TIPS FOR MAXIMIZING ROD LIFE

• After you have loaded your rod racks with the new rod, store the thread protectors in a safe place and always re-install them if the rods are removed from the rack for any reason.
  
  
• Replace the old, worn drive chuck concurrent with replacing the string. Additionally, since most HDD rods are of a double-shouldered design, even the slightest face-wear on the drive chuck will prevent the pin shoulder from fully seating in the chuck. In this case pin failures are swift and inevitable.
  
  
• Always avoid combining used and new strings. Isolating the new rods at one end of the string does nothing. All rods still contact the drive chuck twice on every bore. If you leave the old drive chuck on, it will quickly damage your new rods. If you replace the drive chuck it will then be damaged by the worn thread profiles of your remaining used rod, and quickly transfer this damage to the new rods. Depending on the profiles of your old rods this can happen in as little as a few weeks.
  
  
• Make up your rod at the surface to 60% of its yield torque. If you are not sure of the yield torque contact your manufacturer. Rods not properly torqued at the surface will attempt to make up in the bore and box swelling will occur.
  
  
• Keep the threads fully coated with a high quality copper-based thread compound such as Jet Lube's KOPR-KOTE® or Directional Depot's Auntie C's.
  
  
• Perform a Wet Magnetic Particle inspection on your rods at least every six months, more frequently if you are on demanding bores.
  
  
• Routinely rotate your string from front to back. This will insure that each rod gets something approaching the same amount of wear as all of the other rods in the string. It also somewhat equalizes the drilling torque that each rod sees over the life of the string.
  
  
• Please keep your rods out of the dirt! This should go without saying but it happens all too often. Gravel and sand picked up in the thread compound is very detrimental to the threads when they are made up.