Shoutout to the welder in Beaumont who made me check my rod oven temp
I spent the better part of two years just eyeballing the setting on my rod oven, figuring close enough was good enough. Last month a welder on a tank job in Beaumont asked me what temp I ran my 7018 at, and when I shrugged he pulled out a little digital thermometer and showed me mine was sitting around 180 degrees. He explained that anything under 200 doesn't drive the moisture out, and that the whole point of the oven is keeping low hydrogen rods dry. I picked up a cheap thermometer that same week and mine was off by almost 60 degrees from the dial, so now I check it before every shift instead of trusting the knob.