Radnor rod=junk?

admin

Every time I've used Radnor 7018 rod I've had problems with pinholes. I stopped having problems with 7018 about 14 years ago. Then a year ago I was welding some pipe on a ship and was getting pinholes on my starts. I thought maybe it was just old rod. Later I was working on another project here at home and was getting pinholes all over the place. I was about to have a meltdown when it occured to me that the Radnor rod I was using was the same brand I had used on the ship. I also realized that I'd never seen Radnor brand stuff before that time on the ship. I found some Lincoln and finished the project with no problems. Today I was welding down some sections of I-beam. I had a few pounds of Lincoln 7018 left, and had to buy two small boxes of Radnor. I figured that brand new it wouldn't be a problem. Well, when I got down to the last handfull of Lincoln, I opened one of the new packages I had bought and put some of that in my pocket as well. Without changing anything about the weld, the Radnor rods were leaving pinholes unless it was in the flat position. Even if I started a bead with the Lincoln rod, and then finished it with Radnor.Anyone else seen this?
Reply:Who is Radnor, or who makes Radnor, never heard of them.What a load of c^@p!  Guess the message is stick (weld) with Lincoln, or other major American brand.
Reply:I'm pretty sure it's an Airgas product. The rod is made in Mexico. Other products of theirs that I've seen are made in China.
Reply:We ended up with 50# of that crap because the boss said it was cheaper. How cheap is it to re-do everything you just got paid to put in? It is indeed junk and he never bought another stick. The last 45# went missing....
Reply:Doesn't surprise me at all. Radnor/Airgas rods are probably made by whoever will make them the cheapest these days. They used to be made by Lincoln and were fine, but that was a long time ago. Stay with Lincoln or Hobart...maybe Esab and you will never go wrong.
Reply:Bossman got a small box couple weeks back for an important job. Junk, pure junk. I ran 2-3 sticks and tossed it and told him dont never again buy this crap.  Found some old Hobart stuff in the rod oven, prolly 10 yrs old that ran way better.
Reply:Man, I sure am happy to find out I wasn't going crazy.
Reply:Originally Posted by me37Man, I sure am happy to find out I wasn't going crazy.
Reply:Nobody said anything 'bout that---You just asked about the rod.