Welding Tips and Tricks

SO how to keep your welding rods dry with out having to have an oven.

I took my rods and put them in a plastic tube. You can make one out of ABS pipe or cpvc. Glue one end and use a screw cap on the other or a plastic slip on cap. Inside put 2 or 3 of those packets you throw away. Desiccant packs. They will absorb any moisture you might get in there. Doesn't even have to be an air tight tube. Put more of the packs in if you want. Won't hurt the rods and they will work better for you. Best thing if you use cpvc you can write the type of rod that is in each tube on the screw cap. Will help you keep your rods organized.

Excellent low-buck solution.

The dessicant packs, even the throw-aways, can be "recharged" by putting them in a 250*F/120*C oven on an old baking sheet for an hour. (If anyone does the math, they'll see that I did not... in this case, close is close enough.)

Also, cellulosic rods like 6010 and 6011 don't like to be that dry. Store them indoors in ambient humidity, so they don't get "wet", and they'll perform better.

Steve S

Great tips guys!

I don't do much stick welding (once a year?) and only recently learned why my welds suck when I try. Yes, lack of skill is a big part of it, but I had no idea until a couple weeks ago that my rods in their unsealed packs were sucking up water and becoming useless fizzle sticks.

Time to get serious about storage and who knows, I might even start to be able to weld a decent bead with stick.


Kym

be careful on the number of times you re-bake rods 7018 has a re-bake temp 450*F and can only be re-baked one time you can find the temp and time for re-bake from manufacturer.

if a rod has been re-baked to many times the moisture content of the flux will be to low and the fulx will fall off causing the rod to be as worthless as when wet.

Thanks guys for sharing a useful storage idea that does not need additional money since most of the items can easily be found around the garage. I might just build a few pieces to keep the moisture out as soon as possible as my rods have been left out in the open for quite some time now since I am not that active in this field.

when i was at bunnings once, i noticed there were heaps of those blue plastic cases that cigweld use for their 1kg packs Laying everywhere as they hang them on a hanger and the tape fails, sending electrodes all over the floor......There was like 8 or 10 empty packets sitting there. They aren't air tight, but they seal pretty well, and hold around 1.8kg of 1/8 rods, 1.3kg of 2.5mm rods, and work well with a dessicant. Because of they way the top overlaps, they can be used with electrodes from 300-450mm in length ( i find the telescopic profile handy when you are using 300mm rods, and they dont bounce around inside chipping flux off.... a lot of rod storage you pay for are 450mm long, and leave a lot of room for shorter rods to move around.)

I just put them in my backpack every time I am there, and when they check my bag and see they are empty they just assume they are old packets, as i shop there regularly, and it works a charm every time (believe it or not its still the cheapest place to buy 6012/6013 rods, i can get 5kg 3.2mm cig satincrafts for $42, most suppliers i check want that for a 2.5kg box....)

I wonder if rice would work as a low budget solution too..

Easy10pins wrote:I wonder if rice would work as a low budget solution too..

That's probably how China produces cheap Lo-Hy rods, and how they build pipe spools at the price they do...


Steve S