Interesting. My power loss issue seemed to lessen when I started using the Hobart 7018 rods. I did trip the breaker once at about the end of the weld.

I also noticed that when using the Lincoln 6011 rods, the whole electrode turned solid black. That didn't happen with the hobarts either. Here's a picture of a 6011 Lincoln and a 7018 Hobart side by side that are about the same length that I just used.

 

didn't know there was one.

Edit, read on the front of the welder. 20% duty cycle. 2 minutes out of every 10. I've been using it most of the day on and off. Taking breaks to let it cool down but, I have not been taking that many breaks. Do you reckon I messed it up?

 

Easiest way to explain it is think of the box as a capacitor. If it has an 85% duty cycle at 50 amps it needs a 15 second break every 100 seconds to "recharge" the capacitor

Now consider you are wired up and only pushing 30 amps. Now that 85% duty cycle only has enough kick in it for 56 seconds of use per 100 before it needs a break to recharge the capacitor

This was a problem I ran into with "cheap" migs (think harbor freight) about 20 years ago with really low duty cycles. Tons of wire on the spool, plenty of waiting for juice

 

Oh, okay so I just held an ark for long enough to drain the capacitor in a sense and needed to stop and let it recharge. When I switched to the Lincoln 6011 rods I also turned my plate 90° and started running long beads. That was about when I started having issues.

 

Also, when you are welding turn it on and leave it on. Leave it on while you are tapping the bead with the hammer, grinding the bead down, wire wheel, prepping the metal edges to be welded, drinking a Gatorade, pretty much on when you are in weld mode. Then it will be primed and ready for that 20% duty (arc) cycle


I'm hoping if you were practicing all day that you were wearing a helmet this time. And long sleeves and pants. Those winter suntans are just as painful as summer time

2 rods is all it takes to have noticeable tan lines

 

Just like this guy.

 

 

I did at least do that. I left the welder on even when I wasn't striking an ark. My boss when I worked at the mechanic shop had a big Miller MIG machine with an automatic fan. He said if the fan was on the welder stays on. When the fan shut off you could turn the welder off. So even though these machines don't have that automatic fan feature, they just stay on, I figured it should stay on after using it to let it cool down just like the mig machine.

I wore the helmet all day, I did not have sleeves though. I had my left arm wrapped up in a heat resistant blanket thing that came with the welder. Unfortunately it didn't do a very good job when hot metal landed on it. It went right through it and landed on my arm. But I did keep my arm wrapped up anyway.

I also made me a tinking hammer. Not sure what those are actually called but, I made it out of a lawn mower blade. It's got a really sharp point on one side and a 1-in tall or so blade on the other side for cleaning up slag.

 

Chipping hammer.

Sounds like you've been working the dog outta that machine. You might want to show her some love and open her up for a little housekeeping. Blow out any dust and cobwebs that have accumulated maybe hose her out w/ some CRC contact cleaner or similar. Check and clean your connections on your leads. Make sure your stinger and ground clamp have clean and tight connections with the cable. That reminds me what size leads are you using on that machine? If they're factory original they may only be like 6 awg. I would think about upgrading at some point. Not tomorrow or anything but maybe sometime when you're flush and feel the need to drop coin. Come to think of it a loose or dirty connection could have a hand in your low power quirks.

 

They appear to be factory leads. Looks like it has a different grounding clamp than what came on it from the factory but, the leads themselves look factory. I was quite surprised with how small they were. I'm sure it's probably pretty easy to pop the cover off.

When you say hose out do you mean literally spray everything with that contact cleaner? Is there nothing to worry about in there? I mean I know contact cleaners made for electrical stuff so that it's non-conductive, just making sure. I will head out to get some contact cleaner first thing in the morning. Or if I get bored I'll do it tonight.

 

Other than a couple of cobwebs she's mint. The nice guy i bought it from said he had hardly ever used it. He said he only bought it because of the gate at his hunting camp. Said every now and again someone would run into it and knock it down or something along those lines. And a couple other little things. Said he hardly used it. I can see there's some of that glue/resin substance peeling here and there from age, but other than that everything looks pretty good.

I did also find the date stamped on the front. I couldn't really read the serial number so I had to download a manual that explained how to read the serial number. This welder was from 1992.

 

I added a computer cooling fan to blow air through the guts of my old MIG welder and it allowed it to run for a lot longer before activating the safety. Maybe you can update the fan on yours to something that flows more air Tristan.

 

I could probably get a computer fan of sorts. Not sure if it would help with runtime though. It would be nice to have an extra fan though. I'm sure you probably can't cool these things down enough. Thanks for the idea! 💡

 

The computer fans, at least the small handful I've torn into, are usually 12v DC. You would need to rob the power supply too or scavenge an old charger for 12v power tool. Might be easier to find something that already runs on 110v. Old space heaters, microwaves, or heck just a cheapo little desktop fan. You would have to check what voltage the existing fan runs on but may be able to just piggyback it as a power supply. If that's no bueno, then should be able to tie in to just one leg of the 220 powering the fan for 110.

Oh and yes the contact cleaner won't hurt anything. Obviously I'm not saying submerge the whole thing but enough to wash away any dirt or gunk.

 

​​​​​​The machine has been around longer than you have. Does that mean you have to call it sir?