Decent budget 6013

[premmington]

Got some cheap 3.2 rods today £11,plus VAT. Weldarc 6013 in a red plastic box, seem quite easy to strike and restart, coating comes off easy on a flat run, seems to provide a reasonable bead to me.

Adrian

£11 a box plus vat...

And they do the job!

Sounds good to me! (no joke).

I have always got drawn into named make welding consumables!

But if the rod is fit for purpose, it is the right rod for the job! At any cost!

 

[PTvor]

Got some cheap 3.2 rods today £11,plus VAT. Weldarc 6013 in a red plastic box, seem quite easy to strike and restart, coating comes off easy on a flat run, seems to provide a reasonable bead to me.

Adrian

Hope the next box is as good. Off brand rods are notoriously variable.

The best cheap rods I've used are Phoenix 6013 and then Murex white box/ESAB OK 46.30. Note that the Phoenix are rutile cellulosic and the Murex are rutile, so they burn differently. The Phoenix are reckoned to do vertical down.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Think I have seen these on eBay. Might try them too just to see what they are like.

Found my half box, unopened, of siftrodes last night. They are 3.2 and my fathers welder won't run them which is probably why they haven't been opened.

Problem is they are damp. No rust on the bare rod but the flux looks damp and the box was quite damp too.

What temp do I bake them at and for how long? Will be doing it in the oven in the kitchen as it electric

 

[wheresmejumper]

6013 you can just stick to the workpiece at usual amps and dry em out

 

[AdrianH]

What temp do I bake them at and for how long? Will be doing it in the oven in the kitchen as it electric

100 degree C for 1 hour or 150 degree C for 1/2 hour.

 

[TechnicAl]

6013 you can just stick to the workpiece at usual amps and dry em out

be careful doing that............you can burn out too much moisture (they need some) and you can burn cellulose (they nearly all contain some even if small)

 

[wheresmejumper]

Ya just enough to take the dampness out.not for anything critical too

 

[BrokenBiker]

Will probably blow the welder trying that. Wil PPP them in at 100 c for an hour when I get home

 

[TechnicAl]

Well you please yourself but others should be aware that doing this can make the weld porous, the slag stick and destabilise the arc. Its easier to put them in the oven for half an hour. Having said that unless they have been mistreated they shouldnt be damp.

 

[wheresmejumper]

The next time i am welding in the pissin rain,and i have a choice of running a wet rod(6013),or a poorly dried rod,i will take your advice and please myself

 

[TechnicAl]

The next time i am welding in the pissin rain,and i have a choice of running a wet rod(6013),or a poorly dried rod,i will take your advice and please myself

I wouldnt do that either. Welding in the rain can get you electrocuted.

 

[wheresmejumper]

Tell that to my boss!

 

[PTvor]

I've bought a few boxes of NOS 6013 rods and been given a few lots of old rods. They've shown signs of being kept in the damp. Putting them in an electric oven for an hour at 100C works wonders and isn't much trouble. After that, keep them in the airing cupboard or on top of the boiler.

I'm not so sure about the old hands trick of deliberately sticking them. A lot of inverters will detect that the rod is stuck and drop the current very low. It will probably overheat a buzz box very quickly. I can see it working with an oil-filled welder, but it's a far less controlled process than putting them in the oven for an hour at 100C. You can over cook them and damage them, charring the cellulose and altering the characteristics of the rod. 6013s need a trace of bound moisture to work properly anyway.

I knew a bloke who kept his 6013s in a damp garage and liked to put them under the grill before he used them. I can't see the point if they've been kept in a warm dry place.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Well, I have 2.5kg of sidtrodes waiting for the oven, 5kg of them on the way and just ordered a 5kg box of weldarc too and the weld arc come in a nice re sealable plastic box too

 

[AdrianH]

Ran some Murex today and different to the Weldarc, seems hotter, well the current range is higher then the weldarc so I suppose it is, but I find I can blow through the metal with Murex easier, so need practice.

Adrian