Stainless stick

awheelterd

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Location
Kenly, NC
Anyone have recommendations for how to run stainless out of position? I can't get it to run up or downhill without bad porosity. It looks a little better down hill but I'm still not pleased. Been using some offbrand 1/8" rods around 90amps. Ive cut the heat back some but my vertical welds still look junky. Horizontal welds look pretty darn good for a self taught welder though.
 
The plaace I work at, all we have is stainless and a lot of monel and inconel.

Good, clean stainless and a stick, you can lay some pretty beads easy. Up hill? Sucks. Basket weave? Forget it looking pretty, at least for me at least. Can't really give you any tips on that.

We stick a good bit, but most of what we do is tig. IMO stainless does best with a tig setup. Always try and match your metals, galvanic action between dissimilar metals can make a good, solid weld go bad quick.

Edit: Also, bad stainless, won't rust/corrode like carbon, but can get weak and trashy and will start to spider web and crack out. If you have that problem, cut it out. You really need good, clean material with stainless. And don't mix brushes. Stainless brush on stainless welds. If you use carbon or a stainless brush on carbon and then on stainless, it will scratch and leave traces of the carbon in it and give you problems later on.
 
There's two good choices in rods, 308L for stainless to stainless, or a 309L for stainless to mild. Both can lay some outstanding beads. On the 3/32 rods, I like to burn at 100 amps DCEP. If they're like any other rods, I'd say they act very much like a 6013. Ground sensitive, and will part and trap slag if the ground clamp is more than a few inches away. The puddle does form very nice though, and can lay in flat with little oscillating. Horizontal and flat are the best positions from my experience, but vertical up is possible in short runs.
 
XJsavage said:
There's two good choices in rods, 308L for stainless to stainless, or a 309L for stainless to mild. Both can lay some outstanding beads. On the 3/32 rods, I like to burn at 100 amps DCEP. If they're like any other rods, I'd say they act very much like a 6013. Ground sensitive, and will part and trap slag if the ground clamp is more than a few inches away. The puddle does form very nice though, and can lay in flat with little oscillating. Horizontal and flat are the best positions from my experience, but vertical up is possible in short runs.
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I like the E316 or 316L. Never compared to a 6013 though. I always thought they felt more like a 7018 but that's just me. Personal opinions may vary lol digging your build btw @XJsavage
 
Drunktaco said:
I like the E316 or 316L. Never compared to a 6013 though. I always thought they felt more like a 7018 but that's just me. Personal opinions may vary lol digging your build btw @XJsavage
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I'll have to pick up some 316s next time. I compare the 309L to a 6013 because of how it parts like it does. Continually moving the clamp does help a lot. How does the slag look on a 316L?
 
XJsavage said:
I'll have to pick up some 316s next time. I compare the 309L to a 6013 because of how it parts like it does. Continually moving the clamp does help a lot. How does the slag look on a 316L?
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Beautiful. Lay a good bead, it'll come off in one piece every time. You can burn a rod and by the time you're done, the starting point will be curling up.
 
Drunktaco said:
Beautiful. Lay a good bead, it'll come off in one piece every time. You can burn a rod and by the time you're done, the starting point will be curling up.
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That does make me think of a 7018 then. On a 309L, it'll shoot off in tiny shard fragments and sometimes require a wire wheels for tight corners.
 
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