Simple rod dryer

I will be needing a spot to keep my 7018 rods dry, as it's usually pretty damp here in the Pacific Northwest. I don't need anything fancy, just a place where I can keep them and be able to dry them out. I've seen setups with light bulbs, but will/does that do a decent job? From the locals, how much of an issue is the dampness from around here? The plastic can with gasket will seal in/out the moisture, but my wife will not approve of having welding rods in the oven, so a cheap/simple alternative is appealing.

Reply to
carl mciver
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Get a dead bar fridge. One of the 24" cubes.

Put a 40 - 60 watt bulb inside and leave it on all the time to keep the air temp up so the rods stay dry.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

| | | Get a dead bar fridge. | One of the 24" cubes. | | Put a 40 - 60 watt bulb inside and leave it on all the time to keep the | air temp up so the rods stay dry.

Hmmmm.... I like that idea. Don't know if I have room for something like that (I paid close attention to that thread about a stuffed garage!) but what about finding one of those old style metal water coolers and using that? Some kind of cooler anyway. I guess after awhile the plastic will get soft and/or crack, but I probably won't care. Aha! I could build an insulated box and hang it from the ceiling over my workbench where I keep a fluorescent light on all the time. Mount in the bottom one of those can lights that get hot as all hell, and then I can kill two birds with one stone!

Any other wild ideas?

Reply to
carl mciver

"carl mciver" wrote: (clip) Any other wild ideas? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ There are lots of obsolete or non-functioning microwave ovens around. I think most of them have a light in them. Just short the switch, so the light stays on.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Reply to
carl mciver

Watch on ebay for a while. I picked up a working 50 lb. oven for about $65 + shipping. It's only about 1' square by 2' tall.

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Peter T. Keillor III

Microwave ovens don't have any insulation in them. I tried that for that very same reason. It was just a metal box with plastic inside walls.

At least I got a transformer and slow motor out of it.

Reply to
none

Reply to
RoyJ

With your ammo can, you might think about just adding some desicant. And microwaving the desicant every six months or so.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Now that's something I had thought might be an option, but was wondering how well two hydroscopic items in one can would do. If the rods pull some of the moisture from the air and the desiccant pulls the rest, how well can the desiccant pull the moisture out of the rods, baked dry or not?

Microwaving the desiccant is a new idea to me. I can see theoretically how it could work better than an oven, but how well does it actually work in practice?

Reply to
carl mciver

Right on with the ceramic heater - one could put two in series and have

60 V across each in stead of 120. That way, heat would be generated, not red hot. And the resistance (thus inverse for the current) doubles.

They were made in inverse cones - small end screws in - to match a metal disk - also made in tubular about 1" or so in diameter. A typical ACE hardware store would have them on the shelves...

I think i have one of the ammo cans - rubber seal - I have about 100#'s or rod in one. Nasty to tote, but packs the rods nicely. Made the move just fine.

Martin

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

It has been a while since I looked at specs on desicant, and I don't remember whether I found the information on line. But as I remember fresh desicant ought to work.

I know the spec for drying desicant calls for about 250 degrees F for almost a day. Microwaving desicant seems to work well. I have not done any tests like weighing some desicant, microwaving it for 15 minutes, weighing it again, and then following the accepted method of drying desicant and weighing one more time to see the difference between microwaving and the accepted method. If you do something like that please post the results.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

wrote: (clip) I know the spec for drying desicant calls for about 250 degrees F for almost a day. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I use a commercially made container with dessicant for my hearing aid. The dessicant changes color as it absorbs moisture, and changes back when it is heated. The instructions have worn off, but I think it called for one-half hour at about 230 degrees F. I use my microwave/convection oven in the convection mode, and it seems to work just fine.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I rummaged around the web and found several interesteng sites. One had the Mil-D-3464 spec for reactivating. It calls for 250 degrees F for

24 hours, but another had a graph that showed that almost all the reactivation occurs in the first six hours. Some desiccant is packaged in Tyvek. If it is in Tyvek you need to keep the temperature a little lower, like 230 degrees.

One of the sites said one should not use microwaves to reactivate desiccant. I think they are afraid the speed might rupture the pellets.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

How about a metal 5 gallon roofing compound bucket with a light bulb inside?

--- Rich

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Reply to
Rich Lockyer

"carl mciver" wrote in message news:_c08e.6980$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net... | >>SNIP

Reply to
carl mciver

Sounds like a good job!

Try out some 'ICEBOX' bulbs - 40 watts and long life. And small. Martin

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

This would be good - on its side with a small shelf - then there is a place if there is dripping from sweat - if there is such a thing - And under the shelf could be the bulb - protecting it from poking rods.

Make a wood cradle.

Martin

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

There was too much heat coming out of the bulb end, so I put some aluminum foil around the bulb on the inside, and it turns out that I can get a regular bulb in there with just enough clearance not to knock into the side. The perforated panel still holds a lot of the heat in, so I'm going to spray paint the bulb side black and see if that brings the temps up in the other compartment, it's still not hot in there.

Reply to
carl mciver

Why wood?

I've always wondered why the first welding projects after fingers is always a table or cart or a trailer... Seems to me that a rod oven would be a very simple beginner project.

--- Rich

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Reply to
Rich Lockyer

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