[tweake]

however i do more repairs than anything and 6011 comes in real handy for dealing with contaminated crap.

That kind of surprises me, I didn't think 6010/6011 was popular at all Down Under.

I was actually pretty surprised to see Coldman's comments, most folks Down Under seem to like 6013, could be your most popular rod of all down there from what I have been able to tell.

In America it seems 7018 is the rod of choice. Not exactly sure why, it can be a bit tricky to start, but mainly I guess it's because it's used on structural welding most often. I don't see too many people using 7016, although some of us use 7014 or 7024. What a difference a locale makes, heh?

cellulose rods don't seam to be all that popular. there is not many available.
but then again for a maintenance rod it seams to be popular. i guess industry uses far more rods than maintenance guys do.
one of the sales guys said he was rather sick of people asking for 6011 and 6013.
6013 is called "general purpose" as thats exactly what it gets used for.

7018 i have not run yet. one of these days.

i think the use of 7016 tends to come from japan(?). i think its due to the type of pipe they use and the applications. 7016 root, 7018 fill.

7014 is a bit of an odd one. never heard of it used locally.

thats the beauty of stick, its easy enough to have a wide selection of rods for different applications.

[Coldman]

"in euro they use it for coded pipe welding"

Which code are you referring to?

no frigen idea whatsoever.
but theres a few euro guys on IG and welding web that do some pretty decent size pipe (ie no hobby sized stuff) and its all 6013. i did even come across a 6013 pipe welding rod.

frankly i would have thought hydrogen levels would rule it out of use.

We should be careful about making code claims without backup facts. Not saying there isn't a euro code for 6013 pipe welds, I kinda think I may have seen one a while ago but can't be sure. It could also be a dirty great drain pipe or vent that has no pressure in it so could be welded with anything that you have seen on IG and WW. Maybe one of our euro or British members can clear this up for us. Many of the euro (EN) standards are re-badged British Standards. New ISO Standards are superseding some of these EN standards.

6013 rods all must conform to the 6013 standard. So any 6013 rod can be used for any 6013 purpose it's all the same. Any claim a particular 6013 rod with fancy letters after the 6013 numbers is good for a specific purpose like pipe, lamp shades, potato peelers, etc is manufacturer's marketing. Standards that I have read don't differential between manufacturer's claims, I know you have tried to argue this point in the past but that's the truth of it. Here in OZ standards have to be bought and are expensive and I've paid for plenty of them. I have to have them for my work. In New Zealand they are free issue. (I've tried in the past to sneaky sneaky procure them in NZ and ship them over but that back door seems to be locked tight.) If you are interested in reading up on real facts you should get some, there's alot of claims and bs out there and on line. If you want some guidance on which one to get let me know and I point you in the right direction.

[TraditionalToolworks]

but theres a few euro guys on IG and welding web that do some pretty decent size pipe (ie no hobby sized stuff) and its all 6013.

I've never seen anyone using 6013 for pipe, that just seems crazy to me, but I am no expert.

[TraditionalToolworks]

i think the use of 7016 tends to come from japan(?). i think its due to the type of pipe they use and the applications. 7016 root, 7018 fill.

That's interesting, I wasn't involved or did I know anyone who welded or even did metalworking when I lived in Japan, but I have a Canadian friend that lives in Japan and he does some welding. I'll ask him. I've seen a bit of welding on some of the subway work when I have visited, last year me and my son were riding the subway back to my In-Laws house and they were doing some with shields up. I'm just not really familiar with any of it over there.

I tend to like some of the Japanese woodworking tools, they do some great laminated edge tools. I have a set of Japanese chisels and picked up some gouges when I was there last year.

[Coldman]

i think the use of 7016 tends to come from japan(?). i think its due to the type of pipe they use and the applications. 7016 root, 7018 fill.

7014 is a bit of an odd one. never heard of it used locally.

Nope. Japanese pipe and applications are the same as everywhere else because standards.
7016 comes from all over, manufacturers are local, European, Korean, etc. It is the rod of choice in AS/NZS 1796 Certification of Welders. All the way. It is the most used rod for pressure (and probably) structural stick code welding in Australia (and maybe your way too).
Any stick welder going for certification or qualification is going to be using 7016 over here.

7014 is available all over the world. Now that's a useful GP rod except for vertical. LWS's keep it, big box stores and hardewares won't because they sell to the home gamer and unqualified and they don't know to ask for it so they keep 6013.

[Coldman]

One of my favourite 7016 rods is the nz manufactured rod Weldwell ph56s. They also make a really good 7018 called 77's

[tweake]

One of my favourite 7016 rods is the nz manufactured rod Weldwell ph56s. They also make a really good 7018 called 77's

thanks i shall gives those a blast sometime.

[Sergio]

With regards to what you mentioned about 1.5mm sq tube, use 1.6mm or 2.0mm E6013s and ZERO gap, and you will be able to do it.

I gave the 1.6mm E6013's a try today on the 1.5mm sq tube. Set the welder to 30amps DCEP and it worked great. I only blew through in a couple of places because I went too slow but other than that it was a great result.