade "wonder rod".   Do your homework and you can select the right electrode for the job without helping the "miracle" rod salesmen buy a new bassboat!
Reply:Originally Posted by HotGlueoh yea and i know this is gona ruffle some feathers but it is my opinion that most people that like these so called miracle rods in my experience cant weld worth a hoot to begin with and like these types of rod due to the fact that they are easy to use and do take the skill out of using a regular rod.
Reply:Originally Posted by HotGlueOk i just dont buy that.  7018 is a low hydrogen rod yes.  it is a low hydrogen rod as long as you keep it dry.  not properly 7018 rod that has been stored in open air with 98% humididty will lay down just a nice a bead as a rod that was properly stored.Ok so what is the difference.  what does the humididty rod lose when it is welded with?  The answer is its ability to be a low hydrogen rod.  the water content in the flux will split and the molten metal will be saturated with hydrogen which makes for brittle welds.so then how could this rod possible be sitting in water and not affect its low hydrogen qualities???Im gona call BULL$HEET
Reply:I'm pretty sure the Vulcan Materials quarry by me uses them and they have some pretty good weldors.
Reply:I think the reason they are liked in quarry applications is the fact that it also doubles as a hard surface rod. Im not a big fan of the practice of hard surfacing a bucket with welding rod. there are far better ways to protect a bucket and there is no quicker way to warp a bucket beyond repair than to let some dorf go to town on it with hard surface rod.
Reply:Interesting thread!Work HARDER, not smarter! ------------------------ Miller Bobcat 250Millermatic 251Lincoln Precision TIG 185Hypertherm PM 600Hobart 135 HandlerOxweld 400 FlameMaster
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2I doubt that any 300 series rod would do much as a "hard surface" rod for quarrying operations. Might work fine for attaching wear plates, or building up some surfaces, but way too soft for abrasive wear.Just because someone doesn't understand how to do something correctly doesn't mean the process is inherently wrong. As with anything else, hardfacing has to be done right (considering the purpose, the base metal, shrinkage, needed preheat/avoiding overheat of manganese alloys,...) and allowances made for shrinkage tendencies or whatever.
Reply:Just because someone doesn't understand how to do something correctly doesn't mean the process is inherently wrong. As with anything else, hardfacing has to be done right (considering the purpose, the base metal, shrinkage, needed preheat/avoiding overheat of manganese alloys,...) and allowances made for shrinkage tendencies or whatever.
Reply:well said I so agree. still i think removable wear plates is the way to go and i have never had a customer complain about it. in fact when they buy a new machine they will bring it to me right off the bat to wear plate their bucket. and you would be supprised what a little paint when your done will do for customer satisfaction lol.
Reply:I agree with everything you say.  keep in mind by the time i see it it was in the hands of someone that did not understand the procecces involved to keep from damaging what their working on.  I guess that makes my opinion somewhat biased and do realize that.
Reply:I agree with everything you say. keep in mind by the time i see it it was in the hands of someone that did not understand the procecces involved to keep from damaging what their working on. I guess that makes my opinion somewhat biased and do realize that.
Reply:I didnt think you were arguing.  I do admit my point of view is some what jaded as i have spent many a hour grinding the stuff off.
Reply:i have spent many a hour grinding the stuff off.
Reply:no that dosent sound dumb at all and actually sounds quite interesting.  it sounds like it would be brittle.  im sure it worked good though.  what would be the advantages of doing this?
Reply:This thread reminded me of an old infomercial selling a miracle weld/smelt rod called alumalloy about 10 - 15 years ago that you could use to fix anything aluminum no matter what your skill level was.  The product has changed name once or twice and you can still find it and I had a customer during my dbs installation days that swore by it for all his repairs.  The company seems to be out of business and apparently offered other types of rods as well.
Reply:Originally Posted by Big65moparThis thread reminded me of an old infomercial selling a miracle weld/smelt rod called alumalloy about 10 - 15 years ago that you could use to fix anything aluminum no matter what your skill level was.  The product has changed name once or twice and you can still find it and I had a customer during my dbs installation days that swore by it for all his repairs.  The company seems to be out of business and apparently offered other types of rods as well.
Reply:The product you are talking about is now called alumiweld and can be found at harbor frieght of all places.  http://www.alumiweld.com/I was skeptical about this product since i own a hobart 250 tigwave.  surely this stuff couldnt be as good as my tig right ?????I bought some of it anyhow just to try it and see for myself.  I fly rc airplanes and i noticed some of the custom mufflers guys are buying for over $100 a pop are all made with that stuff.  Wanting to build some mufflers of my own i thought i would try it.  I actually was pretty impressed with it.  i did a t joint weld with it and you could not break it.  it actually was very strong.  it is fairly easy to use once you get used to it but whatever your welding does have to be clean.  now im not saying this stuff is great for everything by any means but i am saying that i do think that this stuff does have potential in certian applications.  just like anything it does have its uses.here is a test piece i welded up for funhere is another one and it its tig welded on the other side for comparison