What are these sticks

[Shedendman]

Mate of mine gave me these said he just cleared out his dads garage,they were in the plastic packet never opened.
Got em home gave em a try and what ******s they are to get working,1st of all never seen rods with a green coating before,theres no ID marks on any of them there 2.1mm and i've tried all amps settings from 30-100amps yes 100amps really hard to get an arc going,most of the time they stick,anyone got a clue what they are or what they meant to be for?

 

[Paul.]

A lot will depend on your arc welders open circuit voltage as to whether they will run or not, many special electrodes need 80 volts minimum. most diy welders are 50 or less, are the rods magnetic?, I have some green coated nickel electrodes for cast iron in a similar pack.

 

[Shedendman]

Right,well the rods are magnetic for starters,i dont really know what the ocv is on my welder,its a sureweld 140 that i've had for donkeys all its got as to any info id 50-60 hzs on the back 240v,its a good ole girl and never had a prob with other sticks before

 

[Paul.]

A Sureweld 140 buzzbox is almost certainly no more than 50volt ocv, I've got one somewhere, good little machine but won't run most low hydrogen or specials, the electrodes could be almost anything, without a code number you'll probably never identify them. but could be a hydrogen controlled electrode, or even a cellulosic deep penetration, some time ago i was called out to a company to provide some training, they had a cupboard full of old unmarked electrodes, one of the chaps I went to train had been trying to weld with a gouging rod, We dumped everything that couldn't be identified,

 

[Shedendman]

Blimey you know your stuff,after doing a google on hydrogen controlled electrodes and cellulosic deep penetration i came up with to much info for what brain cells i have left,oh you were right,they state that these need 70volts+ ocv to work properly.
Oh well,they'll make handy hooks or summit
cheers anyway

 

[clem dog]

If your rods require a higher ocv than your welder can supply you could keep them untill some time when you would get an inverter as these generally would have a high enough ocv to handle special electrodes, then you might find that they would come in very usefull!

Clem

 

[Shedendman]

Well if anyone wants them there're yours,theres 43 of them just message me,free of course

 

[Delgado]

With that colour and packaging, they look more like something you'd smoke than weld with. They dont smell funny too, do they?

Only joking mate, don't have a clue what they're for, and if I were still in the UK I'd take them off your hands out of pure curiosity.

 

[Bsmith]

I have a similar problem. Bought some decent mma 316L rods off ebay and the seller added some unmarked rods. When I use them they burn well, produce a lovely looking stainless steel weld but when I do a destructive test on a butt or lap join the weld snaps right across the middle without much effort. They are gray in colour and have black tips. Anyone know what they are plz? Think I should bin them? Hope you dont mind me using your thread Stalwart hmcl for asking a Q? Brian (",).

 

[Sparkey]

With that colour and packaging, they look more like something you'd smoke than weld with. They dont smell funny too, do they?

Only joking mate, don't have a clue what they're for, and if I were still in the UK I'd take them off your hands out of pure curiosity.

Hihi.....incense sticks! 6013 lavender....lol

Ehm... sorry mate, i just coulden't help myself....

 

[wyn]

When I use them they burn well, produce a lovely looking stainless steel weld but when I do a destructive test on a butt or lap join the weld snaps right across the middle without much effort. They are gray in colour and have black tips. Anyone know what they are plz?

They could well be hardfacing rods. The colour of the weld can look very similar..and it probably wouldn't hold two bits of metal together.

 

[Shedendman]

With that colour and packaging, they look more like something you'd smoke than weld with. They dont smell funny too, do they?

Only joking mate, don't have a clue what they're for, and if I were still in the UK I'd take them off your hands out of pure curiosity.

PMSL,now why didnt i think of that,well they are green after all,damn should have crushed the flux off em

Anyway there gone now someone wanted them so best of british(whats left of it) to him
cheers guys

 

[JayRS4]

Righty then.

They can just about be run on low ocv, but a pain. The flux is a lot greener than it looks in the pictures, and very hard, think like miniture artex, and no powdery residue like most rods.

The weld is quite fast freezing. Deposited metal is very soft, much moreso than any normal 6013, think somewhere between steel and aluminium without brass` chipping characteristics, and extremely flexible with no work hardening. Bend tests the weld will bend showing no signs of fatigue even if it`s sustained. Spark test, VERY slightly shorter and darker than mild but theres really nothing in it. Deposited weld is quite dull also.

Thankyou chris for the opportunity to try them, hopefully we can shed some more light on what they are.