uphill welding

[fun4now]

i have herd of the re-bake, was just wondering about the sitting on the shelf time ?? i just about burned up the 1/8" you brought me but got a 5lb box of 3/32" that i have not gotten started on yet. so how long can it sit in the little box or after i open it and still give me consistent results?? or will it still burn the same just not have the same holding property's ?? i'm just using it for practice so as long as it burns the same and looks the same the rest is no biggie. thanks

[swamp donkey]

jwsrep are u sure for code work that 7018 has to be kept in a rod oven? Cause after goin to collage thats what i thought too but then i got to my workplace were i am and we use 7018 a fair bit for structural and we dont keep our rods in an oven...
Cause apparantly my boss told me after a speech that hes been doing this for 35 years that as long as you put the rods in a rod tube after opening the box they'll be ok and as long as you only take what you need for 2 hours and close the tubes theres no need for a rod oven. and he said that complies with cwb standards. Now i thought that was kinda hokey but i found out later that we did have a rod oven but our boss who has been doing this for 35 years blew it up after cooking a can of raviolli in it and now just doesnt want to buy a new one.

I dunno if its right or wrong but thats the way its done but if its up to CWB standards than i guess its ok

[fun4now]

wile we are on the subject of the welding tubes, do the plastic boxes the 5 lb box of rods come in seal up ok for keeping them or do i need to move them into another tube that i know is air tight ?? i have some military ammo tubes that are definitely air tight i could use if the plastic box dose not seal well enough ??

i'll pop a pic of both later

[jwsrep]

Swamp,
What I was refering to was a New York State Department of Transportation code for welding structural steel on bridges. There are codes in place for building construction in most instances. Most usually on job sites construction companies will open 7018 and then put it in a heated rod oven. I have seen jobsites where they literally hand out 7018 at a rate of 10-12 electrodes at a time.
The fact of the matter is 7018 is not 7018 after 1 hour of exposure to moisture (ambient air).

James,
The plastic boxes that the electrodes come in do not seal. The seal has to be a hermetically seal. The 10 # rod cannisters that you buy that have a rubber gasket seal will buy you time, but not forever.

[fun4now]

cool thanks

thanks. i'll switch to the ammo tube (see pic) as soon as i open the new box of 7018.

[man of steel]

rod storage

any rod 6010 7018 etc,if used for any code quality work ,whether it be to cwb or tssa standards has to be kept in a rod oven and whatever rods you cant use within a 15 degree drop in temperature must be reconditioned( back in the rod oven they go)anything more than that and your asking for non compliance fines (proceedures
.other conditions are factors also (air temp metal preheat?humidity?etc

[Jolly Roger]

You see that a lot swamp donkey. 'Cause we have always done it that way, duhhhh. I've been at this almost 40 years. For just practicing, and for things that don't have to take heavy loads or lots of stress don't worry about it too much. If you can see white spots on it then it is junk, but it is still fine for artsy stuff, fences, and so on. All ASME construction codes (as far as I can tell they are exact copies of US Navy standards and procedures, I know they are for heated pressure vessels, aka boilers) require the storage of all rods in ovens. Most construction jobsites (powerplants, oilfield vessels, shipyards, etc) now have portable heated rod caddys. The last job I was on doing code work if you were caught with more than 5 rods out of the caddy your certs were pulled.

If your shop is code certified you must have the ovens, if it's not certified it doesn't. If not then certification must be completed in order to conduct code level work.

I cannot recall the exact code designation anymore, but I have tested G6 on pipe to boiler code (as tough as it gets except maybe nuke - never did any of that) with stale rods and passed destructive testing. Not kosher, but it can be done.

[fun4now]

i herd 6013 were less a problem if left out ?? is this true?? if i was looking for a rod i could keep for a long time just in a tube would the 6013 be a better choice or is it about the same with them all??
thanks

[shortarc]

I may have to do a little research, but I thought I read where you should not store 6010 in a rod oven because it would make it to dry?

[fun4now]

i'm just wondering how long my 6013 will last as i cant weld up with it so its kinda on hold.

[Smokey_]

I may have to do a little research, but I thought I read where you should not store 6010 in a rod oven because it would make it to dry?

6010 are celuslose coated and dont need to be in oven at all unless really really humid enviroment. The prolem is the low nigtorgen rods, ie: 7018. flux is made from lime and if nitrogen(found in air) gets into rod then it will contaminate the weld and it might not cause problems right aways but can actually cause rust to form inside the weld and crack over time.

[Jolly Roger]

Humidity affects 6010 even faster than it does 7018. I have a book somewhere (in New Mexico I think, not here in New Orleans with me) that tells the exact procedures for using rod ovens with the different classes including reconditioning. what temp, how long in the heat before use, etc. The construction sites I have been on never passed out rod straight out of the box. The new rods always went in the ovens where they had to remain X amount of hours before they could be used. If I could afford the ovens for it that's where all of my rod would be stored.

[fun4now]

i was told a metal cooler and a reptile heat rock would be a good option. i don't know if you can still get a metal cooler but i can make that part with some steel and expanding foam insulation. add a pet rock and its good to go.

[shortarc]

I did a little research. This is a quote from the ASME site.

According to ASME Section II Part C-Specifications for Welding Rods, Electrodes and Filler Metals; A6.11 Electrode Covering Moisture Content and Conditioning: A611.4 Cellulose coverings for E6010 and E6011 electrodes need moisture levels of 3% to 7% for proper operation; therefore, storage or conditioning above ambient temperature may dry them too much and adversely affect their operation. Table A2 of Section II states that holding ovens are not recommended and drying conditions are also not recommended.