MMA Welding Rods

Hi all, back in blighty for a bit and doing some houskeeping on my hoard of stuff due to a looming house move!

I have a significant quantity of what were (are?) Very expensive Metrode welding rods, MMA and TIG, the TIG stuff is sound, in tubes and clean as a whistle, some looks to be wierd esoteric material so looking for a bit of knowledge or ideas what it would be used for!
I have Metrode spec' sheets for everything, but they tell me not a lot other than composition and type!

Initially, it's the MMA rods that are a poser due to quantity and I could do with a few honest opinions on uses for it or just for scrapping!
I've 19x 7.5 Kilo packs of 4mm 'Metmild Tensile Steel MP31' MS rods, some packs are sealed, many are not and a few tubs have got holes rusted through the sides!
Metrode have printed drying instructions on some of the packs, but I'm not sure the rods would still be any good, I've had them stored now for a decade in a garden shed and I'm shocked how damp the place has been (I don't get in there often)!

The rods and flux coating look ok, no rust, but the flux coat on rods in the open tubs are liberally spotted with white fuz, it rubs off easy enough and the flux feels dry, but are the rods useable if dried from this state or are they scrap, and if scrap, has the 4mm steel core any usefull purpose for model or general engineering use if the flux is knocked off?
I hate scrapping or chucking stuff away but I could do with selling the stuff off if it is useable, but I don't want to sell it if it's knackered!

I'll post up the other stuff as I work through it!

Any help very much appreciated,

John.

Edited By RJW on 18/07/2013 22:48:04

Hi John, I'm not familier with the make of the welding electrodes that you mention, however, the white fuz that you metion is a sign that they have been damp, probably for a long period. This white power or fuz as you call it, means that a certain detoriation in the flux coating has occured and therefore they will not be within the manufacturers specification. This does not in itself stop them from being used if they are dry. If they are dry the white powder can normally be wiped off. I have used electrodes successfuly that have been like this, but one must remember that they will be below spec and should be used accordingly. If the electrodes have this white powder and the flux is also cracked or flaking off, then they are pretty useless.

If your electrode are damp or even wet then they should be dryed according to the manufacturers instructions. There are however some electrodes that should not be completly dry, as they need some moisture to work correctly.

Some guidence about re-drying electrodes can be found in this **LINK** look towards the bottom of the PDF.

Hope this is of some help.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 19/07/2013 22:10:01

Hi Nick,

Many thanks for that, and especially the link, some useful information on there!

The powder deposit on the rods isn't heavy, just generally dotted around the length of rods like very thin efflourescence, overall quite light really, it also brushes off very easily with no residue or sign it was ever there, some of it you can just blow it off!

The flux, from reading the data on the link, is probably rutile, which would follow your comment about not needing to be fully dry anyway, but they all feel bone dry and there's no sign whatever of cracking or flaking, and no rust on the rod ends which were either exposed or under the steel caps of the tubs!

I'll dig out the spec' sheet for them anyway, it may give you a better idea what they are, Metrode have been around a long time and originally supplied this stuff to Rolls Royce and the Royal Naval Dockyard at Rosyth according to the advice notes with the spec' sheets .............. so it was top grade stuff before it started growing whiskers!

John

Hello John

Go to metrode website.

Select Products

Type in mma

Data sheet says that this rod is for welding stainless steel - particularly 316. All you need to do after is to find people doing this. Might also give an insight as to how much to charge.

Can't offer any more - welding is not our field.

Keith