Here is some more info that I thought of to post for those that are new:
Replacement leads aren't any different than factory leads, it's just that you can't have too small of lead for the length and/or the amperage.
REPLACEMENT (COPPER) LEAD LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS:
--------100A-150A-200A-250A-300A-350A-400A-450A-500A
-50FT----2----2-----2----2-----1----1/0--1/0---2/0--2/0
-75FT----2----2-----1---1/0---2/0---2/0--3/0---3/0--4/0
100FT----2----1----1/0--2/0---3/0---4/0--4/0
125FT----2---1/0---2/0--3/0---4/0
150FT----1---2/0---3/0--4/0
175FT---1/0--3/0---4/0
200FT---1/0--3/0---4/0
250FT---2/0--4/0
300FT---3/0
350FT---3/0
400FT---4/0
REPLACEMENT (ALUMINUM) LEAD LENGTH SPECIFICATIONS:
--------100A-150A-200A-250A-300A-350A-400A-450A-500A
-50FT----2----2----1/0---2/0--2/0---3/0--4/0
-75FT----2---1/0---2/0---3/0--4/0
100FT---1/0--2/0---4/0
125FT---2/0--3/0
150FT---2/0--3/0
175FT---3/0
200FT---4/0
225FT---4/0
This is more for safety purposes than anything. If you use too small of lead size for the length you want or for the amperage that you are running, it WILL melt the lead and potentially causing extreme injury or loss of garage, tools, cars, house, etc. in a fire. Another thing, if a lead gets hot, don't dip it in water. I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but you have no idea how many times I have heard of incidents where someone gets electrocuted from doing this. ELECTRICITY AND WATER DON'T MIX!!!! Play it smart people. use your common sense. But bigger than what you need is perfectly ok. It's just cumbersome to work with.
HARDFACING/HARD SURFACING:
Hardfacing is a surfacing process in which hard materials are applied to the surface of a part to reduce wear or loss of material by impact, abrasion, or both impact/abrasion. Hardfacing a part also results in fewer repairs due to wear. These beads may be laid in a basket weave or a dot pattern. These patterns are used when sticky material such as dirt or mud comes in contact with the part. The sticky material accumulates in the depressed areas of the basket weave pattern. The build-up of dirt or mud helps to protect the metal from further abrasion.
In the BUTTERING process, one or more layers of easily welded materials are applied to the surface of a part that has poor welding characteristics. This process is used to form a transition layer when welding dissimilar metals.
The CLADDING process is used to apply surfacing materials that will improve the corrosion or heat resistance of a part. When a part is worn, the surface may be returned to it's original dimensions by using the BUILDUP PROCESS.
Things to consider when choosing a surfacing electrode:
*Hardness
*Hot hardness
*Impact strength
*Oxidation resistance
*Corrosion resistance
*Abrasion resistance
*Metal-to-metal wear resistance
*Machinability
One thing to remember when using surfacing electrodes, THEY ARE GOING TO BE HARD AND FOR GOOD REASON! If you are going to hardface something, make sure that it is to the proper size or shape BEFORE you surface it. It will take you forever and a day to grind this stuff down and it will never be as square, straight, true, level, smooth, etc. as you want it to be. Always remember to build up the surface first and grind to the rough shape and THEN surface the object. Take it from me, I failed to do this once and I spent literally FOUR DAYS grinding the piece to the shape I needed it to be. And when I say I did that once, I mean ONCE. You'll learn after the first time!!
Lincoln Electric makes some excellent surfacing electrodes. They even give a Rockwell C hardness rating for alot of the impact and abrasion/impact electrodes.
Another thing to remember when wanting to hardface something; it's probably going to be an alloy material/ high-strength steel already and will need to be preheated and, depending on the material and how much surfacing you put on at one time, post heat-treatment. And if you need to grind the surfacing down any, try to keep the heat input to a minimum so it doesn't take any of the hardness or "surfacing" properties away from the freshly laid material or else you would have done all that work and invested all that time for NOTHING.
Hope this helps as well. If more info is needed, just ask and I will keep posting. Feel free to ask specific questions so they can be explained with more in-depth explanations.
-Hillbilly