PSA: Choosing a 6010 rod over 7018 on that vertical weld cost me 2 hours of grinding

I had to make a call last week on a boiler patch job in Gary. My foreman said grab 7018 for the root pass but I figured 6010 would be faster on the vertical up. Big mistake. The slag just wouldn't clean out and I ended up with porosity in three spots. Took me almost 2 hours of grinding and re-welding to fix it. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has had luck running 6010 on thin boiler shell or is that just asking for trouble?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_zara4d ago

Hold up, you ran 6010 on a boiler shell? Thats wild lol. 6010 digs like crazy and on thin material you're basically asking for burn through and slag traps. Gotta stick with 7018 for that stuff or youre gonna be grinding forever.

kaiharris3d agoTop Commenter

Man that's exactly the kind of thing I see everywhere now. People grab the wrong tool for the job because they saw someone online do it once and think it's fine. It's like watching someone use a sledgehammer to hang a picture frame, yeah it works but you're gonna wreck the wall and spend twice as long cleaning up. That 6010 on thin boiler shell is the same energy. Everyone's in such a hurry they skip the basics then wonder why their work looks like crap.