Fluxcore - shelf life?

[JeremyG]

Four years ago I had a couple of small welding jobs to do so I bought a Rohr MIG 200-MI welder and found I could produce good enough welds pretty much straight out of the box - in gasless mode.

Here are some practice welds I produced on an old brake disc:

Anyway, fast forward four years and I dug the welder out of the shed as I have a couple more welding jobs to do... but now, using the same settings on the same equipment I'm getting a crazy amount of spattering and no useable welds at all.

I'm actually using the same spool of fluxcore wire from 4 years ago... so my question is, does the fluxcore degrade on exposure to air and should I be using a fresh roll?

Or is there another potential cause of my spattering issue (the welder is set up with the earth on positive, as it was four years ago)?

TIA!

 

[BrokenBiker]

If it ain't rusty, it should be fine...I go years between needing flux core and never really had an issue unless it's cheap wire...but for the sake of a tenner grab another small spool to try

 

[sickpup]

Has the wire got any corrosion on the outside of it from storage?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Yea, the flux can soak up moisture like a wick.
I'd try pulling a few meters off the end and cutting it off.
You could try drying it out but it would be quicker to go and pick up a new spool.

 

[Cobbler]

Not had it myself, but a colleague of mine years ago always used fluxcore & he told me “don’t buy the big reels as it’s supposed to go off”

 

[JeremyG]

Has the wire got any corrosion on the outside of it from storage?

No, still shiny, and still runs through to the nozzle without sticking