Keeping Welder Outside

[Trip59]

Yup, Florida. On second read, UK might have something on us, I've been working on a Harley that came back from your neck of the woods a couple years ago. For it's age, it's a lot more tarnished, rusted, corroded than Florida bikes. Kind of weird in my opinion.

As for bagging, it doesn't have to be a literal bag. Figure out a way to cut the bottom out of one of those vacuum bags, put it over the top like a cover and duct tape it to the cart with a silica inside. Or, just run with it and not worry until you need to

[everlastsupport]

It rains here about 3-5PM until late evening on and off all year. With no rain for weeks, the woods around here contain a lot of moisture. A piece of steel in 1-2 days outside will be orange with rust.

I still keep them in the shop by the door, I cover them with cloth cover, no problem so far in many years so far..

[Trip59]

Interesting phenomenon... actually the root of an argument between a friend and I, slightly off topic but sort of relevant. I bought a machined engine block and crank from a friend, he insisted I put it in the garage. I wanted to put it in the shed, where I had more room, but he swore up and down it'd rust overnight.

I've had steel outside rust overnight, as you mentioned, yet I've had steel in the garage and shed not rust for weeks or longer. When I was doing the architectural pieces I posted elsewhere, I had stock I ground the scale off of, took about 2 months to get a slight surface rust in the garage (during rainy season) but a cut-off turned orange just outside the garage door in a day and within a week had stained the driveway.

In all honesty, until this thread came up, it hadn't been something I'd have thought about... storing the welder in the shop, that is.

[Martine]

Yup, Florida. On second read, UK might have something on us, I've been working on a Harley that came back from your neck of the woods a couple years ago. For it's age, it's a lot more tarnished, rusted, corroded than Florida bikes. Kind of weird in my opinion.

As for bagging, it doesn't have to be a literal bag. Figure out a way to cut the bottom out of one of those vacuum bags, put it over the top like a cover and duct tape it to the cart with a silica inside. Or, just run with it and not worry until you need to

Two thoughts spring to mind. Firstly, we chuck tons of hard, gritty, rock salt onto the roads in the winter to stop ice forming on frosty nights and to melt snow away. It's nasty corrosive stuff and lingers until a good rainfall washes it away. Secondly, as happened this summer, it can rain on and off for weeks; it's a fairly damp climate on the whole. And that rain's slightly acidic.

I'm sure that's not a complete explanation; as mentioned, you would expect hot, humid climates to be corrosive. Could that Harley have been kept near the sea? I had a car whose electrics and bodywork really suffered being just a couple of miles from the sea.

Much food for thought from everyone. Many thanks.

Martin

[Trip59]

Not sure where exactly, but I know at least a few years of the 10 years he was over there was right by the water. Pulled the exhaust off and it was rusted clean through, less than 10 years on a set of Hooker pipes. My bet is all that crud you mentioned ran itself up behind the heat shield.

Now, as far as your car's electrics... you can only blame it on the environment if it wasn't Lucas LMAO

[Martine]

Not sure where exactly, but I know at least a few years of the 10 years he was over there was right by the water. Pulled the exhaust off and it was rusted clean through, less than 10 years on a set of Hooker pipes. My bet is all that crud you mentioned ran itself up behind the heat shield.

Now, as far as your car's electrics... you can only blame it on the environment if it wasn't Lucas LMAO

I hope that "Hooker pipes" doesn't break the forum's rules on decency (I'll have to Google that one), but the car was an Opel Ascona and probably made in Germany, so I'm sure Lucas never got a look in. Apart from electrical connections turning green in the sea air, I once traced a starting problem to the braided earth strap linking the engine block to the body underneath the car. It looked perfectly sound until I grasped it whereupon it disintegrated into red copper dust along its whole length. Nevertheless, this was at RAF Kinloss on the Moray Firth in Scotland, and driving an iron oxide box held together by metallic green paint was a small price to pay for living in such a beautiful part of the world.

[Trip59]

Talked to him about this the other day, he mentioned where you are beats our weather conditions hands down... (I'll reserve the jokes he was cracking )

Actually, after talking to him and hearing his descriptions of the weather and it's impact where you're at, I might look at bagging it for long term storage, that or find a place inside?