MOISTURE CONTROL OF COATINGS OF WELDING ELECTRODE
MOISTURE CONTROL OF COATINGS
The presence of moisture in the coatings, either as absorbed moisture, or present in the coating as combined moisture, is very important in the use of low hydrogen electrodes. This is even more important in the ship building industry due to the high relative humidity environments of sea shore. This needs to be controlled by a proper baking schedule for the low hydrogen electrodes followed by storage & issue procedures.
It is advantageous to store electrodes in de-humidified rooms.
It is normal for electrodes to be baked at 250-350 deg. C for at least 1-2 hours immediately on being removed from the packets.
It is also important that such baked electrodes are held in holding ovens at a temperature of > 100 deg. C [typically 150 deg. C] prior to issue.
