6011 VS 6011... A Hobart vs Lincoln Electrode Comparison

Hey everyone!!

Hope everyone survived the black friday crowds, lol.

This is a little test that I put together here recently, I'd known since I first "really" started welding that different brands of electrodes were no doubt different... Ive seen more difference in 6013 electrodes from different brands than I've seen difference from running 6013 to 7014 before, for example.

I thought it'd be cool to mess around with, so I bought a box of Lincoln 6011 and another unopened box of Hobart 6011 and did a little redneck testing.

I honestly thought they'd be more similar, there was a HUGE difference when running them side-by-side. The Lincoln didnt run nearly as smoothly as the Hobart, but the Hobart produced more "fluid" slag over the puddle, and MUCH more of it. Some things were close, like the ease of removing slag from the finished weld, and some things were different, like the strength. There was a much bigger difference there that I ever thought there would be. I'd always assumed "6011 is 6011... It might run a little differently, but it should be just as strong as any other 6011".

Little did I know. lol.

Anyway, the video shows more. If y'all like watching this, I'll do it again with some 7014 or 6013 or 7018 or whatever...

Enjoy the video, and happy welding everyone
video1
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That strange, the video won't load for me. First time that ever happened with one of your videos.

How do you like that new welder?

I think it looks cool

Otherwise... I dont have an opinion yet lol. Its sitting on my
bench right now, I got it Wednesday, opened it thursday, and
bought a plug for it last night. Ive gotta wire it, and try it out!!
Ive never welded with an inverter before, but you think they're
pretty cool, right?

Got the video to work.
WOW, that is a huge difference between Lincoln and Hobart! Which Hobart 6011 was that? 335A?

I got to run one of those Stickweld 250s quite a few months ago. Yes it was really nice! Even did a little Tig welding with it. Turned the hot start and arc force all the way down. Very nice arc with SMAW and GTAW!

You bought another welder and plasma torch? You must be starting a collection or something. We'll have to start calling you Puddles Jr. with all the machines you're acquiring. LoL

You will like the new inverter. They are very smooth with 7018. The Lincoln 6011 looked like it dug in a little more than the Hobart on DC+. That would be consistent with the 6010 comparison between the two brands. The Hobart 6010 has a softer less forceful arc and some welders liked it better for doing root passes. Most still preferred the Lincoln and that was using the straight 5P 6010 that was the standard for decades. When the 5P+ 6010 was approved, it pretty much took over as the 6010 of choice. Slightly less digging than the 5P but much smoother arc and easier to control puddle.

Hobart's PipeMaster 60 has a slag that is really easy to remove. And not a bad running rod.
I ran some 5P-plus the other day with my V350-Pro, it ran very good too. But I always seem to go back to ESAB's 10-P.

Lanse when that member from Tractorbynet brought his Stickweld 250 over, we tried some ESAB Atom Arc 7018, it didn't seem to run as nice as Lincoln's Excalibur 7018. It's really funny to me how these inverters like, and dislike different brands of rod. :?

Lanse,I learned that Lincoln electrodes ran way different in the 1950s.You can see the difference between two brands while welding on the same joint on any job.I found Forney rods much smoother than Lincoln of the same type.

The Esab 10P+ is fairly recent and I have never
tried it. A lot of welders here don't like
Excalibur 7018. Air Liquide is usually the 7018 of
choice but I've heard they changed their recipe
and it's not quite as good as it used to be. More
problems with uneven flux or cracking in the flux.
For lower cost Esab OK 55 7018 is getting quite
popular but I think you mentioned it isn't
available in the US? I wonder if there's some type
of agreement with another company selling it under
a different brand name in the US?

Far as I know you still can not get OK 55 here in the states. I wonder if the OK 55 is the same thing as the new Acclaim? Few years ago ESAB had a promotion if you filled out a form on line they would send you a pound or two of the Acclaim to try. I did, later a girl from ESAB called and asked me several questions, when I told her I was nothing but a hobbyist her attitude changed, I never did get the rod! :roll:

A buddy of mine with a welding truck (Ranger 305G)
uses the Air Liquide for more critical work but
mostly uses the OK 55. He says it needs about 10%
more amps but welds pretty nice. The 5/32" comes
in 18" lengths instead of the more common 14".

A couple places that do metal roofing specify Air
Liquide Ultra 11 6011. They say the 6022 rod made
for burn through metal roof welding is garbage and
the AL 6011 will do a lot more welds (inches) than
other brands of 6011. They tried 6010 but didn't
like it all for their application.