🔥 7018 Open Root Weld

There have been a lot of requests for this video over the past few months. 7018 root welds are not something that is done often in the United States but is a little more prevalent in other parts of the world.
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[karneym]

Same as many comments below, we do it strictly with 7016 only in Australia. 6010/11 and 7018 are somewhat hard to find here. All root runs done straight polarity with a 7016. The hardest test I had to to in welding school was 1/4" plate, 8" in length root and cap with 7016 in positions 1-4. There is absolutely no forgiveness in settings and no time to pull back to let puddle cool because it would just overfill the groove. It was a very good exercise in learning exact heat control though. Its a fairly easy process to master once you get up to 3/8 and 1/2, a juggling of land, gap, and current parameters with practice and good welds soon follow. No remote control. You did damn fine Bob, my deepest respect to your skills and what you pass on. Please keep it!

[wadecloyd]

Been welding for about 12 years now, I've actually been tested makeorbreak on this procedure before. I don't like it and it's not coded but I've seen it on jobs 3 times in my career. I'm a boilermaker so I travel the country on shutdowns or turnarounds. Good video great explanation. Keep burning brother!

[freshfavorites]

It always feels like we are just chillin talking in the shop when he gets comfortable talking lol

[joshuapearce]

Bob, 7018 is used quite often in shipbuilding industry, as well as 10718 and 11018 for both structure and pipe. I really enjoy watching your technique and thanks for your time

[Rylonim]

ESAB OK48.00 (7018) Ø 2.5mm
This is the backbone of the construction/maintenance welding sector in northern europe and pretty much around the world, this is as much as i have observed at least.

My good man Bob Moffatt, anyone that would suggest that you are somehow lacking in skill or experience is misled to say the least...
The main thing in this video im reacting to is the choice of rod angle and technique, and you stated this yourself,
this is something no one can know without the needed work hours by the hundreds and thousands of mistakes made :D.

love your work, keep it up!

[MrJimmyPayne]

Working for the boilermakers I have seen this done but backside was back gouged and welded for full pen

[Etol]

Hi Bob, I have been practising this lohi open root thing for the last couple of weeks with both 7018 and 7016 electrodes on DCEN. The 7016 electrodes make it a lot easier.
Looks like the weldpool isn't as fluid as with the 7018 which makes it a lot better controlable with open root.
Here in Europe we have the Lincoln Smitweld Baso100 and Lincoln Smitweld Conarc 51 which are both 7016 electrodes which can be run on both DCEP and DCEN and are designed for open root.
I don't think those are available in the USA. Smitweld is a Dutch firm which was taken over by Lincoln some time ago but they still suply their original line up.

I get very good results with 7016 electrodes from Lastek. This is an old Belgian firm with a very wide choice in electrodes.
Their Lastek 28 and Lastek 20 electrodes (7016) run just as smooth on DCEN as DCEP. With the Lincoln Smitweld Baso100 I still notice a difference on DCEN. Havn't tried the Conarc 51 so far.
After some practice I was able to make some nice open root welds with the Lastek 28 electrodes.
Even with their 2mm electrode on 3mm sheet with 2mm gap and 40Amps DCEN.
Good penetration, controlable keyhole and no blow trough.
I still have problems getting the same results with 7018, but looking at the video of Northen Sweden Welding it must be possible.
I wil keep on practising. :D

Keep your videos coming Bob. Appreciate the time you put in to teach us a lot of the good stuff.

[zrghmby]

Thank you for the response Bob. In Ukraine there are two options to run a root - 6013 and 7018 . They believe that 7018 provides a better gas coverage so it's standard here. Nobody heard about fast freeze cellulose rods here. I've done some research on European welding forums and found that in the UK it is standard procedure to run pipe from root to cap with 6013 . Thank you again, can't wait to see some pipe roots with 7018 .

[hotcomputer]

We never use 6010 where I work here in norway, we only use 7018 Electrode Negative with a hand held controller for root and Electrode positive for fill and cap. Stick welding is however very rarely done anymore because we use dual shield flux core (Nittetsu SF-3AM) and the newer metal flux filled (NST MC-RS) for their efficiency.

[OGScoobaSteve]

Lol “I got a hole in my root” cracked me up

[overtheclouds]

I use this a lot in repair work. Running a mobile repair rig there isn’t always new materials for everything. So I have to weld open root a lot to fill in gaps on things that just don’t fit perfectly.
I get the root to stick with straight polarity but turned the dig/arc force all the way down to max -negative. In my trailblazer 325 EFI with 1/8” Lincoln Excalibur 7018 my dig is -25. Plus turning the amperage down to 97-102 amps. I use a tight vertical whipping motion ( upside down Christmas trees) the puddle stacks on itself.
After the root I will turn it up to 105 and give it a hot pass then weld it out with stringers at 107. Anything hotter the puddle will sag and fall out. This is without cooling in between passes. Never had one fail yet...🤞🏻

[tonyturner]

I have never had to do this for work or any testing ever but I have done it just to try it. 3/32" land with a tight 3/32" gap with on/off tabs worked for me... let it wet out on the start and let it melt open & just hug the sides letting the center fill up. Never attempted it on pipe though.

[candu]

I don't know if you know this but when you do the 7018 - 3/32 root pass you need to "Walk the Rod" as you travel uphill. You did not and that is why you have that defect on the back. Very important to walk the rod from side to side like you would walk a cup in TIG welding.

[leelotungal]

Here in scandinavia 7018 is very commonly used for root pass aswell due to extreme cold climates etc and it reacting better, requires a little different tehnique than Mr. Bob here was demonstrating but like he said, this is new to him. Great job nonetheless! Thanks.

[ersg]

this is the way I do it in mi country and according to technologists that visited and formed us to welding perfection courses, this is the right and sound way to produce x-ray quality root, fill and cap welds here in Mauritius. :)

[helexable]

in louisiana we use this procedure for hot taps and other work of that nature and also when doing some old to new pipe when cut with a specific machine, in my company its just called hot tap certified.

[dereksteier]

Hey Bob. The Lohi bead is normally not used in service here in USA. Its mostly given as a welding test. Some company's require the test for certain sets of papers. They normally make you test on double extra heavy 2in pipe. It alot easier to put the bead in with Kobelco 7016 rod. If the testing inspector will let you use it. Use it!! I weld in Oklahoma and I know of at lest 4 or 5 company's that require it.

[downhilldaddy]

Pretty interesting, I’ve always wondered myself how that would run but never attempted it. Tomorrow I’m cutting some 3/8 plate coupons and I’m going to town with it.

[claytonweeks]

All my schooling I was taught 6010 roots. The shop I'm in now is a repair shop that just slaps drill casing pipe together and they dont want to bother buying 6010 rods so we just glue it together with 7018

Eastman chemical test is 6" sch. 80 7018 all the way