SMAW · Stainless steel
E309L-16
The go-to rod for joining stainless to carbon steel, because its extra chromium and nickel keep the diluted deposit austenitic instead of hard and crack prone.
What the designation means
Point at any character to see what it claims. The classification is a sentence written in fields, not a product name.
- ECovered electrode for shielded metal arc welding.
- 309A richer austenitic deposit in the nominal 23 chromium, 13 nickel class, carrying enough alloy to survive dilution by carbon steel.
- LControlled low carbon content for improved resistance to intergranular corrosion.
- -16Titania bearing covering, usable on alternating current or direct current electrode positive.
At a glance
- Process
- SMAW
- Family
- Stainless steel
- Positions
- All positions
- Polarity
- DCEP, or AC
- Shielding
- Self-shielded by the covering
- Minimum tensile
- 75ksi
Typical uses
- Dissimilar joints between austenitic stainless and carbon or low alloy steel
- Buttering layers before a stainless overlay or a stainless weld
- Repairs on clad plate and on unknown stainless base metals
How it runs
- Higher alloy content tolerates heavy dilution from carbon steel
- Sluggish, controllable puddle typical of stainless coverings
- Dense slag that must be cleaned completely between passes
- Deposit is more highly alloyed and slightly more ferritic than a matching 308 rod
Storage and handling
Store sealed, warm, and dry. Moisture in stainless coverings shows up immediately as arc instability and porosity.
Compare with
SMAWE308L-16The default stainless rod for welding the common 18-8 grades, giving a low carbon austenitic deposit with enough ferrite to resist hot cracking.SMAWE310-16A high chromium, high nickel rod for furnace and heat treatment hardware, where the deposit must resist scaling at temperatures that would ruin ordinary stainless.SMAWE316L-16The molybdenum-bearing stainless rod chosen when the service environment contains chlorides or acids that would pit an ordinary 18-8 deposit.