Thread: Damp welding rods.

Rowley
All i do is work out number of rods needed and arc out each 3 or 4 times on scrap, when all done use the 1st rod 1st .
Works OK for me
Paul

Keep an eye out for rod ovens on Ebay. They're incredibly cheap at times. I managed to buy two, over time, each full of rods. I think I paid around $100 for one, and it was too heavy for two men to lift (they used a forklift to get it onto my truck) , and the other was the smaller portable type, for around $40.

I keep my rods on a shelf by my garage door.

The door faces west, and is dark green, and gets pretty hot so the rods are always warm enough to not absorb moisture.

Please excuse my ignorance but what is the issue with damp rods? They still seem to weld the same and dry out on the end within a second or 2 once the ark starts . is the only problem they spatter a bit more fiercely?

if we were in China welding with old wire dipped in lime or clay for 5 bucks a day some old rusty damp rods would be like Christmas .

Hi Mathuranatha

When the electrode with the moisture in it has an arc struck with it the moisture (being H2O ) breaks down within the arc to oxygen and hydrogen.

Should you be fabricating something that has some heavy loads on it that could fail due to the hydrogen gas causing cracking from pressure at the root of the weld bead. Can? but not likely!

For most diyers it should not be an issue, unless you are doing crane booms gantries, pressure vessels or the like.The pain in the bum is the electrode acting like a giant sparkler.

Cellulose electrodes 6010 Dc and 6011 use this moisture built in them from manufacture to provide the fierce penetrating arc.

The yanks, god bless em, seem fixated on the cellulose based sticks for what they believe are high strength welds from these rods. Some believe that there're good for burning through rust and paint and dirt and will give high strength. If you want the best welding you remove the rust etc first.

Me, I would rather back a good man with some 6012 s properly applied,anytime.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Hi Mathuranatha

When the electrode with the moisture in it has an arc struck with it the moisture (being H2O ) breaks down within the arc to oxygen and hydrogen.

Should you be fabricating something that has some heavy loads on it that could fail due to the hydrogen gas causing cracking from pressure at the root of the weld bead. Can? but not likely!

For most diyers it should not be an issue, unless you are doing crane booms gantries, pressure vessels or the like.The pain in the bum is the electrode acting like a giant sparkler.

Cellulose electrodes 6010 Dc and 6011 use this moisture built in them from manufacture to provide the fierce penetrating arc.

The yanks, god bless em, seem fixated on the cellulose based sticks for what they believe are high strength welds from these rods. Some believe that there're good for burning through rust and paint and dirt and will give high strength. If you want the best welding you remove the rust etc first.

Me, I would rather back a good man with some 6012 s properly applied,anytime.

Grahame

Well Said.
In fact, it is not unheard of to dip the 6010 or 6011 "fire sticks" in water before welding.
They do have one notable characteristic as yet unmentioned. This being a very minimal slag left after welding, this is of benefit when welding pipelines using the "stovepipe" technique.
Other than that they are horrible to use, particularly without a full set of leathers.