Rusty welding wire

[paul_f]

I have just got a 16 year old Sip Autoplus 150 from a neighbour, it has hardly been used. The last time it was used was 4 years ago (he had to fit a new liner and got a 5kg roll of 0.6mm wire which is almost full).

Unfortunately the wire is a bit rusty (it was kept in a garage). I removed a large length of wire onto a 0.7kg real (about half full) and the wire is now mostly clean but has occasional patches of rust.

If I carry on removing more wire, will I eventually get to untarnished wire - or is there anything I can do to try and clean the wire?

The wire feeds through the liner okay, but gets held up in the tip (a new one, so I guess the rust is making it be a too large diameter)

Thanks
Paul

 

[fingers99]

maybe yes, maybe no -- really depends on how long it has been stored and under what conditions.

I'd scrap a bit more and see. If the rust is bad enough to clog in the tip there's no sensible way to remove it.

 

[weldequip]

The wire feeds through the liner okay, but gets held up in the tip (a new one, so I guess the rust is making it be a too large diameter)

Replace the torch Lining & Tip & it should feed 100%. If the wire has any amount of surface rust replace that aswell...it will only block the new lining & you'll be back to stage one
weldequip

 

[paul_f]

Hi weldequip

Got the new liner thanks, and fitted it. Used a drill to take a fair bit of wire off the 5kg reel until there was no rust, and it now feeds perfectly!

The welder won't be used that regularly, how can I stop the wire getting rusty again?

Thanks
Paul

 

[Wozzaaah]

It's a pain to do it everytime but the best thing is to take the reel out and keep it somewhere dry if it's not going to be used for a while. The airing cupbaord is a good place. You could also place it in a bag with a few of those silica gel sachets or if you can find one, a bag of activated clay granules. Both of those can be dried in the oven when they get damp.

 

[paul_f]

Good ide - it is not that much of a pain, especially as then I can remove the torch and put it in a cupboard meaning that its less likely to get damaged