Rod oven ?

[thinktwicez71]

an old timer friend of mine GAVE me a nice portable rod oven. holds 15lbs or welding rod.

its a despatch rod box model wpb-0-10a

300 degrees , .87amps

works great

my question is , is it safe to keep this plugged in all the time out in my shed as long as it is in good working order ? or is doing this a fire hazard ?

thanks ( would like to keep my 7018 in it.)

[snoeproe]

I'd be more worried about how much it will run up your power bill if it draws 87 amps and you want to keep it on all the time.

[DesertRider33]

He typed .87 amps, as in less than amp, though I have a hard time believing that figure myself.

[CEP]

I can believe it, my Phoenix 10-pound rod box draws 100-watts. 100 divided by 120 = .833333 amps.
I think my 50-pound rod box draws 300-watts. 300 divided by 120 = 2.5 amps.

[snoeproe]

Wow. In that case, you have yourself a great score there. Fill er up with 7018 and turn it on!

[Matt_Maguire]

My little 15lb keen has a 70 watt heater in it. They all have a thermostat in them "I think" so once warmed up they should use little power.

My keen is not intended to be used for permenant storage (at least that's what the manual says).

Matt

[Booger Welder]

If you have a heated shop - you can keep your rods in a old refrigerator.
If you keep them in sealed cans - you don't need to keep them in the heater until you need them.
Just think of the rod oven as a big old toaster.
The more you use it, the quicker it wears out.
Unless you are going to weld with those rods every day - there is no reason to keep them in the oven all the time.

[bucket]

we have a old refrigerator fitted with 150watt lamp in it for storage of our rods, for welding we have a portable rod oven.

[jotram]

I just built a really easy rod oven and it works awsome. I stole my wifes old hot plate/pan it looks like a pan that is about 10 inches round and 2 inches tall , and has oil incased inside it which gets about 100---400 degrees . Im not sure if you can get these anymore maybe at a thrift shop or your wifes cookware. Anyway I found a spa filter housing that was stainless and about 24'' inches tall reall common on craigslist for cheap , and same size as the pan .It also has a lid but the pan lid fit the filter tube as well . I then tacked it on the pan and put 50 pounds of rod in it might hold aroun 100 pounds? I left it pluged in all night at 400 degrees, and it was HOT the next morning . The plate was still on , I also took an old welding blanket and wwrapped the outside of the filter housing with it to insulate it I am very happy with how it turned out And it gets plenty hot and seems to hold up just fine.

[jotram]

Oh it didnt take long for it to get about 200 degrees by the way . I cranked it to 400 to see if it would hold up and it did.

[CEP]

Originally Posted by jotram

I stole my wifes old hot plate/pan

When she finds out, you better head for the hills, she'll be after you with a cast iron skillet!