Metal looks oily after welding.....

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Folks,As you may know I have in my garage an antique AC Stick welder that was made in 1944. It works great and I have even extended the leads so I now have about 40 feet of good lead.Anyway, twice now, on practice welds, I have noticed the welded area appears greasy and oily at the weld zone afterwards. The metal was clean beforehand, but in two cases, had an oily appearance after the weld.I have even wire brushed it and then wiped it with a clean rag thinking maybe I spilled something on the area. It's as if the weld is pulling crap from the air in my garage like a magnet. Attached is a photo of a random piece of scrap I keep around to lay a MIG line on now and then, and where the two arrows are where I have put down a random stick weld with this old AC welder. Any ideas on what this is? Attached ImagesPrecision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:I don't know if this will help or not, but since you haven't gotten any replies yet...What brand and type of rod are you using, and how old is it?Also, wire brushing and wiping with a dry rag won't clean steel.  Both of those processes just smear things around.  You could try grinding the mill scale off to where you've got nice shiny steel and trying again.  You could also clean with acetone and a rag.
Reply:I have this issue also but it has only been since I started using the lincoln rods recently. I think its these modern rods are a bit different now. Also am using DC now where was AC only before but dont think that would have anything to do with it.
Reply:Yeah this is happening with 6011 Lincoln rods. I'll clean the next piece with a flap disk and try again and see what happens. ThanksPrecision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:sometimes the steel is porous and has absorbed grease..welding heat brings it back out..
Reply:could also be smoke sticking to the metal
Reply:Originally Posted by tbone550I don't know if this will help or not, but since you haven't gotten any replies yet...What brand and type of rod are you using, and how old is it?Also, wire brushing and wiping with a dry rag won't clean steel.  Both of those processes just smear things around.  You could try grinding the mill scale off to where you've got nice shiny steel and trying again.  You could also clean with acetone and a rag.
Reply:Today I was excited to try out some AC 7018 rod on this old buzz box. It took a little time to get the pace right, but soon I was feeling the groove.......However....... a few hours after laying the beads, I snapped some more photos.... they look oily.... they didn't at first...... but after a few hours...... they did...... all this while I worked on other projects and this piece sat on the table.......Here are some photos I took moments after my beads on 7018.... NOT oily.... YET...... Attached ImagesLast edited by Fexal; 03-17-2012 at 07:37 PM.Precision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:Moments later I did a fillet weld........... then let the whole piece sit....... while I did other stuff....... (I won't show you my attempts at welding in the NOT flat position because they suck big donkey balls......)Anyway...... hours later I took a few more photos..... and they look oily.......Is this maybe the AC "cleaning" action that Alternating current creates? I did not clean my metal at all..... I just went to town...........Is this crap in the metal coming out, or a by product of using an old AC machine?Thoughts? Attached ImagesPrecision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by FexalMoments later I did a fillet weld........... then let the whole piece sit....... while I did other stuff....... (I won't show you my attempts at welding in the NOT flat position because they suck big donkey balls......)Anyway...... hours later I took a few more photos..... and they look oily.......Is this maybe the AC "cleaning" action that Alternating current creates? I did not clean my metal at all..... I just went to town...........Is this crap in the metal coming out, or a by product of using an old AC machine?Thoughts?
Reply:where are you welding/ outside garage, basement?  is it very moist?Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:I'm in my garage.... same level as the house...... we are about 700 feet above see level in Austin...... I think.....My garage is wide open when welding...........At first.... the weld appears clean... hours later... it appears oily.......Oh, and it's Spring..... so about 86 degrees F........... and I broke the seal on the 7018 package at 9am this morning....Precision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:Oh... and I didn't use the flapper on this piece at all.... This is just scrap from the steel yard.... welded with my awesome 1944 welder.... ( I have to plug this machine often because I am so amazed that this thing works so well...... I love this antique...... and I bought it because someone on this site said it looked like a good deal.....)Precision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:well mabe get a priest and do an exorcism of your house for mabe the metal bleeds...LOL.a bit puzzlingOf all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:Well I could have sworn I heard the metal say "GET OUT" while I was welding on it......Or maybe that was the Led Zep playing on the I-pad in the background............Precision TIG 185 and MP 210Bobcat 225NTCutmaster 42O/A tanks.... 2 Argon tanks...... 2 C25 TanksFacebook...... F2 Metal WorksETSY....... https://www.etsy.com/shop/F2MetalWorksF2MetalWorks.com....... http://www.f2metalworks.com/
Reply:Call the power company and ask them to come out and degrease the electrons.  Look at what you can control and change, and try the options:1) location where you weld (shouldn't have any effect)2) locations where it sits after welding (move it outside to cool - humidity/condensation in garage?)3) rod4) metal 5) cleaning method (none, flap, wirebrush, wire cup, etc)
Reply:I've seen this before.  Usually on steel that's been greasy, or has been machined using coolant.  I've never worried about it.Sometimes you'll even see a bluish tinge on the surface of the bead after it cools.  Never had problems with the welds.Again, you probably get tired of hearing about it, I really don't believe in pristine steel when it comes to stick welding.  The flux takes care of most impurities in the metal and on the surface."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Also the cooled slag will sometimes attract humidity.  It's a good idea not to leave slag on welds for this reason."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:if you heat the welds with a propane torch does the moister looking area dry up or turn into smoke?Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:Originally Posted by FexalWell I could have sworn I heard the metal say "GET OUT" while I was welding on it......Or maybe that was the Led Zep playing on the I-pad in the background............
Reply:I place $20 bucks on silicon in the steel.
Reply:chinese steel.!!!........some aftermarket bull shlt steel i had to paint from china...later , the paint fell off        thermal arc 252i  -  millermatic 350P -   miller XMT, cp300ts, 30a 22a feeders, buttload of other millers, handfull of lincolns, couple of esabs  -   Hypertherm 1250 G3
Reply:Will snap pics tomarrow, had forgot to follow this thread. Just finished up another bbq pit for a friend yesterday and went to do a little grinding this evening and yup oily looking welds. Brand new lincoln welder 225 ac dc sticks welding dc. Also did a lit of welding on the frame with my millermatic 135 mig all over the place as well as parts of the pit and no oily residue on those welds at all. Me still thinks its the rods. Have some very old rods stored so will try an experiment tomarrow with them, they are at least three years old but have been in a plastic tube thing in a cabinet. We'll see. This is puzzling for sure since there are no answers on a forum like this. I live in deep south texas about 6 hours south of Austin so maybe we need to excorcise the whole state.
Reply:Hmm just went back to see if you had answered the  "what rods" are you using.  Same as I am, I think we are onto something.
Reply:Here ya go, had to look back over some old pics to find this.The tubing is from Mexico, and comes bathed in oil to keep it from rusting during transit.  The channel is most likely Russian (very good steel by the way), and was also fairly greasy from transit if I recall.It's pretty common in the stuff I buy here.  Most of our steel comes in through The Port of Catoosa in Claremore OK.I never sweat it, and haven't had any failures due to it. Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/