6013 vs 7014 vs 7018

[gsganzer]

3/32" and 1/8" E6011 DCEP work for almost everything I weld. I weld a lot of stuff with 14ga square tube and the 3/32" rod works well for that, typically set between 57 and 65 amps. When I'm positioning and tacking things together, I'll bump the amps up to 70 or more to minimize the rod sticking and make a nice flat tack.

When I weld 2 3/8" fencing, I use the the 1/8" at about 95- 105 amps.

 

[rangerfredbob]

If I could only have one welding rod it would be 6011, it isn't pretty but it is dang versatile... Being that I have a DC welder and if I had 2 rods on hand it would be 6011 and 7018. I'm not as careful with storage of my 7018 as I should be but they're Excaliber and weld nice and aren't growing powder or rusting...

I've never used 6010 but it's supposed to be the DC version of 6011 (6011 works just fine on DC), 6013 is about as easy as 7018 to be pretty but I don't think it penetrates as well? I don't remember...

 

[GeneV]

I have about 250 lbs of welding rods that I got from the end of a project that I am wondering how useful they may be for my small scale farm shop. They are E6010, E6011, E6013 and M7018. What are the most useful rods for my purpose?

If you have an ac only welder, you can't use the 6010. 6011 is same as 6010, but can be used with both an ac and dc machine. The rod is great coz it will burn through rust, dirt, paint, whatever. If you need to weld something pronto w/o a bunch of prep work, that's the rod you want. Quick and dirty.

7018 is finicky in terms of storage...if you see that the flux is brittle and cracking off, the rod is no good. I prefer the 6013, less worries about storage.