Help with Stick welding Stainless uphill/Vertical

[torn7th]

I havent done much stainless stick . Mainly TIG stainless. What are some good techniques for going uphill? Ive heard stainless stick is a royal pain uphill. We have a project coming up and I can forsee us doing this. More then likely it will be with either 1/8 316 rods or 1/8 309 rods. Were adding a manway to a tank that is roughly 1/8 or so in thickness on the tank wall im not sure of the man way material thickness yet. For some reason they want stick vs MIG or TIG so here we are lol. Any help would be appreciated...Thanks gents..

[usmcruz]

Stick stainless 309 or 316 is a pain in the arse, for one reason, it doesnt like to lay flat like a 7018 weld when welding vertical using stick. Make sure you have a die grinder with a burr bit on it (single cutt burr bit works best on stainless), and grind down the hump in the middle of the weld before you run your next pass. Also when setting your heat on your machine, a 1/8 316/309 rod wont run right if you were to set it at the same heat you would run a 1/8 7018 rod. You would run the stainless steel a little colder than the 7018. Thats pretty much all I can tell you, good luck.

[SundownIII]

Definitely NOT a SS stick expert, but it seems to me this project could accomplished much better by using pulsed mig.

[snoeproe]

I have welded a bit of ss with stick. The rods I have ran were ESAB. For me I ran them very close to what I would run 6010 at for amps. Much lower than 7018. Does not weld as nice as 7018 does out of position.

[atc250r]

I find ss welds very nice. Same technique as 7018 meaning pause on the side and weave quickly across the middle. The critical thing is your amperage. 7018 will look decent across a much wider range of amps than ss will. Most people weld it way too hot, especially vert position. Also, 3/32 ss electrode is much easier to manipulate than 1/8, especially vertical. 1/8" will give you a BIG fillet weld in vert position.

[Showdog75]

I find ss welds very nice. Same technique as 7018 meaning pause on the side and weave quickly across the middle. The critical thing is your amperage. 7018 will look decent across a much wider range of amps than ss will. Most people weld it way too hot, especially vert position. Also, 3/32 ss electrode is much easier to manipulate than 1/8, especially vertical. 1/8" will give you a BIG fillet weld in vert position.

I totally agree. I weld alot of stainless all position stick and forget 1/8" on material that thin. Run 3/32" at 62-67 amps and no more. That will be plenty hot and you will know because your rod will be glowing by the time you get near the end. Don't know if your able to get the rod of your choice but I've had the best vertical stainless welds with a rod made by Filler Metals Ltd. Hope this helps.

[Wheelchair]

I totally agree. I weld alot of stainless all position stick and forget 1/8" on material that thin. Run 3/32" at 62-67 amps and no more. That will be plenty hot and you will know because your rod will be glowing by the time you get near the end. Don't know if your able to get the rod of your choice but I've had the best vertical stainless welds with a rod made by Filler Metals Ltd. Hope this helps.

Showdog has given spot on advice. I have also welded a lot of stick on stainless and his heat range and electrode size is right on target, but as Sundown stated if you have no expierience on this you would be better off to follow his advice or have someone else weld it.

Good luck,
Wheelchair

[NMWelding]

One other thing I want to add.I weld some stainless from time to time and one thing I learned that greatly improved my welds was to angle your rod slightly down instead of up when welding vertical up.Stainless doesn`t flow like 7018. And this I learned from either this forum or the AWS forum. There is a great bunch of knowledgable guys on both of these forums. As always thanks guys.

[iran8gold]

One other thing I want to add.I weld some stainless from time to time and one thing I learned that greatly improved my welds was to angle your rod slightly down instead of up when welding vertical up.Stainless doesn`t flow like 7018. And this I learned from either this forum or the AWS forum. There is a great bunch of knowledgable guys on both of these forums. As always thanks guys.

What about on the 6g position on lets say on a two inch pipe schd 80.what would you guys recommend for land&gap root pass.(still referring the ss stick rod)

[atc250r]

What about on the 6g position on lets say on a two inch pipe schd 80.what would you guys recommend for land&gap root pass.(still referring the ss stick rod)

Very difficult to open root with stainless smaw. Especially 6G. TIG is a much better (and common) choice for open root ss.