Advantages and disadvantages of welding electrodes from the manufacturer SZSM

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The Russian building materials market provides a choice of welding materials. They come to us from the machines of Russian factories and from manufacturers from other countries.

Parts vary in price adequacy, quality, and the ratio of positive and negative customer reviews. They are the ones we rely on when choosing a product. In most cases, the guideline will be value for money.

In this article we will analyze the pros and cons of electrodes familiar to many welders from the Sudislavsky Welding Materials Plant.

• general information
• Advantages and disadvantages
• A short summary

general information

Welding electrodes brand MP-3C are rods with a combined rutile-cellulose coating intended for manual arc welding of low-alloy steel carbon structures. These electrodes can be used for welding in any spatial position (except for the vertical position when welding from top to bottom). You can cook on both alternating and direct current, adjusting any polarity.

MP 3s electrodes are made of SV-08 type wire and coated. When welding, you can get both short and medium arc lengths. We recommend cooking on a short arc. With a certain skill, you can achieve a long arc if you need it. The arc itself burns stably, does not “walk”, the seams turn out beautiful and even. The slag separates easily.

Welding electrodes of the MP-3C brand can be used not only for amateur, but also for professional welding. They have proven themselves to be excellent when working with non-rotating pipe joints. It is also convenient to make tacks using these electrodes.

The main advantage is that there is no need to clean the metal before welding. Of course, cleaning won't hurt, but if you don't have the opportunity to remove rust and dirt from the surface of the workpiece, you can cook directly on top.

LEZ MR 3s electrodes ignite without any problems. Including again. This brand will appeal to beginners and gardeners who don’t want to bother with ignition and arcing. However, for home use, it is also recommended to calcinate the electrodes.

Range

The range of the Tigarbo brand is small, but includes all popular brands. In the assortment you will find electrodes ANO 21, ANO 24, UONI 13 55, MP-3. These brands of electrodes can be found in the arsenal of both beginners and professionals. The products are packaged in packages weighing from 1 to 5 kilograms, which is extremely convenient. The average cost of 1 kg of Tigarbo electrodes as of November 2022 ranges from 90 to 180 rubles, depending on the brand.

How are they different from MP-3?

Electrodes MP 3 and MP 3C are very similar. Their composition and characteristics are almost identical, with the exception of one feature. The MP 3C brand contains a number of additives, thanks to which the arc is easier to ignite and burns more stably when using a low-power household welding inverter. Also, this brand emits much less manganese during operation than MP 3. The seams are more uniform and easier to form.

From this we can conclude that the MP 3C brand is more likely intended for amateur welding at home, and MP 3 is more universal. They can be used both at home and in professional activities.

A short summary

The products of the Sudislav Welding Materials Plant (SZSM) are a good example of a product that meets all standards, regardless of the batch.

They make it easy to start learning welding and gradually move on to more complex levels of welding.

Also, SZSM products are suitable if you occasionally weld at home or in the country.

Have you tried the products of the Sudislavsky plant? If yes, tell us in the comments about your positive or negative experience using parts from this manufacturer.

Storage

Proper storage of electrodes directly affects the quality of the seams and the shelf life of the rods themselves.

The most important rule is to store electrodes in a dry, warm room. No need to leave a pack of rods in the garage all winter! Many people do this, and then wonder why the seams turn out defective. The room in which you store the electrodes should not be too humid. It’s better to take the rods to your apartment, if possible. If you have a large number of electrodes, then it is better to install a thermometer and a device that determines air humidity in the room.

Advantages and disadvantages

Naturally, any product has pros and cons. This also applies to electrodes from the Sudislavsky plant. Below we will look at them in more detail.

Of course, the most important thing for a part is quality. The plant produces electrodes and wire in accordance with all industry standards. The second plus is the wide variety of products.

The plant produces more than sixty types of rods. SZSM is a vivid example of streamlined production of parts with constant quality.

The product is well preserved during transportation. During production, it is packaged in high-quality cardboard, which preserves the characteristics of the products.

Let's talk about the cons. Oddly enough, there is only one thing - quality. The electrodes from the Sudislavsky plant, although not bad, may be inferior to their imported competitors. Large Russian factories also surpass SZSM in product quality.

Electrodes for inverter welding - choosing the best

Which welding electrodes would you choose or recommend?

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Our small rating of welding electrodes will help you make the right choice. Let us remind you that the opinion of the site’s editors does not necessarily coincide with the opinion of readers. You can buy completely different electrodes without being guided by our choice.

For ease of reading the material, we have divided the list of electrode models into two parts. One presents options with a basic coating, and the other with rutile. These are the most common coating options and are in greatest demand. We'll talk more about the types of coating below, and now for you - the TOP 10 electrodes used for welding with an inverter.

Current, diameter

Marking, decoding

E46-MR-3 LUX-Ø-UD E 43 0 (3)-RTs11, where:

• E46 – type of electrode, in this case – for welding carbon and low-alloy steels with tensile strength up to 46 kgf/sq.mm.;
• MR-3 LUX – electrode brand;
• Ø – diameter of the electrode, the most popular rods are 4.0 mm;
• UD - materials for welding of which the rod (U) and coating thickness (D) are intended, in this case - for welding carbon and low-alloy steels and with a thick coating. There are also MP-3 rods with a thick coating of the second group - UD2;
• E – international designation of consumable coated electrodes;
• 43 – tensile strength, in this case – 430 MPa (44 kgf/sq.mm.);
• 0 – relative elongation, 0 = less than 20%;
• (3) – the minimum temperature at which the impact strength of the weld is at least 34 J/sq.cm, 3 = minus 20 degrees;
• RC – type of coating, in this case – rutile-cellulose;
• 1 – spatial positions of the rod at which welding is carried out, in this case – all positions;
• 1 – welding current and open circuit voltage, 1 – welding with direct current of reverse polarity and alternating current.

A little history

Tigarbo is a Russian company that produces electrodes for . Basically, products are sold in the Russian Federation, but sometimes they are exported to CIS countries.

The Latin name allows it to disguise itself as a foreign enterprise. Why is this good? You can place an order directly from the factory and without intermediaries. The bad thing is that customers in foreign countries can buy counterfeits rather than original products.

The Tigarbo brand belongs to the middle price category, and in the domestic market it occupies a leading position. Welders also speak well of it. The plant has an international quality control system. Its standard is ISO 9001-2000.

Description

OZS electrodes are metal rods (material Sv-08, Sv-08A) coated with a rutile coating, which are used for welding low-carbon steels (with a carbon content of up to 0.25%).

Electrodes OZS-12

The basis of the coating is titanium dioxide , which creates protection from slag for the welding seam and drops of metal of the rod located in the arc gap. The resulting surface film of titanium dioxide has good conductivity , which creates conditions for easy re-ignition of the electrode.

GOST, certificates of conformity

The quality of the electrodes is confirmed by compliance with state and industry standards, technical specifications and other norms. The packaging must contain a link to the above documents.

Electrodes of the OZS brand are manufactured in accordance with GOST 9466 - 75 AND GOST 9467 - 75 . In addition, special requirements for individual modifications are prescribed in technical specifications , for example, TU 14 - 4 - 782 - 76 or in industry standards, for example, OST 5.9224 - 75.

Welding electrodes OZS-3

As an element of consolidating their positions in the domestic market of welding materials, manufacturers receive certificates of compliance with Russian regulatory documents. Among the independent expert organizations authorized for this are: Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, NAKS (national welding control agency), Gosatomnadzor, accredited by Rosstandart to obtain a GOST R certificate of conformity and others.

How letters are deciphered, markings

In the name of the electrode brand, the developers indirectly indicate any of their characteristic features. The abbreviation OZS corresponds to the following decoding:

• OZ is a pilot plant, as noted in the labeling of the company that developed SpetsElectrod;
• C - construction, as one of the industries where electrodes of this brand are used.

On the packaging, OZS electrodes are designated in accordance with GOST 9467 - 75. The designation consists of letters and numbers , each of which corresponds to certain technical characteristics and scope of application. An OZS-12 brand electrode with a rod diameter of 3 mm will have the following name:

E46 – OZS – 12 – 3.0 – UD / E430(3) – P25.

All OZS brand consumables belong to the type of electrodes with an ultimate tensile strength of 46 kgf/sq.m. mm (E46). Other dimensional, welding, technological parameters, as well as purpose, can be determined from GOST information.

Manufacturers: ESAB and others

“Manufacturer of high quality electrodes”, including the OZS brand - this characteristic is instantly associated by welders with the Swedish brand ESAB.

However, some Russian enterprises: BOR-ELECTROD (Nizhny Novgorod region), SpetsElectrod (Moscow) and others, as well as the Russian-Swedish joint venture ESAB-SVEL (St. Petersburg) produce OZS consumables, competitive in terms of “price-quality” parameter.

What are they intended for, areas of application

The ability to qualitatively weld workpieces from low-carbon steel even without special skills has led to the widespread use of OZS electrodes both in industry and construction, and in everyday life. Most sheet metal and various types of rolled products are made from such steel.

Pipe welding with OZS-6 electrodes

As the best technologically, OZS consumables are used in welding T-joints - with the help of tacks you can obtain geometrically accurate perpendicular joint surfaces. They successfully cope with the task of welding pipes of small diameter and with thin walls . A large number of units, lifts, and other equipment operating in explosive industries are welded with OZS grade electrodes.

Is it worth buying?

So, since we have mentioned price several times as one of the main factors when choosing electrodes, let’s start with it. “Standard” electrodes are often slightly more expensive than analogues from other or Russian “ESAB”). The difference in price is insignificant, but it still exists. Is it worth paying extra for them?

It is not easy to answer this question. Due to the slight difference in cost, these electrodes can be classified in the same price category as most well-established brands (LEZ, SpetsElektrod, ESAB, etc.). And the difference between them is very insignificant not only in price, but also in characteristics. Therefore, we would not compare them with other products. In our opinion, it is not much different.

Let’s just say that “Standard” electrodes will appeal to all beginners and home welders. They are not very demanding on storage, the arc is easy to ignite and burns stably. They practically do not absorb moisture, so you do not have to pre-dry the electrodes in an oven. And this is also a plus for an amateur. And if the electrodes do become damp, they can be placed on the battery or in the oven. In a word, there is nothing difficult in their operation.

They can be easily found even in a small town. You don’t have to order them from an online store in another city and wait for delivery. The packaging of the electrodes is also good. The cardboard is thick and can be stored directly in the box. But only on condition that the electrodes are stored in a dry and heated room.

Among the shortcomings, we note only counterfeit. Very often it comes across on sale. This, of course, is not the manufacturer’s fault, but you need to be careful before purchasing. Counterfeit electrodes are difficult to ignite and may even smoke. And the seams simply do not form, since the weld pool is practically not formed. Therefore, ask the seller before purchasing a quality certificate for the electrodes you have chosen. The certificate confirms that the product is genuine and meets the standards. We wish you good luck in your work!

Advantages and disadvantages

The technology of welding with OZS brand electrodes is distinguished by the following positive qualities.

• When making a weld , no pores or cracks are formed, and there are no slag components . The seam is characterized by a smooth transition from the welding bead to the base metal, which makes it invisible on the surface of the workpiece.
• Welding can be done on edges that have not been cleaned of rust, soil, or with traces of moisture.
• The slag crust is easily separated from the weld surface.
• Steady arc combustion ensures minimal losses due to spatter.
• Rutile coating of OZS electrodes does not create toxic elements in welding gases.

Electrodes ESAB OZS-12 d3 mm. 5 kg. Photo Petrovich

The main disadvantage of OZS consumables is the strict requirements for the moisture content of the rutile coating . When the moisture content in it is more than 0.7%, all the positive qualities of the electrodes are lost. Therefore, special conditions are imposed on the premises where OZS consumables are stored.

However, even special warehouses do not guarantee the content of the required amount of moisture in the coating. Therefore, before the welding operation, it is imperative to calcinate the electrodes at a temperature of about 180°C for at least half an hour. The complexity of using OZS consumables increases greatly. Equipment for calcining electrodes is not always at hand.

Comparison with OK, ANO, MP-3, what are the differences, which is better

A wide variety of designs made from low-carbon steels stimulates the development of welding technologies in the development of the production of consumables for their manual arc welding. In addition to OZS brand electrodes, the market is replete with a variety of other consumables with rutile coating : domestic ANO, MP-3, the Swedish brand ESAB OK 46.00 and others. It is not easy for the average consumer to navigate the huge number of brands and models.

We can recommend taking two factors as criteria for the best choice: objective and subjective .

Objective information is provided by testing electrodes in real conditions by independent experts and comparing technical characteristics. For example, the calcination temperature of Swedish brand electrodes is several times lower than that of Russian ones. Some sources cite cases of high-quality welding with “damp” ESAB OK.46 consumables. Experts do not find a significant difference in the welding characteristics of electrodes of the OZS, MR-3, ANO and OK 46.00 brands.

Subjective, but very real information is provided by reviews of ordinary welders , since they use the same brands in their work, but made by different manufacturers. The technological process on some of them leaves room for improvement. As an example (information taken from the forum of the website Forumhous.ru), the results of a user survey to the question “Which electrode do you like?” gave the following results:

• OK 46.00 - 57.5%;
• MR – 3 – 26.1%;
• ANO – 21 – 20.9%;
• OZS – 12 – 11.2%.

Electrode device

Design of a welding electrode
The electrode, which is necessarily used during welding, is a fairly thin metal product that resembles a knitting needle in appearance and has a special coating. During welding, the metal of the core begins to melt, and the coating applied to it protects the formed seam from exposure to oxygen. By the way, the coating of products can be very different.

Schematic illustration of the welding process

Table. Types of coating.

On a note! For novice welders, it is best to use rutile electrodes. For experienced people, it doesn’t matter what kind of coating is used.

Rutile electrodes
Also, all electrodes are divided into two main groups - melting and non-melting.

• Melting options may have a coated rod of different diameters. It is thanks to the latter that the arc during welding is optimal. Such electrodes are usually used for manual welding.
• Non-melting options are now quite rare, since they need to be worked in a special environment. They are difficult to select, so they are not recommended for beginners.