Thermal arc 186 3/1 stick rod stops welding

[Macgyver]

So i have some 7016 welding rods thats been laying around in some moist and cold envirement for some years. me and a budd was welding up a tractor dumper thingy on the fron and also welded up the vertical beerers on the front lifter. the problem is this

Problem : while welding short and calm welds the stick welder or the rod itself. just stops welding,
it feels like it gets drowned in slag, but it doesent ignite well at all eather. the arc when its working is smuching good. but it just dies here and there, and for a few seconds its dead completely. and i gotta bang of the slag from the tip again and hassle with getting the arc going again.

faq or not faq : the groundclamp feels like ****crap, it WAS copperlayered small clamp and now its not much copper left. the sticks are old. and we used both 2.2 mm rods and 3.2 rods.
Like i said it was 7016 wich i really never hear much about but should be same **** as the 7018 just that 18 means a different slag.
anyone have insight on the problem ? i havent welded stick much on different machines so cant really say if its the old moist rods or if it is the thermal arc lack of pro fetures inside.

Thanks.
Macgyver

 

[ross1993]

Im by no means a expert but i think for low hydrogen electrodes they absorb moisture easily.Rod oven usually sorts this out.try drying rods and this might sort the issue

 

[Bill Edwards]

I suspect the problem is the rods. Welding rods need to be kept dry otherwise they can be very unpleasant to use. Lohi rods in particular are supposed to be kept dry and are often sold in vac pacs or oven dried before use.

You could normally give them an hour or so in an oven, but you say they've been in the cold and damp for years so just bin them and buy some fresh, and keep these ones sealed and dry.

 

[Macgyver]

yea, we had some zink rods also for cast's and thay got red right away and ignited no metter where i tuched with them, could peel the flux of it.
haha,
for the work i did thay worked fine ( the 7016 ), it was just really wierd tendencies.
How much does a good ground help on stick welding, there is a alot of volts out and running so i thought maybe it would be that cheep ground that maybe would be a botthe-troth
How would a home made box, with a lightbolb inside help for keeping some 70's rods last longer, or stay good longer

thanks for some informative answers.

 

[Bill Edwards]

A good ground is important, a strong clamp is needed onto a clean piece of metal - grind off any rust or paint if necessary.

A bulb in a box might help a bit, but really you need to keep them sealed in an airtight container. I use Rod Guard or Safetube rod containers which have a rubber seal to keep them dry, it means I can store them anywhere for as long as I want.

 

[Macgyver]

sounds great, but thing is that where i work, me and my dad. and he doesent care or want anything to do with stick, mainly cuz he cant stickweld, and then it doesent work :P
So i wanned just somthing easy and out of hes complaint zone '' uses electrisity for nothing '' or ''collects dust and its in the way'' :P thanks tho. noticed today i used my tig 200 with a really overkill groundclamp it welded waay better with no arc blowouts. it just blasted on . actually on AC too. but felt penetration wasent as good.

Does penetration change when using Ac vs Dc ? the 7016 shows to be a AC/DC rod.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Penetration can change depending of the polarity when using DC (electrode positive should usually give more penetration), I don't think AC makes much difference but that's beyond my level of knowledge. However, you can expect the 7016/8 to run easier and be better to use on DC, I would choose that over AC.