A Guide to Welding Electrodes on Ships Electrode Selection and Current

Setting

A ships engine room has machines, structural members, pipes etc. composed of
different kind of metals and alloys. A second engineer should be able to guide the
ships welder in identifying the metal of the machine or structural member that is to
be repaired and suggest suitable electrode for welding the same.

Electrodes have identification numbers like E6013 and sometimes color coding
which are difficult to understand. Normally branded electrode from well known
companies can be identified as there is a product guide on board. However often
we discover electrodes packets in the store in unknown language and only the
number is comprehendible.

This article endeavors to help the marine engineers to recognize commonly used
electrodes in engine room for Manual Metal Arc Welding.

Commonly Used Welding Electrodes in Ships Engine Room

Every engine room has a

collection of welding electrodes in the engine store. Generally there are general
purpose electrodes in bulk and few kilograms of special electrodes like Low
Hydrogen electrodes and Cast Iron electrodes etc. Recognizing a few electrodes
and their applications can make life easier for the second engineer. The commonly
use electrodes in engine room are as follows:
E6011: All position welding electrode that can be used with both AC and DC. It is
useful for pipe welding. It produces a deep penetration weld and can weld over
rust, dirt and paint also. It is also suitable for x-ray quality welding. It is a general
purpose electrode for ship building. As it has fast freezing or rapid freezing of weld
metal, it is also suitable for vertical and overhead welding.

Important Characteristics : Pipe welding, vertical and overhead, rust and

paint tolerant, deep penetration.

E6013: It is a general purpose electrode which can be used with both AC and DC
currents and produces a medium penetrating weld with a superior weld bead
appearance. It is suitable for welding medium gauge steel and sheet metal jobs. It
is also especially useful where there is poor fitting and wide gaps exist in the job
piece.

Important Characteristics : General purpose, poor fitting, medium

penetration.

E7014: It is a general purpose electrode and is used where a higher efficiency

than E6013 is required. It can be used with both AC and DC current. It has light to
medium penetration. It is designed to give high deposit rates and is suitable for
higher speeds.

Important Characteristics : High deposition, high speed, general purpose,

light to medium penetration.

E7018: it is a low hydrogen electrode which can be used both with AC and DC. The
flux coating of this electrode has low hydrogen content which reduces the amount
of hydrogen going into the weld. The electrode is capable of producing x ray quality
welds in hands of a good welder. It had a medium penetration. It is used for
welding carbon steels, low alloy steels and free machining steels. Its other uses
are cold rolled steels as in heavy machines, fired and unfired pressure vessels like
air bottles and boiler tubes, cast steel and any application in ship building that
needs to be subjected to x ray welding. It is used where high strength welding
requirements exist.

Important Characteristics : High strength, low hydrogen, medium penetration.

Use of Low Hydrogen Electrodes

Low hydrogen electrodes are those that have a low concentration of hydrogen in
the flux coating. This ensures that hydrogen does

not get into the weld of the

metal during welding. They are useful for metals and alloys that are susceptible to
hydrogen induced cracking or cold cracks. LH electrodes can be used for welding
unalloyed, low alloy and yield point controlled steel. Yield point controlled steel is
ship steel which is used in deck plates, hull plates and frames.

Hydrogen is a concern because it results in heat affected zone cracking. Hydrogen

in combination with high residual stresses and crack sensitive steel may result in
cracks after the welding. As high strength steels and restrained parts are more
susceptible to hydrogen cracking they must be welded by low hydrogen electrodes.
Selection of Correct Size of Electrode

On board ships we generally use electrodes of 2.5 mm and 3.2 mm and sometimes
4 mm. However commonly available electrode sizes are 2.0 mm, 2.5 mm, 3.2 mm,
4.0 mm and 5.0 mm. For special applications we have different size electrodes
also. Some manufacturers use slightly different sizes like 3.15 mm for 3.2mm and
2.4 mm for 2.5 mm etc.

Generally the size of the electrode that should be used depends on the thickness of
the part to be welded. For thin metals the electrode is only slightly larger than the
metal to be welded. For example if a plate is of 2.0 mm thick the electrode of 2.5
mm should be used.

The table below shows the recommended electrode sizes for various thickness of
the job piece.
Current Setting

Current setting also depends upon the size of the electrode and the metal/alloy
being welded. Normally the manufacturers specify the current range that must be
maintained. In over head welding the current setting is slightly less than that for flat
welding.

In arc welding correct current selection is very important. If the current is set too low
than there is difficulty in starting the arc and the arc will not be stable. In addition
there is a tendency for the electrode to stick to the work piece and the penetration
is poor.

If the current is set too high then the electrode may overheat, there is excessive
splatter and undercutting and burning of the material may take place.

Optimum current is between the current ranges specified for the electrode by the
manufacturer. The optimum current is one in which there is no overheating of the
electrode, no burning of the work and no undercutting of the job piece.

The table below gives the recommended for E6013 electrodes based on the sizes.
The range may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and for different
specification of electrode and is for general guidance.
In next article we discuss about the classification and nomenclature of welding
electrodes.

Reference:

Bohler Welding Guide: 2008

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/electrode-classification.htm

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wiki/Electrode_Reference_Chart
 http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/weldrod.html

UNITOR HANDBOOK FOR MARITIME WELDERS

http://www.esabna.com/euweb/oxy_handbook/589oxy24_4.htm

BOC: FUNDAMENTALS OF MANUAL METAL ARC WELDING