Some rods perform best when used downhand. Some also perform well out of position ie vertical upwards, overhead, vertical downwards, horizontal. The AWS classification (ie E6013 or E7018) doesn’t really cater for this, however, the ISO standard does. This page decodes the classification used for the more common rod types.

AWS Standard
Rods are commonly known by their AWS (American Welding Society) name, so it’s a useful standard to decode. We’ll use E7018 rods as an example:
E | Electrode E just means the electrode is for MMA welding and has a flux coating. |
70 | Tensile Strength (in ksi) The minimum tensile strength measured in kilo-pounds(force) per square inch. In our example 70ksi would be 70,000psi pounds(force) per square inch, or 480N/mm2. |
1 | Welding Positions 1All Positions 2Flat and horizontal positions |
8 | Flux Coating and Current Note the last 2 digits are used together to describe the flux coating. 0High cellulose sodium (Cellulosic)DC+ 1High cellulose potassiumAC or DC+ or DC- 2High titania sodium (Rutile)AC or DC- 3High titania potassium (Rutile)AC or DC+ 4Iron powder titania (Rutile)AC or DC- or DC+ 5Low hydrogen sodiumDC+ 6Low hydrogen potassium (Basic)AC or DC+ 7Iron powder iron oxideAC or DC+ or DC- 8Iron powder low hydrogen (Basic)AC or DC+ If the second last number (representing the welding position is 2 the classification changes a little. From the last 2 digits: 20High iron oxideAC or DC+ or DC- 22High iron oxideAC or DC- |
ISO 2560 Standard
The European coding system has recently been amended and is now an International Standard 1SO 2560 which is basically the same as EN499.
The ISO standard gives you more information especially the last two digits signifying the operation characteristics. But it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily as the AWS classification.
In the ISO standard E7018 rods are known as E46 4 B 32 H5
E | Electrode E just means the electrode is for MMA welding and has a flux coating. |
46 | Yield Strength (in N/mm2) Multiply this number by 10 for the minimum yield strength in N/mm2. In our example 46 will represent a minimum yield strength of 460N/mm2 This is not directly equivalent to the tensile strength in the AWS standard. Yield Strength is where the metal starts to deform plastically (when it doesn’t spring back to it’s original form after the load is released). Tensile Strength is when the metal breaks. Yield Strength (N/mm2) Tensile Strength (N/mm2) 35 >355 440-570 38 >380 470-600 42 >420 500-640 46 >460 530-680 50 >500 560-720 |
4 | Minimum Impact Temperature at 46J This represents the temperature at which the weld material becomes brittle. A +20°C 4-40°C O0°C 5-50°C 2-20°C 6-60°C 3-30°C Z Other So 6 represents -60 degrees C. |
Chemical Composition There is an additional field included here for some specialist rods and represents the percentage of Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Molybdenum (Mo) in the filler metal. %Mn %Ni %Mo – 2.0 – – Mo 1.4 – 0.3-0.6 MnMo > 1.4-2.0 – 0.3-0.6 1Ni 1.4 0.6-1.2 – 2Ni 1.4 1.8 -2.6 – 3Ni 1.4 > 2.6-3.8 – Mn1Ni > 1.4-2.0 0.6-0.12 – 1NiMo 1.4 0.8-1.2 0.3-0.6 Z Other 1NiMo may be used for some of the lower strength grades of Weldox. Otherwise these alloyed grades are normally used for welding mild steel that has been “improved” for applications such as offshore work. | |
B | Rod Flux Coating A Acid – A type of rutile characterised by very smooth arc but with minimal penetration and prone to moisture pick up. good on very thin sheet RC Rutile Cellulosic (E6013) – Most rutiles contain some cellulose to improve the penetration, otherwise the same as R. C Cellulosic (E6010) – An organic coating containing Cellulose with good penetration, high deposition, and easily removed slag, but high hydrogen content. RA Rutile Acid – Hybrid between Acid type and full Rutile. Rarely used, if ever. R Rutile (E6013) – In welding rod coatings it provides slag cover, arc stability (it ionizes easily) and helps the fast freeze ability of positional rods. RB Rutile Basic – Another hybrid. a rutile with better mechaicals but lose some of their ease of welding characteristic. Some of the glassy slag low hydrogen rods could be classed as RB or maybe BR. RRRutile thick coated (E7024) – Rutile rods with the addition of iron powder which increases deposition rate. Normally only used on the flat. BBasic (E7018 or E7016) – These chemically basic (alkali) coatings contain calcium carbonate or calcium fluoride. They are normally used for Low Hydrogen rods. |
3 | Current Type and Recovery ‘Recovery’ is the weight of weld metal deposited in the weld relative to the weight of the core wire. Over 100% means that the weld will weigh more than the weight of the core wire. In other words the coating contains iron powder (or in some rods other alloys). Recovery Current Type 1 AC + DC <105 2 DC Only 3 AC + DC 105-125 4 DC Only 5 AC + DC 125-160 6 DC Only 7 AC + DC >160 8 DC Only |
2 | Welding Positions 1All positions 2All positions except vertical down 3Flat. For fillet welds they can also be used in horizontal and vertical positions. 4Flat butt and fillet welds 5Vertical Down |
H5 | Hydrogen content Further information at the end (used in low Hydrogen rods) gives the Hydrogen content in ml/100g. H55ml/100g maximum H1010ml/100g maximum H1515ml/100g maximum |