Hardfacing welding alloys for additional protection on AR400, TriBraze®, Manganese, and other wear resistant steels requires the correct alloy for the base metal and operating conditions.
The welding products are listed in numerical order, with the product description:
Cromo Alloy 11 - This is a solid core rod with a heavy flux coating and even higher abrasion resistance than Super C. One layer can run as high a 65 RC. It is a chrome carbide alloy with tungsten added for additional hardness and molybdenum for additional toughness. (The tungsten is in Solution, not in the form of particles.) This is mentioned so it will not be confused with tungsten drop. It is not a rod you would want to sell to a welder with little experience in hardfacing. It is slightly difficult to run; however it can produce a nice job in the hands of an experienced welder. With proper settings it can actually run out of position. As a rule of thumb, products with very high alloys & hardness do not produce welds that are as attractive as lesser alloys. That is the case with Chromo Alloy 11. It check cracks and it is not machinable. It will also hold its hardness at high temperatures. (1100 degrees F) Polarity is DC electrode positive and hold a very tight arc. We stock this in 1/8 and 5/32 diameters. Prime Arc 100 - The Weld Eraser - this rod welds nothing! These electrodes are designed for gouging and metal removal when carbon arc gouging is not available or just a quick fix is needed. They run at relatively high amperage and have a specially designed flux to push the molten metal out of the way as you "jab" the rod at the crack. NOTE: THESE RODS RUN DC ELECTRODE NEGATIVE or STRAIGHT POLARITY. This allows the electrical current to work in conjunction with the special flux to actually remove metal rather than deposit it. When used correctly, these rods actually do a much cleaner job than you might expect. They can be used to gouge a groove or actually make a cut. For the best results, only try to go as deep as about 75% of the diameter of the rod in each pass. Polarity can be AC current, but the DC straight polarity works best. Recommended amperage: 1/8, 200 - 300 amps, 5/32, 300 - 400 amps and 3/16 350 - 475 amps. Multi Alloy 222 FCO - This is another product for joining or building up manganese. It has slightly less alloy than some of the others and is more of a buildup product. The manganese will work harden, has excellent strength and is very tough. You can buildup as many layers as necessary. Stocked in 1/16 diameter. It will work harden to 500 BHN. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Open arc or C02 may be used. Interpass temperatures should be limited to 500° F. Machinable and can be flame cut easily. Does not check crack. Polarity is DC electrode negative. Multi Alloy 235 FCO - This product can be used for joining and build up of manganese as well as carbon steels. It is a higher alloy than the other two wires and is designed for severe impact loading. It also works well in applications where cavitation is a problem. It will work harden to 55 RC but is only about 220 BHN as welded. Machinable with carbide tools and cannot be flame cut. This is an open arc product. Does not check crack. Stocked in 1/16 diameter. Polarity is DC electrode negative. Wear Arc 300 - This is a stick electrode for hardfacing when CHECK CRACKS ARE NOT DESIRABLE. It is a solid core rod with a flux coating that resembles a standard welding rod. Hardness will run 52 - 58 RC and it should be held to 3 layers to help insure crack free deposits. This is a good rod to cap the welds when joining Tri Braze. It is limited out of position and is not machinable. It can be run AC or DC electrode positive. Wear Arc 300 will withstand severe impact and moderate to severe abrasion. It is a good general purpose hardfacing product for metal to metal and metal to earth. Polarity is AC or DC electrode positive. We stock this in 1/8 and 5/32 diameters. Wear Arc 300 FCG - This is the wire version of the above stick electrode. Basically it is a metal cored wire meaning there is no flux to be chipped off. It will do everything the stick electrode will do; and it is the wire we commonly use in the tungsten drop process. Here again, it can be used to cap welds when joining Tri Braze. We stock it in .045 and 1/16 diameters. It does not run well out of position but it is available in an all position version that does have a flux. It is usually run in 75% argon, 25% C02 shielding gas, however, 98% argon, 2% oxygen is the preferred gas for the tungsten drop process. Hardness on the wire version is 56 - 60 RC. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Wear Arc 320 - This is a tubular electrode very much like 350 and 380, with a much richer chemistry, forming a complex carbide. The addition of tungsten and vanadium to the chrome make this alloy as high as 64 RC and maintain hardness up to 1500 degrees F. Impact qualities are moderate. We stock this in 7/16” diameter. Polarity is DC electrode positive.
Wear Arc 355 - This is the 1/4" diameter tubular version of Super C. This means the electrode is made of a tube and the chemistry is packed inside in a powder form. There is a thin coating on the outside of the tube that helps protect the liquid puddle as it burns off. After welding, most of the flux easily brushes off. The main advantages of this type of electrode are as follows. They can be run at low amperage settings to minimize dilution and distortion. They have a very high recovery rate, meaning most all of the rod becomes weld metal as it is burned. (Even the stubs can be welded over and turned into weld metal) And they produce a very high quality deposit. This one, because of the 1/4" diameter, can be run out of position when welding with a 15 degree upward angle. Wear Arc 355 can be used anywhere Super C is used, and is recommended to cap the welds joining Super C plate. Deposits check crack and are not machinable. Hardness runs from 56 - 62 RC and no more than 2 layers are recommended. As with most chrome carbides, impact qualities are moderate. They are not recommended for high impact applications. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Wear Arc 355 is not machinable. Wear Arc 377 - This is a stick electrode with a solid core rod and a flux covering that may be used to join or build up manganese alloys. It also contains chrome for added wear resistance. MANGANESE IS NOT HARD AS DEPOSITED! IT REQUIRES IMPACT TO WORK HARDEN! As welded, most manganese products are only in the low 200 BHN range. They can withstand heavy impact and that is how they reach their hardness potential. NEVER RECOMMEND A MANGANESE PRODUCT FOR AN APPLICATION WITH LITTLE OR NO IMPACT. Wear arc 377 will work harden to as high as 55 RC depending on the number of layers. It may be applied in as many layers as required. It welds very smooth with very low spatter. Interpass temperature should be limited to 500 degrees. Machinable with carbide tools and cannot be flame cut. Does not check crack. We stock this in 1/8,5/32,3/16 and ¼” diameters. Polarity is AC or DC electrode positive. Wear ARC 377 FCO - This is one of the open arc wire versions of the stick electrode above. We stock it .045 and 1/16 diameter. It will basically do everything the rod will do and it is also a smooth running product. It will work harden up to 57 RC. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Here again, interpass temperatures should be limited to 500 degrees. Machinable with carbide tools and cannot be flame cut. Does not check crack. We stock this in 1/16 and .045 diameter. Wear Arc 380 - This is very similar to the 350 and 355 in hardness and chemistry but is formulated for use on manganese. It is available in 7/16". Polarity is DC electrode positive. Wear Arc 400 FCG - This is a metal core wire very similar to Wear Arc 300 but with a higher alloy content. The addition of vanadium and boron in this product raise the hardness to 61 - 62 RC. With proper preheat and slow cooling, this can be applied crack free for a couple of layers. If it is put down over and over, it will check crack but not to the extent that chrome carbide products do. Cracks will be tight and much farther apart. We have used 400 FCG as a matrix for the tungsten drop process many times and it performed well. It gives a good balance of resistance to both impact and abrasion. This would be a good product to cap manganese build up to allow the manganese to work harden as the 400 wears off. We stock this in 1/16 diameter. The usual shielding gas is 75% argon, 25% C02 but 98% argon 2% oxygen should be used for tungsten. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Cromo Alloy 1129 - 0 - This is the wire version of Chromo Alloy 11. It is the same chemistry and exhibits all of the same properties as the rod with one exception. It runs better. It will weld very much like Super C. It is an open arc product but C02 can be added to reduce spatter and improve appearance. Polarity is DC electrode positive. We stock 1129-O in 1/16” diameter. Wear Arc 2400 - This wire is a vanadium carbide product. Vanadium is close to tungsten in wear resistance but it will withstand impact much better than tungsten. Typical hardness for the carbides formed in this product are almost twice the hardness of the chrome carbides. This is a relatively expensive hardfacing electrode but it can be worth the money in some applications. It is also very efficient since vanadium does not burn up in the arc. With proper procedures it can be put down crack free and in multiple layers. We stock it in 1/16 diameter and it can be run open arc or with C02. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Super C FCO- This is the flux cored wire we use to manufacture Super C plate. It is the best chrome carbide hardfacing material on the market. It is OPEN ARC and requires NO GAS. Straight C02 may be used to reduce spatter if desired but this product has very low spatter as it is. It is NOT an ALL POSITION electrode but it may be stacked vertically if proper procedures are followed. Super C FCO is the richest chemistry available and the deposits are identical to Super C plate in carbide formation. This product will check crack while welding and is generally used in areas with extreme abrasion and moderate to light impact. One exception in the area of impact is hardfacing manganese parts or manganese build up. It is commonly used to hardface these items to allow the manganese to work harden as the Super C wears off. The deposits polish quickly in service and give exceptional wear against sliding abrasion. Hardness will run 58 - 62 RC. Polarity is DC electrode positive. Super C is not machinable. Tri Weld C- This is one of the stick electrode versions of Super C. It is a solid core rod with a flux coating, meaning it resembles a standard 7018 in appearance. The chemistry is very close to that of Super C but the deposit will show more shine and more of a silver color. This is because of the type flux used. Most of the chemistry comes from the flux but there are also some good elements in it to clean the weld and form a protective coating over it. Again, similar to a 7018, this must be chipped off between passes. This is also what makes this rod do well in ALL POSITIONS. Tri Weld C can be used anywhere Super C is used as well as to cap the welds joining Super C plate. It check cracks as it cools the same as Super C. It is a very good choice for capping manganese parts and build up. Hardness runs 56 - 60 RC and it is not machinable. Polarity is AC or DC electrode positive. It is not machinable.
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