Welding rods left out in the rain

[37chief]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

 

[Janicholson]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

If they look like they have sprinkels of sugar on them they will make good 1/8" rivets if cut to length. If they look nice and brown, they are good to go. 150 degrees for a day is sure to drive off H2O They are low Hydrogen rods, so dry is critical. Jim

 

[timcasbolt]

They are definitely compromised, but it wouldn't hurt to bake them in a 350 oven for a couple hours and try them on some scrap to see what happens.

 

[waugh621]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

Smack one kind of hard againts somthing and see if it cracks or shaters if if does its junk. A trick i picked up from a dairy welder.
Nate

 

[wp6529]

Bend them into staples for landscape fabric, I wouldn't trust them for welding.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

All you have to do is run some of it and see if it’s any good. 7018 lays down nice… if it does that I don’t see what the problem is.
You said they were in a box. Was it standing up on end and filled with water or something? Still, the bottom line is, if the flux stayed on it, run it and see what it does.

 

[mrhud]

most likly be scrape they wont be the same agian

 

[caterpillar guy]

I dry mine when I go to use them for about an hour that set in the shed in the box. they weld much better. Just gets the moisture out they absorb from the air. I would think if they were dried back out and the flux stayed on them they would be fine. As for the whacking it against something, new rod will crack the flux off if bent to much of an angle. Thus I would not count on that as being very accurate for a test. I have seen some of dad's hard surfacing rod lose the flux from laying around in the box in his semi heated garage Over the last years. I have used rod with little to no flux to feed in to a weld as I was burning a good rod to use as an extra filler fo some places that needed more added on as I went. Also used them to fill a gap as I welded . Using the same rod number for this so as not to make an unwanted alloy during the melt and cool process in the weld.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

I would dry them out and use them.
Moisture in the flux causes porosity in your weld but drying them beforehand removes the moisture so...
And, after burning the first half inch or so of a rod it has already cooked out any moisture in the rest of the rod.
Most of us here aren't good enough welders to make xrayable, certifiable welds anyway.
I agree with Janicholson that you wouldn't want to use an old rod that looked like it had sugar sprinkles on it. Also agree with Caterpiller Guy that whacking the rod is not a good test as even new rod out of the box will lose its flux if you whack or bend it.
Your call but I would not hesitate to use it.

 

[Ellis Kinney]

Don't know how accomplished a welder you are or the intended use for the rods. I would use them and look at the appearance of the weld. I would not use them to certify on vertical up, but otherwise I think you will be fine. Toast them in an oven. Rods are very expensive these days. Ellis

 

[Mike Groom]

You're over thinking this, dry it out in your oven for a couple of hours and keep it in a sealed container made for welding rod, it will be just fine.

 

[chcase]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

I am not much of a welder but my father was a welder his whole adult life. I would first get a few old baking pans and put them in a oven for a few hours (not on high heat) let them cool and try one on a scrap piece of metal.

 

[Blackhole49]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

First I would fire the DSOB that left them in the rain. Then, I would dry them and try one. They will either work or they won't. I got 100 lbs. of rod with my welder 53 years ago that weren't any where near new when I got them. They have been stored in an unheated garage since and still weld fine. BTW: My welder is a fair bit older than the rods but also works well.

 

[Richard G.]

I had a almost new 5 lb box of 1/8 7018 welding rods left in the rain. I brought them in, and placed them near my wood stove to dry. Do you think they will be ok to use agin? I guess I could try them, but if I need to weld something and they are bad, that will mean a special trip to the next town. Stan

Stan, all my welding rods are stored in the open in my shop.
We have high humidity here and some days, everything in the shop is damp or even wet.
I have never had a problem.
An old cousin of mine who welded in a shipyard in WWII showed me how to weld cast iron by soaking most any rod in water and using them.
Worked great the times I tried it.

 

[Ultradog MN]

First I would fire the DSOB that left them in the rain. Then, I would dry them and try one. They will either work or they won't. I got 100 lbs. of rod with my welder 53 years ago that weren't any where near new when I got them. They have been stored in an unheated garage since and still weld fine. BTW: My welder is a fair bit older than the rods but also works well.View attachment 65068

Neat old welder.
What brand is it?
Mine is a little newer.
It still reminds my of my aunt's 1960 Ford Falcon. Maybe it's the color.
It wasn't as classy as a TBird so we called it the Thunder Chicken.

 

[tom upton]

If you are welding something critical, especially something with constrained joints, heavy metal were there is a strong possibility of hydrogen induced cracking obviosly not a good idea to use wet rods. That being said for general farm repair they will be fine after dryed out as long as they didnt get saturated to the point where flux is falling off the rod?

 

[Blackhole49]

Neat old welder.
What brand is it?
Mine is a little newer.
It still reminds my of my aunt's 1960 Ford Falcon. Maybe it's the color.
It wasn't as classy as a TBird so we called it the Thunder Chicken.

Marquette

 

[Butch(OH)]

Yes, since they were not left wet for weeks or months you can dry them thoroughly and they will be fine. Best removed from the box and spread out a bit.

 

[Tony in SD]

my dad kept his welding rods in an old refrigerator air & water tight. I have only a few welding rods since I mostly use a wire welder that is in a climate controlled shop.

 

[timcasbolt]

my dad kept his welding rods in an old refrigerator air & water tight. I have only a few welding rods since I mostly use a wire welder that is in a climate controlled shop.

That's what I used to do. Disabled the light switch and wired in a line voltage thermostat to maintain a constant temperature of about 70-80 degrees.