Not very good welding

[TOM REED]

I am not a professional welder by any means and most of the things I have done with 7018 but after the problem I had years ago I always made sure my rods were dry and have had better results ever since. The problem I had was in construction of my engine stand. I was using 7018 on 2 1/2 inch 1/4 wall tubing and I was having a hard time maintaining a good steady arc with a nice bead, it just was not going well, the rod was fairly fresh and I could not figure out why. I had a break for lunch and put the rod in the oven for an hour or so at 250 F and went back out to the shop and it welded up beautifully so ever since before I do any welding in the shop I have made sure the rod was dry. When mounting the wreckers on my tow trucks I used 7018. tom