Unpopular opinion: skip the pre-heat on your welding rod oven

Been welding for 12 years now, mostly on big boiler tube repairs in the Gulf Coast plants. Everyone I work with swears by keeping rods in a 250 degree oven for hours before using them. Last month I had a job in Baton Rouge where the oven was on the fritz. I just kept my 7018 rods in a dry toolbox with a bag of desiccant overnight. Tested the welds the next day on a 2 inch thick drum repair. Passed X-ray on the first go. Now I'm wondering how much of that pre-heat ritual is just habit. Anyone else skip the oven and have it work out fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_dixon1d ago

Hold up though, I gotta gently push back on something here. 7018 is a low hydrogen rod, so it's not really about keeping it warm as much as keeping it dry. The oven's main job is to drive out moisture, not just preheat the rod before you strike an arc. A desiccant pack might help a little for short term storage, but it's not the same as actually baking the moisture out of the flux. You probably got lucky with that drum repair, but I've seen guys get hydrogen cracking show up weeks or months later on thicker joints like that. Just something to think about before making it a habit.

gavinwood16h ago

My buddy in Port Arthur had a hydrogen crack show up three months later on a job he rushed, so @blair_dixon might have a point.