[G-ManBart]

One of the true experts who has posted on most of the welding forums once did a writeup about welding with wet 7018 rods. He soaked old rods in a can overnight to get them completely saturated, then used them. He would pull one out of the can, put it in the stinger, stick the rod to the work and let it cook until the steam would release, then break it free and weld a perfect bead. He did cut and etch as well as bend tests and they were perfect.

According to what I read about them they shouldn't even start. But if they passed a bend test I'm fine.

What's the member's name? I would like to read some of his posts.

As MinnesotaDave mentioned, it was CEP who posted that on Welding Web and I think shared it on the Garage Journal Forum as well. I haven't seen him post in a while, but he helped me a bunch when I was first starting to learn how to weld (still learning!).

Here's at least one of the discussions:

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.p ... 1-Wet-7018

[FWE]

Ha, thanks for the link!

Just found these again while looking for something else, if anyone is interested, some tables that show thickness limits in relation to preheat, hydrogen and material composition. Taken from BS EN 1011-2:2001, worth a read if you are interested in weldability of steels. Can skip straight to the the appendices, which are three quarters of the document, for the interesting stuff...

No Preheat

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Creep Resistant

Screenshot from 2021-02-19 20-56-03.png (76.53 KiB) Viewed 3423 times

Low Temperature

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[And256]

Here's at least one of the discussions:

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.p ... 1-Wet-7018

The last post there was from 2013.. was

[And256]

Mild steel is not but hydrogen rich welds are. That's one instance you need low hydrogen rods, mig or tig processes.

So mild steel does not have a problem under these cold temperatures but any kind of no low-hy welding may cause shattering problems?

MIG and TIG are low-hy processes but it is rarely mentioned.

[Coldman]

Not so much shattering. Cracking is the risk. Used to manufacture meat carton freezing tunnels and spiral freezers operating at -40degrees and below. All standard mild steel sections but all mig welded.
Interesting to note regarding refrigeration pipework (ammonia), at around -30 degrees C we have switch from the normal A53B/A106b pipe to A333/A334 low temp rated pipe.

[Coldman]

Never seen it myself but I was told a 6010/6011 weld at low temp would break if hit with a hammer particularly if layed down hand.

[And256]

Thanks for the info.

Never seen it myself but I was told a 6010/6011 weld at low temp would break if hit with a hammer particularly if layed down hand.

From what I've read 6010s are much stronger than 7014s at cold temperatures.
Of course, 7018s are far stronger than 6010s.

[JayWal]

Mild steel is not but hydrogen rich welds are. That's one instance you need low hydrogen rods, mig or tig processes.

So mild steel does not have a problem under these cold temperatures but any kind of no low-hy welding may cause shattering problems?

MIG and TIG are low-hy processes but it is rarely mentioned.

You're saying an Er70 mig or tig weld is considered a low hyd weld??

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[tweake]

Mild steel is not but hydrogen rich welds are. That's one instance you need low hydrogen rods, mig or tig processes.

So mild steel does not have a problem under these cold temperatures but any kind of no low-hy welding may cause shattering problems?

MIG and TIG are low-hy processes but it is rarely mentioned.

You're saying an Er70 mig or tig weld is considered a low hyd weld??

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correct.
tho its hard wire mig that low hyd.
the moisture in the flux of stick or flux core is where the hydrogen comes from.

[Coldman]

Mig and tig are low hydrogen processes.

[JayWal]

So mild steel does not have a problem under these cold temperatures but any kind of no low-hy welding may cause shattering problems?

MIG and TIG are low-hy processes but it is rarely mentioned.

You're saying an Er70 mig or tig weld is considered a low hyd weld??

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

correct.
tho its hard wire mig that low hyd.
the moisture in the flux of stick or flux core is where the hydrogen comes from.

Gotcha. Did not know that.

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[FWE]

Did you know that, in general, plasma arc welding uses 2% to 7% hydrogen in the shielding gas? Learn something new every day, or I do anyway...

[sbaker56]

Something to keep in mind, there isn't any voodoo that happens when a 7018 picks up some moisture as compared to a 6010 for example that has moisture in the flux and actually weld like crap if the flux dries out. In other words, a moisture stricken 7018 isn't going to be any more prone to hydrogen cracking than a fresh 6010, 6011, 6013 etc right out of a sealed can.

I may be mistaken as it's been a while since I've looked into it, but I also believe hydrogen cracking is more of an issue with low alloy/higher strength steels. Plain mild steel IIRC generally doesn't suffer from hydrogen embrittlement.

Just how exposed to moisture they are will make a difference though, I can tell you first hand that an open cardboard box of cheap 7018s that has been sitting in a truck for a year down in the south will weld like crap, you'll often get constant pinholes through the entire weld. Generally moisture resistant brands of 7018 will hold up a lot better when left out in the open.