Welding Rods + Humidity.......

[Scotty370]

I've got a selection of 'Rods' that I've bought over the years. I'm not as 'religious' about their care, as I should be. I've had friends that stowed them in an old 'fridge' with door slightly ajar, and a light bulb in the unit to provide slight heat. Mine are on a shop shelf, in and out of their respective 'square' plastic boxes. My question is this: Can they be used? I'm in Buffalo, NY, not in the humid South. The rods never have gotten 'wet', but may have experienced Relitive Humidity shifts from 15%-80% in an annual cycle. The 'flux' is still tight and undamaged. Should I 'bake' them in a low temp (200*) oven overnight when I get a project happening in the Spring, to dry them out? Or am I over-thinking this whole issue? TIA ~Scotty

 

[pat32rf]

Used to work for a Lincoln dealer. They told us that for most standard rods (6011, 6013, 7018, etc) only the Lo-Hydrogen ones were moisture sensitive. As long as the flux is intact your regular rods are good to go. They may burn a little different when wet (as in laying in the snow, or welding in the rain) but if you can control the puddle it won't matter. Lo-Hydrogen should be kept dry, or at least dried out BEFORE welding.
For general farm use, don't matter...

 

[ihuntbear]

I bought a rod oven for mine.Same as having them in a fridge with ther light on,compresser out of unit

 

[mrmikey]

Cellulose based electrodes (6011, 6013 etc) should be stored in a dry environment, the fridge and lighbulb is great. They should not be stord in an oven at high temp as they'll dry out and will probably fingernail badly.
Low hydrogen (7018, 8018 etc) should be stored around 300F to keep them dry, rebaked at 500F for at least a couple of hours if they're been exposed to the atmosphere for more than 4 hours or so. They're hygroscopic, absorb water like a sponge.
The reason being is if they're not dry there is the possability of underbead cracking caused by hydrogen embrittlement. For you, me and 90% of the people using them, it's of no consequence, than is unless you plan on repairing a bridge or such :laughing:.
The only problem you might have with a damp rod is porosity or the flux falling off when you strike an arc....Mike

 

[Chilly807]

I picked up an old toaster oven for cheap. A few tweaks and it works great for drying out rods. Like the guys have said, 7018 or any low hydrogen rod is about the only ones that are critical of high moisture, the others should be ok as long as they're not physically damaged by the moisture.

Storing them in a warm dry place is ideal, a friend keeps his on top of his furnace in winter time.

Sean

 

[MBDiagMan]

I worked for a couple of years doing fork truck maintenance which turned out to be mostly fork truck crash repair. I burned LOTS of rod and we had a safe. At times it was so hot you had to reach in for it with your gloves on.

The word around the plant was mixed. Some folks said it was unnecessary and others said it was. I know that the rod always burned as I expected it to. Many years before that, I left rod laying around and it would sometimes act funny after being out for awhile.

From my experience with the rod safe, I now have rod holders in my farm shop and religiously keep rod in the holders and sealed up. It seems to have helped.

My $0.02,

 

[westcliffe01]

This pressure vessel failed as seen below while being hydro tested (fortunately) due to poor heat treatment and additionally a small hydrogen embrittlement crack.

If the part you are welding carries a significant load and could cause a safety hazard if it were to fail, you would always want to reduce the chances of hydrogen embrittlement by "cooking" your rods for a few hours in a toaster oven before use, as well as pre-heating the components to be welded so that hydrogen cannot be trapped.

The worst scenarios always involve "better" steel with higher yield which are inherently less ductile and thus sensitive to any form of embrittlement including hydrogen.

The full article can be seen here: http://serkanakinci.tripod.com/id19.html