oily rod

admin

I recently purchased a quantity of 6011 rod that has the Lincoln trademark.  I've never used this brand of rod and I notice that, unlike 6011 from other manufacturers, this stuff leaves an oily residue around the weld.  Also, the coating on the rod seems to be more flamable than what I'm accustomed to which results in my throwing away a quarter to a third of most rods when the coating catches fire and burns away.  Did I get a bad batch of rod or does Lincoln produce this rod for some purpose?I'm also concerned as to whether this oily substance ended up inside my welds and what the result of that might be.
Reply:When the rod catches fire you are running way too hot.  E 6011 and E 6010 are cellulose rods.  The flux coating is primarily cellulose or more simply sawdust.   When you are welding the flux burns consuming the oxygen leaving a carbon dioxide shield/gas cloud.  The flux should not burn until it is at the tip of the rod.  I can't explain the oil residue you mention.
Reply:The residue is likely coming from the base metal.  Hit it with a degreaser or grind a bit of the surface and see if things improve.  The only other thing I can think of is if the rods themselves got something (like oil) on them...this would likely cause the flux to burn at lower temps and maybe leave a residue on the surface of the weld also...what source did you get these rods from?6011 is good at cutting through grease, oil and stuff on the metal's surface, but if the rod was dipped in oil, who knows.Last edited by smithboy; 06-21-2006 at 09:08 AM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:I think it's most likely that, as mentioned above, the oil is coming from the work piece. If the rod is dry and looks nice and clean, I doubt that it was soaked in oil.
Reply:in fact, the rod looks different from my other supply of 6011, some of which I used on the same job. Using the same setup, the older rod did not catch fire nor did it leave the oily residue around the welds.  All of the 6011 I have used in the past had a gray color but the coating on this stuff looks brown.  The container was sealed when I bought it so it must be either an additive or something the manufacturer did to contaminate it.