Welding with Greggs: Stick AWS Classes

In the last blog we learned about the basics of the primary welding processes, and now, we are going to breakdown the AWS Classes for Stick welding, and learn which product is right for the job.

Understand Welding Stick Codes

"Welding Stick Codes" refers to welding applications that must adhere to specific industry standards and codes. Here are some examples:

E7018

For our first stick code, we will use “E7018” . Let’s break it down to (E-70-1-8);

Welding with Greggs: Stick AWS Classes | Gear Up With Gregg's Blog

E - The “E” stands for Electrode. Pretty self-explanatory as this is a Stick Electrode
70 - The two or three digits following “E”, in this case “70”, represents the tensile strength in Kilopounds Per Square Inch, or ksi. So “70” translates to 70,000 pounds per square inch. If the product says 100? 100,000 pounds per square inch!
1 - The next number states the positions that the product can be welded in as there are 4 “positions”. When it comes to welding; Flat, Horizontal, Vertical, and Overhead. This number will either be a “1” or a “2”. “1”, like in our example, means that you can weld in all positions, whereas “2” means that you can only weld in the Flat and Horizontal positions. The reason for this is that not all metals cool fast enough and can drip onto you in the process. Yowza!!
8 - The final number tells you the type of coating the electrode has, along with the welding current that’s needed, either AC, DC Electrode Positive (DCEP) or DC Electrode Negative (DCEN) and will be represented by either a 0,1,2,3,4 or in our example an 8. And thanks to the code breakdowns we can see that an 8 means it has a Low Hydrogen Iron Powder coating and can be used with either AC or DCEP.

Special Condition Stick Codes

Many electrodes will only use these 4 designators, such as E6010, but some products can be manufactured for special conditions, which will be stated after the base code;

E7024-1 - A “1” will be found after a hyphen, if the electrode has been built to have a higher impact rating at low tempuratures.
After a hyphen, you may see a letter, usually accompanied by a number, indicating the composition of the weld metal produced by the electrode. For example, if there’s a P followed by a number, then the weld metal is classified as “Pipeline”.
E7018 H4 - Next, you may see an “H” followed by a number. This states the hydrogen content of the electrode. So, if the electrode says H4, there is less than 4ml of hydrogen per 100g of material.
E6010 R - Finally, an “R” at the end means that the electrode meets low hydrogen requirements, so it’s not as quick to absorb hydrogen, or moisture, from the atmosphere when left out in the open.

So, now that we know what makes up a stick electrode AWS class, let’s read a few to test our new knowledge!

E7018 H8

E - It starts with an “E”, so we know this is an electrode.
70 - The “70” tells us that this product has a 70ksi tensile strength.
1 - The “Position Designator” is a “1”, so we know that it can weld in all positions.
8 - The Coating and Power Designator is an “8” so, using the lookup chart, we know that this has a low hydrogen iron powder coating, and can be run on AC power or DC-Electrode Positive power.
H8 - Finally, H8 tells us that the hydrogen content is less than 8ml per 100g.

Perfect! Let’s keep going!

E8010-G

It’s an Electrode, has 80ksi tensile strength, welds in all positions, has a cellulose sodium coating, can only weld with DC-Electrode Positive power, and the weld metal will be a General Low-Alloy Steel composition.

E11018MH4R

Finally, E11018MH4R. It’s an Electrode, has 110ksi tensile strength, can weld in all positions, has a low hydrogen iron powder coating, can weld with AC or DCEP power, the weld metal will meet most military specs, has less than 4ml of hydrogen per 100g, and meets low hydrogen requirements.

Awesome, now we are pros at reading Welding Stick codes! Don’t worry, if you need more help with finding out what electrode is needed for your specific job, give us a call, or come on down to one of our western Canadian locations, and we’ll be more than happy to help set you up.

On the next blog we will cover the breakdowns of both GMAW and GTAW classes. If you have any further questions, visit our website at greggdistributors.ca. And while you’re still here why not subscribe to our YouTube channel! Have a great Canadian Day!