Thread: Can low hydrogen rods be damp from a sealed box

Originally Posted by beefy

A few weeks ago I was using some low hydrogen rods from a new packet (cardboard wrapped with plastic). I was surprised at the spatter I got because I thought LH rods gave little of that.


Would it be normal to bake new rods as soon as the pack is open. I hear about LH rods coming in hermetically sealed containers, and my guess is this does not include a cardboard box wrapped in easilly pinholed plastic.

Different LH varieties can run differently to one another. If they are not set to the optimum amperage setting or you are running a long arc length , straight polarity maybe,you certainly can experience spatter.

Some electrodes come in plastic vac formed boxes but most come as you described.Big jobs buy them by the pallet load.

If you perceive spatter due to moisture as a problem, sort out some form of hotbox.

The other thing is your application for the electrodes.Unless you are building a boiler shell or a crane boom of some special steel I can't see the point in using more expensive electrodes to gain the same results as you would with ordinary electrodes.
I sincerely doubt you can see the difference over standard plain steel electrodes.

Cheers
Grahame

Thanks Grahame,

next time I light my stove I'll put a couple of rods on top for a couple of hours then compare them with some untreated ones. That should tell me if moisture is a cause.

I made a rake for my little excavator, the steel was boiler plate which I was told is a significant jump in strength above 350 grade. That's when I tend to use the LH rods.

Keith.

The application use is certainly justified in that case.
A length of PVC downpipe with caps glued on one end and snug fitting the other will help preserve their LH integrity.

I hot melt glue the little bags of dessicant that come with the BP tabs in the lids.
Better than relying on the plastic wrap.
Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

The other thing is your application for the electrodes.Unless you are building a boiler shell or a crane boom of some special steel I can't see the point in using more expensive electrodes to gain the same results as you would with ordinary electrodes.
I sincerely doubt you can see the difference over standard plain steel electrodes.

Cheers
Grahame

I hear what you are saying. I actually like the running characteristics of LH electrodes and would generally choose them for most applications over 3mm thickness unless I grab the MIG.
One thing I pushed for and succeeded in was the removal of rutile electrodes from the mine site where I work. The reason for this was that the spanner monkeys, commonly known as fitters, could not and did not identify when LH electrodes were required when they welded, (if you could call it that), so it made sense to remove the choice. LH will do anything that rutile will do, (except vertical down, generally speaking), but rutile cannot perform the same tasks as LH. Cost difference is fairly minor in my opinion as the steel in the job will always cost more than the electrodes by far. The advent of inverters, 16TC's and Ferrocraft 16 have really LH electrodes within the reach of joe average.