Tried a cheaper rod for a big boiler patch and it cracked right through

I used a different brand of 7018 on a 1-inch boiler plate repair last week and it cracked overnight during the cool down. My foreman said it was the rod, not my welding, because I ran the same heat settings as always. Anyone else run into bad batches of rod like this?

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ninam762d ago

You said it cracked during cool down, and your foreman blamed the rod. But here's something nobody brings up: how did you store that rod? I've seen guys grab a fresh box off the shelf and it's been sitting in a damp warehouse for months. 7018 is super sensitive to moisture, and if that rod wasn't baked out right before you used it, the hydrogen can cause cracking just like you described. Even a brand new box can be bad if the seal got broken in shipping. I'd check the rod oven first before blaming the brand, because that's usually the real issue in these situations.