Keeping Welder Outside

[Martine]

I live in rainy Manchester, UK and have a 210 TIG welder - it's the R-Tech version of the 210Ext. I keep it in a modern detached garage so, whilst kept dry, it is exposed to damp air. Should I worry about the effect of the welder's electronics being exposed to such conditions?

(I've come to this forum because I've learned far more about my welder from the kind Everlast team than I have from R-Tech)

Martin

[everlastsupport]

I live in rainy Manchester, UK and have a 210 TIG welder - it's the R-Tech version of the 210Ext. I keep it in a modern detached garage so, whilst kept dry, it is exposed to damp air. Should I worry about the effect of the welder's electronics being exposed to such conditions?

(I've come to this forum because I've learned far more about my welder from the kind Everlast team than I have from R-Tech)

Martin

I would cover the unit when not in use. The moisture over time could cause corrosion that could cause issues. We do not use conformal spray on the boards.

I have kept many of our unit in a high humidity environment for years with no problems yet. Spraying the board with conformal would probably void the warranty, that would be a good question for Ray/Oleg.

[Trip59]

I'd imagine the damp isn't much more than the humid down here in FL... I have tons of electronics outside, haven't had any failures on any of them or my welder (not Everlast, just got that one a few months ago.

I wonder if making sure it's completely cooled down in the winter to avoid temp differentials over longer periods would help avoid condensation issues?

You could always bag it with dehumidifier packs for longer storage, no?

[Brian Ski]

You have to be careful with the temp extremes. On a warm damp day if I open the cold garage all the metal tools will be covered with moisture within seconds.

[Martine]

Many thanks for your thoughts and replies. I also don't fancy the idea of using any spray - in the long run it would create far more problems than I'm hoping to prevent with dust caking the sprayed boards.

I have considered leaving the welder running all the time, but then the fan's blowing air over the boards all the time - maybe that's not so bad: there's a constant flow of air. I also wondered about disconnecting the fan and leaving the welder on all the time, but then there'd probably be such a very small trickle current through a small part of the kit as to render that idea not one of my best ones.

I do have a few large bags of silica gel and may well bag the 210 up and throw in a bag of dry desiccant for protection. I also considered getting a vacuum bag - used for storing bedding after drawing out the air with a vacuum cleaner. Complacency would probably mean that after a while I'd get fed up with unbagging and rebagging every time I want to use it. So perhaps the best idea is just to burn a couple of rods once or twice a week. On the other hand, I do appreciate that the conditions I'm describing might be a lot more benign than the humidity of Fl... (I'm guessing that's Florida).

Anyway, I'm really grateful for your kind inputs whilst I first of all wonder aloud if I have a genuine cause for concern and, secondly, then figure out how to reduce any risk to these wonderful machines.

Many thanks for the kind words of wisdom.

Martin

[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?