Welding Rod Question

[rbattelle]

Greg, you forgot to mention why you wrap your rod in aluminum foil. And why cook for so long (I would've thought a couple hours would be enough).



Ryan

 

[GHarman]

Hey Ryan, The only reason I use aluminum foil is to secure a small quantity of rod in something that will hold the rod together when I remove it from the oven, is not harmed by the heat, causing fumes or smoke in the house and protects the rods from outside contaminants from handling or in the oven. If you want to use a rod can, that works, also. The temperature of 400* F is the temperature that was used in the shop where I worked. I use this at home also. Lincoln Electric recommends a constant storage temp of 250*F. to 300*F. for low-hydrogen electrodes. Lincoln recommends redrying low-hydrogen (7018) electrodes that have been left out in the atmosphere for less than a week at 650*-750*F for one hour. At home, I do not have an oven that will reach this temperature range. So I compromise. For my purposes this is adequate. If I am doing a welding job for someone that requires public access. I will buy a new can of rod, opened fresh and stored at the temperature recommended by the manufacturer until the job has ended. Unless their Welding Engineer or Certified Welding Inspector requires otherwise. Years ago my friend and I volunteered our welding services to a new school (private) construction project. They needed steel tubes welded into steel plates cast into two walls on opposing sides of their new gym to form the superstructure for walkways between classrooms on either side of the gym. The structural engineer was ignorant of the welding side of the equation and only knew that the welder had to be certified. We informed him of the proper electrode (7018) and the storage requirements. They brought in an old oven, plugged it in, we checked the temperature with an oven thermometer and and we were in business. We worked to AWS D1. 1 weld procedure specification. One week of head down, butt up, sparks flyin'. All positions, fillet and butt welds with 100% penetration. Try running a root pass with 7018. Check out www.lincolnelectric.com ; look under the header "KNOWLEDGE", subtitle "Welding FAQ's" Hope this helps. GregH.

 

[GHarman]

I was welding 1/2" to 1/8" steel.



KO

Thick to thin is just another welding job that requires a slightly different technique. Concentrate more of your heat on the thicker material unless it is an open root, V-groove with lands of the same thickness. GregH

 

[WilsonJ]

The 5p(6010), 5p+, and 6011 will work better with moisture because the flux coating is cellulose based. I would use 7018AC rod to do cover ups especially if what your welding will be put under any kind of real stress. Just make sure the 7018 is either new in package or put in your oven to warm up at 400* for at least 3 hr. before use. It'll weld a whole lot better if warm. Never ran the 7018AC rod but love the low-hy rod with DC+. If you could afford it, the Lincoln 225 AC/DC machines work real good and don't cost as much as a MIG or tig/stick machine like fab shops use. An added plus is that if you felt adventuresome, you can run tig with the 225 with a dry lead and argon bottle. Used them alot when working poultry plants and the tig/stick works just as good as the fancy tig machines, just can't do AC tig with them cause they don't have hi-frequency.

 

[GHarman]

Go to; www.lincolnelectric.com the upper right side of the home page will have a quick link window. Scroll down to literature request. Half way down the literature page, under consumables are links to stick electrodes. Choose C2. 10. Scroll down to pages 46 and 47. On these pages you will find LINCOLN recommended storing and drying procedures for their various welding rods. Personally and for the benefit of those that I am welding for, I will not use any welding rod that has not been properly stored and cared for. 6010 will tolerate more moisture than 7018, but your arc characteristics degrade as the moisture goes up. Just as the cellulose coating ( 6010-6011 ) degrades at high temperatures over long periods of hot box storage. We dont live in a perfect world, I will sooner buy a fresh can of rod than take a chance with an unknown variable when the safety of the public is on the line.

GregH.