Just found out my welding rods were stored wrong for the last 6 months

Was talking to an older boilermaker at a job site in Cleveland last week. Mentioned how my welds seemed a little off lately, lots of porosity. He asked where I keep my rods. I said in the back of my truck. He just laughed and told me to check the manufacturer date and storage specs. Turns out low hydrogen rods need to be kept in a rod oven or at least a dry place. My truck bed got humid and they soaked up moisture like a sponge. Been running bad beads for half a year and didnt know it. Has anyone else had this issue with rod storage?

2 comments

2 Comments

wadeyoung1mo ago

Oh man, that's a tough way to learn. I did something similar but with a box of 7018s I left in my garage over a wet spring. Wound up with welds so porous they looked like a sponge got into a fight with a grinder. Had to cut out a whole section of railing I'd been bragging about to my neighbor. Now I keep my rods in an old ammo can with a few of those silica gel packs thrown in. Works good enough for the small jobs I do.

fisher.kevin1mo ago

Learn from the expensive mistakes, right? It's funny how this same exact problem shows up everywhere once you start paying attention. I had a buddy who got into reloading his own ammo and left his powder in a damp basement for a year. Same exact deal - moisture wrecked his burn rates, got squib loads and pressure spikes he couldn't figure out till an old timer asked where he kept his powder. Seems like half the trades have this hidden moisture trap that nobody talks about until you screw up.