Re: Flux foreskin

That's slag/carbon capping the end of your weld rod.

Just tap the affected end against a hard (non-conducting) surface like
a concrete wall or floor to break off the cap, and continue welding.

Re: Flux foreskin

I am thinking, if there is not a fault somewhere with this excessive slag capping, it would be difficult to weld house roofing or steel fence or even to make beads for a welding workshop. A close friend of mine is an owner of a busy commercial vehicle restoration shop, wala yata akong napapansin na ganito.

Well, I am really enjoying SMAW, I have a lot of scraps here of diferrent shapes and dimensions. When I get tired of the welding exercises, I join metals whatever my hands can find, rods, angle bars, pipes, flat bars, pieces of leaf spring, nails, etc. It seems that I weld better with dummy projects than with the basic exercises.

Many times, I tried to rekindle the arc by scratching hard that slagged weld rod tip, but it don't work so I am tapping the slag with the chipping hammer and it will arc again easily, yun lang medyo hassle. This weekend I'll try yung tip ni sir horge.

Re: Flux foreskin

I'm using Yamato IGBT Welder with 1/8 6013 rods @ 100 amps. The problem is whenever the arc is extinguished, my rods become almost impossible to light again unless the tip is tap with a hammer because of the flux foreskin formation. Nagiging 'supot' yung welding rods ko pag namamatayan ng apoy. :confused:

What is the solution for this, change the brand of welding rods, could we reverse the polarity of the electrode of our Yamato inverter welder.

P.S. Nakaka-adict palang mag-welding, nakakalimutan ko yung duty cycle.

Bro yid,

Nothing really to worry about your rods or the machine, I was in the same shoes before when I first tried using the DC welder and even up to now after more than two years, I,m still getting the same result. Using a DC weld machine is very different when using my other Yamato AC machine which I don't usually get those flux capping at the end of each rod.

What I usually do during welding sessions with DC machines, Yamato or HiTronic is that I have a large flat file nearby to scratch the tip of the rod for easy start or I have a long nose pliers to nip the remaining un-burned flux caps to expose the metal rod to continue welding. Well this is one character made by using a DC Inverter and there is nothing we can do about it. No matter what size or brand of rods you will use, you will be getting the same results with DC Inverter machines.

With regards to reversing polarity, by all means go if you want deeper penetration on the materials you are welding but if your metal stocks are somewhat thin, better to stick with the original set up.

Glad to know you are enjoying the welding skills, BUT don't forget, practice, practice and more practice and learn from previous mistakes of applying welds !!

CHEERS, ENJOY and GOOD LUCK !!! 😉 😀

Re: Flux foreskin

I am thinking, if there is not a fault somewhere with this excessive slag capping, it would be difficult to weld house roofing or steel fence or even to make beads for a welding workshop. A close friend of mine is an owner of a busy commercial vehicle restoration shop, wala yata akong napapansin na ganito.

Many times, I tried to rekindle the arc by scratching hard that slagged weld rod tip, but it don't work so I am tapping the slag with the chipping hammer and it will arc again easily, yun lang medyo hassle. This weekend I'll try yung tip ni sir horge.

Tapping (chicken pecking) the rod is my choice when I'm working in field conditions, w/
the DC welder strapped to my shoulder: even without a non-conducting hard surface
at hand, it's easy to switch off the welder and then tap the slagged rod, even against
the workpiece itself, which can be as large as a building, literally. Tapping does not
often require me to set down or pick up any other tools, like a file, and that's a very
significant plus when my other hand may already be committed to:

-maintaining workpiece elements in position for welding, or
-maintaining myself in position (important when you're a few stories up, lol)

The downside to tapping is it occasionally will remove more than just slag, and losing the
flux coating means that part of the subsequent weld will have sucked in some oxygen,
with rust following shortly.

Abrading the rod is more of an option for me when in the safer confines of the shop/yard:
I have all the workholding tools needed to free up a hand, with which I can pick up a
crosscut file to scrape the slag off the rod. Alternately, I could leave the file flat upon a
rubber mat near the workpiece, and then I don't need a free hand, nor have to switch
off the welder (which, if in the shop, isn't as likely to be hanging off my shouder, and
thus isn't close enough for easy switching-off)). Scraping is unlikely to damage the rod's
flux coating, meaning I don't compromise the weld, but again, for me it's more an option
within the safety and comfort of the shop or yard, and I find myself chicken-pecking
even there.

Whipping is allegedly an old-timer's (very dangerous) trick, associated with high-current
AC welding and pro-style, very long bead-laying: No time to switch off and tap? No time
to scrape with a file? Just whip the rod through the air to flick the still-molten slag off
the rod, and to heck with anyone who might get splattered and burned. I do realize
that 'whipping' is about far more than just slag-shedding, but hey...

There is supposed to be one other traditional slag-shedding trick, involving the use of
pantyhose, cheese and a live goat, but I don't really see how it could work.

Anyway, choose your poison.

Re: Flux foreskin

One reason why i prefer 6011 over 6013 for most of my welding works. Nowadays i work with 6011 like 90% of the time. Although of course it depends on the material you are working on. With 6011 i can easily re-ignite the rod.

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Re: Flux foreskin

ako naman e nahihirapan parin sa pagmaintain ng arc using 6011. inuubos ko na lang yung less than 1/2 kg at susubukan ko ibang brand ng 6011.

with regards sa topic, kinukuskos ko lang sa konkreto yung rod kapag nangyayari yan.