Thread: Arc Welding Slag

I have a couple of questions about slag, so here goes

1) What is the best time to chip off slag after welding ??

2) I have 2.6mm and 3.2mm Kobe RB-26 rods here, I have been using the 2.6mm to weld up my work bench 40x40x3mm. I decided to change to the 3.2mm rods (I freshly opened the plastic and box) and the slag difference is totally different. I would describe the 2.6mm slag as being dull and very hard to chip off, where as the 3.2mm is shiney and smooth and a couple of hits and its all gone. Why the huge difference ?? The 2.6mm had slag like this from the start. Would it be moisture in the rods as the 2.6mm wernt sealed properly ??

Matt.

Originally Posted by Matty5700

I have a couple of questions about slag, so here goes

1) What is the best time to chip off slag after welding ??

2) I have 2.6mm and 3.2mm Kobe RB-26 rods here, I have been using the 2.6mm to weld up my work bench 40x40x3mm. I decided to change to the 3.2mm rods (I freshly opened the plastic and box) and the slag difference is totally different. I would describe the 2.6mm slag as being dull and very hard to chip off, where as the 3.2mm is shiney and smooth and a couple of hits and its all gone. Why the huge difference ?? The 2.6mm had slag like this from the start. Would it be moisture in the rods as the 2.6mm wernt sealed properly ??

Matt.

Hi Matt,
Q 1
When it cold mate! you will find the sensation of red hotslag attaching itself to your epedermis, unpleasant to say the least. Give it 10 or 20 secs at least. because the slag protects the cooling weld from attack from the nasties in the air which other wise tend to bugger it up when red hot.Chip away from your body and keep ya specs on.Remember safety specs under the weld helmet for this reason.

Q2. You still got the sparklers eh? the 6010P,s?
You will know if have have moisture in the rods .The arc will be very fierce.
You don't say what the 2.6 are but it I am guessing Gemeni.Its just a matter of different flux make up. Also with it probably a matter of cheaper against quality(Kobe's)

When finished box them up in some PVC pipe with lids.This will keep most of the moisture out of them.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Hi Matt,
Q 1
When it cold mate! you will find the sensation of red hotslag attaching itself to your epedermis, unpleasant to say the least. Give it 10 or 20 secs at least. because the slag protects the cooling weld from attack from the nasties in the air which other wise tend to bugger it up when red hot.Chip away from your body and keep ya specs on.Remember safety specs under the weld helmet for this reason.

Q2. You still got the sparklers eh? the 6010P,s?
You will know if have have moisture in the rods .The arc will be very fierce.
You don't say what the 2.6 are but it I am guessing Gemeni.Its just a matter of different flux make up. Also with it probably a matter of cheaper against quality(Kobe's)

When finished box them up in some PVC pipe with lids.This will keep most of the moisture out of them.

Grahame

Thanks for the answers Grahame.

Q1 lol, i'm currently sitting here typing in a polar fleece jacket with 2 holes in the upper left arm courtesy of slag melting its way through the jacket and burning my skin on the way into my welding glove. This tends to make one jump around a little

So in future i'll make sure the slag is not red hot so as avoid nasties in the weld (and not burn myself !!) I hadnt thought of safety goggles under the mask, i'll do that in future to.

Q2: The 6010p was another bloke lol, all my rods are Kobe RB-26 in 2.6mm and 3.2mm varieties. It probably is moisture giving me grief here I think, the 2.5mm rods do seem to have a rather nasty arc to them that the newly opened 3.2mm doesnt have and the newly opened pack has beautiful looking welds in comparrision to the 2.6mm rods that have been opened for a couple of weeks but not sealed in a tube. Going to Bunnings tomorrow and will procure said pipe and end caps (of course other items will also be purchased, but that is outside the scope of this discussion !!)

Incidently how do Kobe rods compare to something like a WIA in equivelant spec E6013, a welder I was talking to at work the other day said he'd never heard of Kobe and only ever used the best rods being WIA.

Thanks,

Matt.

Hi Matt,

Kobe,s have been around for at least 20 years.I can't speak for where you come from but in Queensland they are very well known in the Pressure vessel trade.
I used them ( Kobe LB 52U,s ) to do my root run in my As1796 3E cert pipe, in 1983.

The rods were developed by Kobelco to give a TIG quality finish to the root run bead. These guys are big ,like they have their own steel works

I believe some are made in Malaysia these days as well as Japan.

OK! Quickly now while SWMBO is not looking grab a half handfull of the offending electrode and wrap them up in a couple of layer of cooking Alfoil.

Bung em in the oven on 100C for an hour.No more than 100 and no more than an hour. When they cool give em a run they should be OK. 100 is what the hotboxes in the weld shops run at.

Cheers

Grahame
If there is any moisture that will drive it all out

Thanks Grahame, will do tomorrow after i've made my new rod canisters. No point doing it tonight, have to go to bunnings tomorrow to get 2 x 1000w portable light stands so I can see in the dark ) Of course lighting is not a problem when welding, just trying to find the starting point gets a little tricky

Matt.

Originally Posted by Matty5700

Incidently how do Kobe rods compare to something like a WIA in equivalent spec E6013, a welder I was talking to at work the other day said he'd never heard of Kobe and only ever used the best rods being WIA.
.

Hi Matt,
The WIA has been a front runner in electrode manufacture for many years.
In fact we used WIA TC-16s for the fill and cap sections on our weld tests.

As far as comparison to 6013's ,well they are 6013's as they fall under that group .60- 60,000lbs tensile strength -13 - 1 multi positional -ie not only flat but vertical up etc and 3 AC + DC electrode negative suited power supply.

here,s a Kobe link on them:

http://www.kobelco.co.jp/english/wel...es/c-sp7-8.pdf

Grahame

Well, to answer my own question as to why the slag looked so totally different on the 2.6mm vs the 3.5mm rods. The answer is simple, I bought low hydrogen 7016 rods by accident , so when I tried using them instead of the 2.6mm 6013 rods the appearence is totally different. Now I will go and buy some 3.5mm 6013 rods tomorrow.

So what does one do with a packet of 3.5mm 7016 low hydrogen rods ?? Do I store them the same as the 6013's, and should the but put in the oven also before before being used ??

Matt.

Nothing more exhilarating then getting some hot slag getting down your pants to land on your nuts.. It is amazing the places slag can get....

and never wear nylon socks or jocks ( don't ask how I know this )

So its just not my week, found out I got 7016 3.2mm rods instead of 6013, made some 330mm long tubes for my rods to go in after they have dried in the oven. Problem is the rods are 350mm long *sigh* I think i'll try again after my next 4 day work rotation and see if I can get it right. At least the rods are well done and sealed in a plastic bag till I get my new canisters sorted.

Hi Matt,
the 7016's being what they are ,a low hydrogen rod are designed to run with absolutely no water, but when they gey moist the oven is the cure.

For what amatuers do they quite ok.The tensile being another 10,000 lbs better than mild steel 6013.

keep them dry and they will be ok for when you got something special.

Don't feel bad about cutting yourself short on the PVC someone else has done it as well .No matter it's a spare one for the 2.6 rods

Cheers

Grahame

The best rods i have used to date, not that i have tried many types or brands, was Satincraft which laid down the best and smoothest welds i had ever done.

And..........the slag just seems to completely peel off by itself..............

Tez2

Originally Posted by Tez2

And..........the slag just seems to completely peel off by itself..............

When run at the correct amperage and arc length they will do this.But if you don't watch arc length and set correct amperage they are prone to slag inclusion more so than the other rods with less visual appeal.

In the end ,they are just horses for courses.They are excellent for sheet metal, but it does not mean they will be good on every job you try them on.

Try other rods and you will end up having a range of experinces of them and will better be able to match rods for diffrent types of work.

Grahame

So a bit of an update. I cooked up my rods a few days ago and havnt had a chance to use them till today and I definately noticed the difference to last time. They dont have such a fierce arc and dont tend to blow holes in things as easy, which is a good thing. I have put them in my new pvc pipe canister that I cut to the right length this time !!

How does one know by looking at rods if its time to give them another cook in the oven ??

Matt.

Hi Matt,
its more by observation than appearance.When they start getting the fierce problem ,chuck em back in the oven.
If yuo have acess to those little buttons of stuff which come in some medications,chuck them in the PVC containers as well, they are moisture absorbent packages.
Grahame