Welding Tips and Tricks

What are the weld characteristics of old, off color, cracked, rusty and probably damp 6011's look and act like with an inverter machine?

6011's don't need to be kept in an oven, and since they have a cellulose flux actually run better if slightly wet. Some people here report "rejuvinating" 6010 and 6011 by soaking them in the sink briefly.

Cracked and rusty is a whole different animal. I would throw the cracked and rusty rods in the scrap bin. But if they are just old, give them a rinse and motor on.

In general, 6011 should run fine on an inverter. if they are old and dry the flux might catch fire. In general 6011 is a very driving rod with deep penetration, and very little flux covering of the weld bead. They also produce a rough or irregular bead profile. They are not a smooth bead like a 6013, 7014 or 7018.

Louie1961 wrote: Some people here report "rejuvinating" 6010 and 6011 by soaking them in the sink briefly.

Is there a "best practice" way to do this? Seems like wetting the rods without saturating would be the way to go. I tried aome old 6011s a while back, and they wouldn't burn as they usually do.

A wipe with a wet rag is better than a dunk


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I went and got 5lbs of new rods, (3/32" and 1/8"), and was pleasantly surprised with the change in performance. I didn't try to wet the old ones because they had been in my garage, if you can call it that, with a big hole in the roof. Although the plastic wrap was still on, I figured they were damp because they were rusty and cracked because they had swollen. That was just a guess on my part however. I would say 10% of the rods were not cracked and or rusted but had changed to a dark color so I used those. I have been burning the new rods and they work great and even getting slag peel with the new ones. I like slag peel.

I bought old 6011 of ebay, on a fillet weld some of the rods tend to burn on one side not wanting to dig in. I thought it was due to the rod being drayed up, or some of the rods not centered in the flux.

Hjortur