A friend of mine is giving me a Lincoln "tombstone" arc welder that has been sitting in his garage for 15+ years (it needs the fan repaired). He also gave me several boxes of welding rod of the same vintage. I know the rod is sensitive to moisture. Is there a way to dry the rod out and use it, or should I scrap it. Would it be good for practicing (I'm a rookie weldor)? Thanks Mike M.
old welding rod
Jun 19, 2007
3 Replies
It depends a lot on exactly what rod you have and what climate you are in. The cellulose based rods are fine as long as they are not rusty, the lo-hydrogen rods would be junk if not stored properly. See if you can get some AWS spec numbers off any boxes, compare them to this list
formatting link
There are some specific procedures for drying out some of the rods that vary with each type of rod. Thee is no "general" procedure.
Try runn> A friend of mine is giving me a Lincoln "tombstone" arc welder that
Bend a few rods from each box into a U. If the exposed wire is not rusty, then they are usually OK.
Any 7018 rods will have to be baked at around 300 degF for a few hours before using.
Just got a hold of a nice stick heater. It was a discarded (dirty :-) ) convection oven - table top model.
It has a timer. It has a temp setting. It has 2 layers of heaters and racks with trays for rods.
And it is in the shop and all mine !
Martin
Mart> >
Join the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required