I'm something of a newbie at this welding game, for me it is a hobby. I have learned much from this group, especially Ernie. My background is in chemical engineering, which colors my view of this subject somewhat. I take it that once a can of certain types of weld rod are opened, they have a limited shelf life. I take it that the presence of atmospheric moisture, CO2, and/or oxygen transforms the flux coating of the rods in question in a way that leads to substandard performance. My question then is this: would it be possible to restore the protective environment of the rod container by displacing the container outage with argon or helium, (both dry and inert gasses available to the welder) and then resealing the container? I cannot think of any reaction that would take place in such an atmosphere, and therefore it would seem that the rod coatings are protected from change. Comments? Ideas? Thanks.-Jitney
- posted
19 years ago