6011 rod and a DC welder

• Hobby farm

Although 6011 has it's uses, it not one of my electrodes that I like to use.

6010 is a better all around choice and works well on DCEP, DCEN or AC. I use DCEN alot on welding galvanized.

I never have liked the mfg's saying 6011 is a electorde to be used where the you don't want to take the time to preclean the weld area.

I say if you want a weld to fail then don't preclean the weldment. That will just about guarntee a weld failure 99.9% of the time.

T_Bone

Ya, I know, it's just one of the little tricks that I used on welding SM using the back step method while on DCEN using Lincoln 5p (6010). I tried some Hobart 6010 one time and was not impressed with using DCEN. AC is always the last choice on 6010 but it can be done.

As long as the electrode mfg spec's the rod for DCEP/EN or AC, then AWS code doesn't have a problem with it.

Give it a try some time and see how you like it. It just might suprise you.

T_Bone

6010 and 6011 will not give you the pretty bead you'll get from 7014 or 7018, but the weld will be strong due to much deeper penetration. You do need to practice quite a bit to get a decent bead with 6010 or 6011, but once you learn to use this rod you will appreciate its versatility.

One strange characteristic of these rods is that they like to be wet and can actually get too dry. Some welders will dunk 6010 in water if they don't like the way it's behaving.