How dry is your rod?

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We hired a new guy in the welding shop. He went to welding school, and then got a job welding barges down Pittsburg along the river. He quit and moved up owr  way. My boss liked him and now he works here. My boss also bought new welding rods from a new supplier, they cost half as much as the old ones. So I used some and threw the rest in the rod oven. I didn't like them, the flux fell off and they seem hard to get started. So I left early in the week for along weekend. I came back monday and I have to weld anchor plates to the ends off bridge beams. I grab a handful of rods out of the oven and start to weld. I start to have trouble right away. I turn up the machine more and still have trouble getting started. I take my gloves off and find out the rods are cold, and the rod oven is off. I ask the new guy and he said he shut it off. I ask why? He said the rods are over dry and the flux falls off when their over dry. He left the door cracked open on the rod oven also, so now all the rods, good ones and the cheap ones got exposted to outside humidty. I didn't go to welding school. I got certified through books and practice, and lots of it. But I never herd such a thing!  Is this just bullcrap?Last edited by Thomas Clark; 01-21-2008 at 02:33 PM.
Reply:Sounds like your boss needs to hang onto that boy, sounds like he's smarter than the engineers at Lincoln...LOLAs for that new rod, he probably got what he paid for !!Anything worth doing is worth doing RIGHT
Reply:Over-dry?!I guess he also probably keeps his refrigerator door cracked to keep his milk from getting over-cooled.  Sounds like something he made up to go with the bad rod.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:news to me as well.  i keep my rods dry as possible.  i don't have a rod oven, so  i don't have any 7018's.  i use 6010's and, just bought some 7024's to try.
Reply:Low hydrogen rods need to be hot and dry to drive off porosity-causing moisture .  6010-11-12-13, 7014 etc, don't require a rod oven...moisture doesn't affect their coatings.
Reply:here is a good read on the storage and re-drying of low hydrogen rods should answer your questions http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowl...nt/storing.asp
Reply:Ya, I thought so! Hey I'm only two and a half years into heavy stick welding. I'm a green horn! I guss my instinks were right. If it dose not sound right its bull. Ya, we use all 7018 rods except stainless and aluminum. Thats all we ever used. I use the mig alot more for fabercation and repairs on lighter stuff. So stick welding is relatively new to me. Tryed the tig, it seemed to make a nice neat weld but, its slow.
Reply:Hey, is the new rod Radnor brand? I've run into that stuff and had nothing but trouble, even with brand new rod. Found out that I wasn't the only one to have problems either.
Reply:This is a fire power rod brand. As soon as get it out of the box the flux falls off.They stick more to. Fire power is made buy thermodine industries. Its imported from mexico. The old rods are MG brand and strike good and run smooth. Also made in USA. They cost more but they run so much better.
Reply:Originally Posted by 69 chevyLow hydrogen rods need to be hot and dry to drive off porosity-causing moisture .  6010-11-12-13, 7014 etc, don't require a rod oven...moisture doesn't affect their coatings.
Reply:So maybe this guy used 6010s down there and they might of put them in a rod oven or they got dryed out and didn't work good. He maybe thinking the same for 7018s. And I think ther isn't any real bullcrap here just misunderstanding?
Reply:Shutting off the rod oven and leaving the door ajar containing 7018 is more than a misunderstanding...it's ignorance, pure and simple.
Reply:When I have worked doing critical welds with 7018's we left them in the oven 24/7. If you were caught keeping rod in your box it was your butt. I did all of this companys maintanance and in fab. They would keep 10# of rods in plastic tubes in the oven with the lid off and when the field crew would go out they would put the lid on and go. After opening the tube it would go back in the oven over night. I would print out some info from the lincolin site or wherever and post it for people to read. Steel Thunder Welding LLC. St. Thomas VI USAMM350PBOBCAT 3MAXSTAR 150 STH375 EXTREME PLASMA6.5 HP COMPRESORDEWALT 18, 24, AND 36 VOLTO/A TORCH SETAND SO MUCH MORE I DONT REMEMBERALL IN MY 2005 2500HD EXTENDED CAB L/B
Reply:Dont kill him! he new go easy on him!
Reply:Sounds like you just need to talk to him. Assumptions between people cause way too many problems. Unless he is an arrogant prick, i'd say just have a casual talk with him. SOME people are quick to jump.
Reply:Well, the more I'm getting to know him , I'm  wondering if he did go to welding school. But I'm not here to judge people, I'm here to learn. Some people can waste time and money over stupid stuff or arrogent stuff. I didn't go to welding school, but I try to learn every thing I can to keep going forword. Thats why I'm still here on this web sight. Thanks for the info and some coming back at ya.Last edited by Thomas Clark; 02-08-2008 at 09:29 PM.
Reply:This link has all the info on electrode storage and re-drying. http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=18637When I was doing construction the code specified rod storage procedures. How warm and how long. We carried 7018 in heated caddies and could have no more than 5 electrodes out at a time. If caught with it unplugged for other than moving from one location to another, your certs were pulled and you went down the road. 6010 was stored at 110 degrees and was carried in sealed rod tubes. Yes the 6010 electrodes can be over dried, but excessive humidity gets to them really quickly as well. Where I grew up they seemed to keep for months in open air, but here where I live now they go bad very fast if not protected. If you can see white or cloudy spots on them they are junk.Having graduated from college a few years ago I can tell you that some learn very little while there and still manage to graduate (not my case I wanted my moneys worth). You would think electrode storage would be covered extensively and tested on, but that might not have been the case where he attended. I would show him the info in that link and gently explain that the guys who made those rules are the worlds experts on the subject. You might also explain that the boss is gonna get hot over ruined electrodes and it could result in a loss of employment. We had a helper hit the boss brand new pickup (less than a week old) with a forklift. Minor dent and a small scratch. We all told him to go to him, tell him what happened, and apologize. He didn't because he was scared. He told him flat out right before he fired him if you had come to me when it happened instead of making me have to ask around to find out I would have just chewed you out. Nicest guy I ever worked for and the chewing probably would have been watch where you are going or some such. Don't know if yours is that easygoing.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:Wow, how bad does humidity affect 6011 rods? We buy large boxes at the LWS, put them in plastic storage tubes, and put those in a side box on the service truck.
Reply:I had a boss hit MY car with the forklift and he came right to me after the fact. I also had a goon hit my truck with the forklift and nobody said nothin'. I had to dig it out of him. The boss paid for repairs both times. Sorry to hijack your rod thread! That guy needs to be informed, so does your boss, but that is usually more tickle-ish.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:My code inspector will not let us put are welding rod back into the oven. He recommends we take what we think we will need and if there is some left over put it in the trash. Welding rod is cheaper then repairs.
Reply:I worked 15 years for the Navy at Mare Island . Welder. no fitting . They had fitters for that. The  subsafe rules say that 70-18  to 110-18 can be out of the oven up to 9 hours . no more than 10 pounds can be issued to a welder at a time . 70-18 &80-18 can be rebaked as many times till it is used up. 90-18 ; 100-18 & 110-18 can only be rebaked once ,then , any unused rod is throw in scrap can to be sold as scrap. They did not bother keeping "splatter rod " warm . That is 60-10 ; 60-11 . the 60-10 &60-11 was NOT allowed to be used in any structural parts of any sub.We had to have a paper label taped on the rod can with type of rod ,size , time issued , and signed by the ROD ROOM attendant . The sub safe program is serious business .Last edited by Roy Hodges; 02-09-2008 at 11:45 AM.Reason: more info,spelling[SIZE="5"Yardbird"
Reply:Another thought ; we were NOT allowed 2 different types of rod in same can, unless authorized by our foreman. And that was unlikely to happen . and usually the foreman would not allow us to have two rod cans on the job.[SIZE="5"Yardbird"
Reply:I've kept 6010 and 6011 for months in o-ringed rod tubes down here. At 7 this morning the humidity was 95%. It's a rare day when it is below 80%.I can definitely see that on the subs, but with what they are subjected to and the lives at stake you can take no chances. They are also built out of new steel. If everything I welded on was new steel I would have no need for the splatter rods either. Some of this rusty scaly crap that you can't get to to properly clean just precludes 100% lo-hi usage.Lincoln Electric and the US Navy both know more about this than any inspector.We weren't even allowed to mix rod sizes in the caddies. If you needed 3 sizes you carried 3 caddies. As long as they were left plugged in overnight they didn't have to be returned to the ovens.We had 29 of 30 welders telling the inspectors our rod were bad, because one guy had no problems we had to keep using them. 300 cutouts later after we had all been run off because we couldn't weld they figured out the rods were bad. Guess what I think about your average welding inspector.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:I printed the storing and re-drying info from the Lincoln electric on low hydrogen rods. I'll take this right in and show him and my boss whats the right way to store rods. The older welders that retired told me set the rod oven temp for 7018's take out what you need as you go, and you shoulded have any trouble. This new guy is trying to change this I think because he's probably trying to suckup to the boss. I noticed that the old rods stick more and got more porosity. I'll try this redrying methed and see if I can save them. After all thats why we have a rod oven. Well I'm going to either going to convince the guy or chase him around the weld shop with my chipping hammer! Wish me luck.
Reply:thanks for the web sight, west coast welder.