Rod Ovens

Date 03-07-2003 18:03

Set your kitchen stove to 250 and also keep the house warm.Just kidding!There is a small pre set oven that I have that Grainger sells around 250.00 that holds one fifty pound box if that is cheap enough for ya.

By cawelder (**)

Date 03-07-2003 19:25

An old refrigerator with a either a heat lamp or a large light bulb works really well for the home shop. You may find one at the local dump.

Cheap enough for ya :)

Chuck

By RonG

Date 03-07-2003 21:46

You are a hobby welder correct?

1st off you are not required to bake your electrodes.

Keep them sealed up in an old ice chest or the likes and out of the weather.

Not trying to talk down to you but the reason for baking LoHy electrodes is to keep them Low Hydrogen, they will still weld even if they have been exposed to some pretty damp weather. The problem is if they are to damp you can trap Hydrogen in your puddle and it may cold crack (there ways to help prevent that also).

It can weaken a weld also but are you welding for a maximum yield and tensil?

If your Hobby is building aircraft or bridges disreguard all the above.

By CHGuilford (****)

Date 03-08-2003 14:00

Ron brings out a good point. If you are only using E7018 for hobby use you probably don't need to worry about an oven. The fact that you've asked the question in the first place indicates you have some knowledge and common sense and likely know enough to proceed carefully.

Most hobby situations I've seen using low hydrogen electrodes did so because the rods were free, being discarded from commercial applications. Such rods may have gotten wet and had to be removed from the job site. If that is your situation, you might want to purchase fresh rods when making welds that could be critical. Or even use an electrode that is not low hydrogen.

Of course an oven is the best way to go, but not the cheapest. All an oven is intended to do is to keep the rods at 250 deg F minimum so that moisture will not penetrate the flux coating and increase the hydrogen content. It's amazing how many old refrigerators have been fitted with a heat source to make an oven. Some I have seen were ingenious in their construction. Other ovens were just a metal box with some insulation and a heat lamp. Many had an ordinary kitchen oven thermometer to monitor temperature. Making your own can be a good way to use your skills. Just remember that any heat source that burns a fuel could increase hydrogen if the combustions gases can contact the electrodes. This is due to water vapor and unburned hydrocarbons from the combustion process (ie. gas fired kitchen ovens and similar)

I suspect that in your case, you might do fine by purchasing rods in 10 lb packages (if you can find them). Any that you don't use up right away could be stored in a "rod buddy" sealable canister. Putting some dessicant packs, like you mentioned, won't hurt, maybe even baking rods in an oven before sealing them up. Just remember to use rods stored this way for "hobby" use only and that any welds you make with such rods can be at risk of failing.

CHGuilford

By joe valdez (*)

Date 03-09-2003 02:43

If you live in a major urban center why don't you phone fabrication shops or rental shops,check industrial auctions ,you will find something ,especially in these hard econmical times many shops are closing.Good Luck
Joe Valdez

By billvanderhoof (****)

Date 03-09-2003 03:46

Keeping that rod oven plugged in forever may add more to your light bill than the cost of buying the rods in small packages that you can use up quickly.
Bill

By Michael Sherman (***)

Date 03-10-2003 12:43

Caman, if you cannot keep E7018 in an oven, then you should try to learn to use a different electrode. They weld very different when contaminated versus dry and the potential for failure is very much higher when you use a contaminated electrode. To have cold cracking you need three things, a susceptible microstructure, adequate stress and a source of hydrogen. The first two you can get just from welding, the third you will get when you use that contaminated E7018. Other than the fact that you like the electrode, there is probably no reason for you to use it. Are you welding steel over .625"? Are you welding high carbon steel? Probably not as a hobbiest. Unless you keep the E7018 at 250 F. and not out of the oven for more than four hours, you are simply wasting your money when you buy it. There are cheaper electrodes out there for the hobbiest.

Mike Sherman