[Trailer project] Welded adjustable towing eye holder to trailer tongue

Once you've finished your trailer and painted it, do check those welds periodically for cracks. Under repetitive cycles of stress it's possible for small flaws in a weld to grow into significant cracks.

You also have some pretty big indentations in the metal from when you chipped the slag. Maybe chip a little more gently or use a wire brush on an angle grinder next time?

Best wishes,

Chris

IIRC the out of oven time for certified welds with 7018 is like 4 hours tops. Dry is good, drier is better.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Igor,

For some reason your pictures do not appear. At least not on my computer.

Ignoramus21521 wrote:

Try again maybe, they seem to work as of right now...

Igor,

Nyet. No dice. But if it works for you then the problem is obviously my computer. It's probably some dumb setting on my notebook computer. I'll have my IT department look at it when he comes in from his date.

Vern> > > Igor,

Are you talking about cooking the rod in an oven to dry it out? If so, I think I know why I've never been able to weld with 7018 worth a darn.

Wes S

Wes, it could be a coincidence, but possibly, my better experience with 7018 today, may be explained by the fact that I just opened the package.

Sorry Vernon. I have a little counter that counts the number of times the page was viewed, as of now it is 201 times, and I could not account for so many. So other people could see it. So, I think, it would be good to check your settings.

You're right. I turned on my desktop computer and can see 'em fine.

I feel sooo proud that I was the one who talked you outta that girlie

If you have enough room at the sides you might c> > > Igor,

Not so much cooking it, which would have to be done at a temperature far higher than boiling water to drive off the moisture absorbed into the flux, but keeping the rod in a dry, sealed package, or in a rod oven to prevent it from absorbing moisture in the first place.

Some guys have said that they have had OK results drying rod in an oven (kitchen style) turned up very high for an hour or so, but I cannot personally attest to the usefulness of this ploy.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Not bad, Ig. Those welds look quite servicable.

I assume you did this with the Cybertig. Did you use HF for arc starting? If not, try it. 7018 can be a bit fussy to strike, but HF makes it dirt simple.

No coincidence. 7018 must be dry to run well and be low-hydrogen. 7018 is often kept in a rod oven that runs about 300F. I've just flushed and backfilled the rod container with dry argon and duct-taped it shut. Worked for me.

I haven't burned a single stick since I got MIG capable of up to 3/8" singlepass, but I used quite a few sticks of 7018 on my trailer before I had the MIG. I did like stick welding, but I definitely like MIG better. I found a pretty good rod oven among the effects of BIL's estate I helped clean up, gave it to a friend because I now have no use for one. Coulda sold it on EBay but we felt better about giving it to a guy we knew would really appreciate it.