[plantwelder]

Don't know why anyone thinks 6010 is stronger than 6013? Same tensile strength. A lot of coded work in Europe, not just Ireland, is done with 6013's. We don't seem to have too many boilers/pressure vessels/high pressure transmission lines blowing up over here, so 6013's can't be too bad, can they? I've been welding on construction plant and agricultural machinery, which suffers shock loading which pipelines don't generally have to deal with, as well as assorted structural and fabrication work for 35 years, and never yet seen one of my 6013 welds fail. Mind you, there are some real high quality 6013's available here, which are pretty user-friendly.

[AKweldshop]

welcome back plant welder.
As for 6013 pipe, in the US, nobody has thought of 6013 root to cap.
No schools to my knowledge teach it, and most jobs don't specify it.
I've been on this Forum for a few months, and from what I collect, 6013 is the man in your part of the world.
Most 6013 around here is cheaper grade, no zodian, vodax, or bohler rods, are those the kind of rods you guys get over there??
John

[Svetsare]

No need of a war here.
We dont use/have any other rod then 7018 around here. Maybe I could buy some 6013 on a shop here, but I dont need those sticks, here everyone says that those sticks are for farmers who use it on their antique AC machine.
DC- fills larger caps then DC+ that is only thing I am using it. When the cap is good I always use DC+ to weld it.

Im not sure how it works with you guys, becouse you dont use hand remotes around there. I havent never tested pipe welding or DC- welding without a remote.

I really shouldnt give advices here, becouse stick welding in here is so much different then it is in states..

Svetsare, not trying to start a war here or anything, honest. However, physics including electrical theory is the same here as it is on the other side of the pond. GTS (Google That Stuff) about welding polarity and penetration and you will see that what I've said is correct about AC, DC+ and DC-. MinnDave posted a chart that states the same thing I've been telling you. You will find the same info in all publications related to this subject.

Maybe DC- does fill a large gap better without making a deep keyhole or something depending on the electrode you're using, I just don't know. I'll have to experiment with that idea myself. I always use DC+ and sometimes AC. Rarely do I use DC- when mig has replaced my thin metal welding requirements.

For thin metals, DC- is the way to go for stick welding and It's best with 6013's in particular. Try it out yourself and you'll see what I'm talking about. Try a scrap piece of 10ga (3.5mm) sheet metal with a 3/32" (2.4mm) or even better, 5/64" (2.0mm) electrode using 6013. Try both DC+ and DC- polarities and I guarantee that you will find that DC- gives you more control with less (if not "any") burn-through.

I don't know how you guys do it, but I do know there is one Irishman on another welding website that welds pipe with 6013! He's posted lots of pictures of it I don't understand that, but he does it nicely too. Although I highly question the integrity and strength of that pipe weld using 6013. It would never pass any "code" requirement here in the States, but he says "they" use it routinely in Europe (or at least Ireland IIRC).

[plantwelder]

Thanks, AK, I've been lurking a bit. I wonder if we've got a bit of a reverse situation over here, in that for 6013 we can get Zodian, Bohler, Oerlikon, Esab, and they are very high quality sticks, as the Oirish fella shows on his thread on that other forum. However, we can get 7018's cheaper than the best 6013's, such as BOC or Filarc, but the quality isn't all that. If you want, say, Eutectic 7018's, they aren't widely available and are expensive. Anyway, we all work and get used to whatever we get told to use and what's available, that's the same everywhere in the world.

[noddybrian]

@plantwelder (welcome back)

Yea - most of the 7018 around is sh#te ! if it's a good price assume they could'nt sell it - it's that bad ! - always seem to come back to Esab 48.00 ( bogeytrode ) really want to try Lincoln Excaliber - but it's un-heard of here - only Lincoln 7018 available locally is called "Hyrod" & it's some of the worst I've ever used - sucks moisture out of the air within minutes & it's not great even just out of the oven - there are some strange differences in stuff either side of the pond - & we're all fixed in our ways ! - some things we do are just seen as un-American - I mean we even use mig gas that's not C25 !

[plantwelder]

The only 7018's I've laid hands on have been Phillips/Filarc, BOC and Eutectic (686?). The Eutectics were by far the easiest to use, with good restrike. I don't doubt we could get Lincolns if we were prepared to wait and pay. I just find Esab 46.00 and Zodians are so user friendly for most of my work.