Welding Rod Electrode Selection Chart

An electrode or a welding rod is a wire which is made up of wire and is coated. The electrode is made up of materials which are similar to that of the metals chosen to be welded. Among all the other types of welding, the stick electrode welding is considered to be portable, simple and reliable.

The electrode requires selecting the perfect one in order to facilitate easy clean up, weld strength, bead quality, and for minimizing the spatter.

Selection chart

The electrodes are represented with numbers that differentiate the different types of electrodes. The first digit of the representation is usually E and it denotes the word electrode except for the TIG electrode which is represented with ER. It is followed by a four-digit number in which, the first two digits represents the tensile strength of the electrode, followed by the last two digits which indicate the polarity and position along with the type of flux.

We have featured this article with the various types of electrodes available widely in order to make your selection easy.

Mild stick steel electrodes

The various types of mild stick steel electrodes include,

E6011

This can be used with AC and DC currents. It is considered suitable to use for the steels that are unclean and is useful for making tack welds. It offers great arc stability and is best to be used for AC pipe welding that requires deep penetration and X-ray quality welds. The electrode shows good performance with low open circuit welders.

E6022

This electrode can be used with AC and DC- currents. It is made for roof decking and other applications which require burning through spot welding. It is the best suit to weld galvanized metal.

E6027

It can be used with AC and DC currents and the metals that require X-Ray quality welds, high deposition rates. It is made for multiple pass welds and fast fill single pass welds.

E7024

It can be used in both AC and DC currents with the metals that require large welds. It is commonly used for single or multi-pass welds.

E6012

It can be used in AC and DC- currents to suit poor fill up welding jobs.

E6013

It can be used in both AC and DC currents. It is best to be used with small AC welders with low open circuit voltages. It suits for welding short welds.

E7014

It is an all position electrode and is used with both AC and DC currents. It features high deposition rates. It is suitable for welding sheet metal lap joints and fillet welds.

E7018

They can be used in both AC and DC+ currents. It is available in different types namely E7018 H4R, E7018-1 H4R, E7018-A1 H4R, and E7018 H8.

Low alloy steel stick electrodes

The various types of low alloy steel stick electrodes include,

E8018

These electrodes can be used in AC and DC+ currents. It is available as E8018-B2 H4R, E8018-C1 H4R, and E8018-C3 H4R.

E9018

These electrodes can be used in AC and DC+ currents. They are available as E9018-G H4R, E9018-B3 H4R; E9018-M H4R (can be used in DC+ currents only).

E11018M-H4R

These electrodes are suitable for using in DC+ currents. It is an all position welding rod and is best for vertical down welds.

Mild steel and low alloy steel stick electrodes

The mild steel and low alloy steel stick electrodes include the following varieties

E6010

This electrode can be used with DC+ currents. It is suitable for welding steels in vertical or overhead applications. They give excellent performance when used in plant-pipe welding.

E7010

This electrode is suitable for DC+ currents. It is available as E7010-A1 and E7010-G.It is an all position electrode suitable for pipe welding.

E8010-G 

It is used only in DC+ currents. It is designed for all passes of API 5LX-52 through X-70 grade pipe.

E9010-G 

It can be used with DC+ currents. It is suitable for vertical down welding and to weld dirty steels.

The electrodes with the prefix followed by the number indicate the case of nonferrous filler metals. The prefix alphabet indicates the chemical symbol of the principal metals in the wire.