Old welding rod

[Deere 2520]

I acquired a 5 pound box of 6011 1/8 diameter welding rod that is about 30 years old and it was stored in a damp garage. Is it still OK to use. If not, what as the concerns and how it react?

 

[Shield Arc]

Give them a try and see how they run. If they run erratic, (burns off to one side), dip a hand full in water, and let them air dry for a couple days then give them another try.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Break off the cellulose flux coating and look at the wire underneath. If it isnt rusty then they could likely be used. They may run a bit erratic but if you dont get bug hole porosity then they should be ok to practice with for sure. If the wire underneath is rusty, then you have to toss them.

 

[moses21502]

i weld a lot and have a friend who retired as a welder and he told me to use a scrap piece of metal and burn about 1/2 an inch off the rod. then set it aside and do multiple sticks so you have them for later. the heat in the rod will dry it out. that's a trick he did to pass many welding certification tests. or put in a stove at real low heat for a few hrs. either works for me but the use of the stove gets a lot of complaining from the fairer *** in the house. lol

:thumbsup:

 

[Little Red Tractor]

Part of my dad's profession was as a welder. Lots of rod rode around in his truck, poorly protected from the weather. Burning off that 1/2 or so on scrap to head the rod usually worked to take care of moisture problems.
Don't recall ever dealing with rusty rod, though I'm sure it must have happened occasionally.
I'm only a hobbyist so I buy in small batches, only when I need it, so don't have that problem.

 

[Deere 2520]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not a welder, but I also just acquired a welder too and thought I use the rod to weld some grab hook on my FEL.

 

[moses21502]

6011 is ok for general use but 7011 is a lot stronger. the best place i have found is a tractor supply company store. just make sure the welds are really penetrated to both the hook and bucket. and put it off to one side so the weight does not bend the bucket. i had to reinforce both front and rear buckets after i bought it. someone tried:thumbsup: lifting to much before i got the machine. good luck

 

[crash325]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not a welder, but I also just acquired a welder too and thought I use the rod to weld some grab hook on my FEL.

Before welding anything that you have to depend on for strength, weld a bunch of scrap together. Try a few break tests.

You do not want a hook on your FEL to give way when you have a load on it.
:2cents:

 

[rsewill]

Second the oven. Well baked. Only as needed.

 

[Gary Fowler]

You do know I think that 6010 do not require baking and in fact can ruin them if put in a 300F oven. If that box you got was sealed then you can be assured that they are still good. If they were just laying open or in some kind of cardboard container, just check the bare metal on some of the more whitish colored ones. If not rusty then go ahead and use them. You should know from all the discussions you have been in that 7018 is preferred over 6010 for welding high tensile or heavy loaded material. That said, even a poor 6010 weld if putting about 2-3 passes all the way around the grab hook will not only hold all a CUT can pick up but more than the FEL frame will stand so I wouldnt worry about it. The issue I have with 6010 is they dont stretch well and when they fail it is usually catastropic rather than bending a lot first prior to breaking.
Just weld with your rods and if they dont bug hole excessively they should be oK for what you are wanting to do. You may want to put on a reinforcing plate of say 3x4 or whatever size you can fit on the FEL bucket frame and then weld your chain hooks to that so you spread the load area a bit. I could fit a 4x6 on mine so that is what I put using 1/4" thick plate.

 

[rsewill]

You do know I think that 6010 do not require baking and in fact can ruin them if put in a 300F oven.

I didn't know that! But I set the oven at 225 because I know it'll boil off the water, hopefully not too slow nor too fast.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Lots of web info on welding rod storage. Just about all the 60xx series of rods just require room temperature dry storage. The best and cheapest home storage for them is one of the old style refrigerators with the metal liner inside (newer will work also just not as durable). I think the perfect size for home hobby shops would be the little camper sized ones or office sized that are about 30" high. Stick in a 60 watt bulb and keep the door closed. After a several years in the old fridge with the light bulb they will sometimes get a little white moldy looking coating on them, but they are still good. They do make the silica gel packs that you can stick in with them and about once a month recondition the silical gel in your home oven (it takes about 12 hours to do this) but they keep just fine without that. Save the silica gel for your gun safe, it will do more good there.

I keep mine 6010 rods at home in a plastic box that welding rods (10# size) laying on top of my 350# Phoenix dry rod oven. It is slightly warm to the touch on top of it and they keep fine there. My Phoenix oven is set @350F for all the low hydrogen rods so they are nice and dry AND HOT. I have about 150# of 3/32 and 1/8 that I keep in at all time. Whenever I have a chance to find some cheap, I will usually pick up 2 or 3 50# boxes. You get them much cheaper buying them that way. Of couse the cheapest way is when someone gives them to you. The last job I worked on in the states, we had to swap out some brands of rods due to quality problems. THe project manager said I could have any of them I wanted since we were not able to return them and were just going to throw them in the trash. We had a few cans of all sizes so I took the 3/32 and 1/8 and let others have the big stuff. Brother gave me a couple cans of Lincoln 5P that he found abandoned on a pipe line right of way. You can pick up some good used grinder disc there too if you find a pipeline running close by. They usually use 9" x 1/8" wheels and toss them when they get to about 7" size which just fits my 7" grinder. As long as they havent been rained on they are good. Lots of those folks dont think about how mucha good grinding disc cost since company buys them and they use the best grade too. You do have to get to them before the backfill crew comes along or they go in the ditch.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Did I not mention that 60xx rods shouldnt be heated above room temperature. Even 225f is enough to make them run erratic. They need about 60-80% relative humidity to run right. Just like ShieldArc mentioned, sometimes they get TOO dry and you actually have to dip them in water for them to run right. That is dip not soak. This is common practice when using them in desert environments. Take a hand ful dip them in water, shake off the excess and go to welding with them. WHen they get too dry they do what welders call fingernail which means the flux burns of to one side and leave a long side that look like a fingernail sticking out. When they do that when running an open butt root pass the tend to not tie in well on the one side and you will see welder twisting the holder back and forth when running the rod to try to counteract the fingernail effect.

 

[Deere 2520]

Thanks for all the good advise. I received the weld on 3/8, grade 70 grab hooks yesterday from Northern Tool. I have a piece of 1/4" that I going to cut to about 4" x 5" and weld the hooks that first and then weld the flat steel to the FEL. I also have some 7018 rod, sounds like that might be a better choice over the 6011. However, I still need to practic a little more, I don't want ot burn a hole in my FEL.

 

[Jorville]

This has probably been said before on here that 6011 is the best all position dirty metal poor fit welding rod. I was told that 6011 floats all or most of the impurities of the molten weld to the top. If you don't trust them make a short fillet weld and break the weld and look at it.

Years ago a co-worker of mine threw away 25 pounds of 7018 that had light rust on the electrode end. I wired wheeled the rust off and eventually burned up the rod. Never saw or heard of anything falling down or breaking that I welded. That was 25 years or more ago so if it has not fell or broke by now it should stay where it is.