FCAW · Carbon steel

E71T-GS

The gasless wire that ships with small hobby machines, made for single-pass welds on thin steel where no code requirement or multipass buildup is involved.

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.

EElectrode carrying the welding current.
770,000 psi minimum tensile strength of the weld metal.
1All position capability.
TTubular flux cored construction.
-GA general classification, meaning the detailed requirements are not fixed by the classification and are agreed between supplier and purchaser.
SSingle-pass use only, so the wire is not classified for multipass welds.

At a glance

Process: FCAW
Family: Carbon steel
Positions: All positions
Polarity: DCEN
Shielding: None required; the flux core provides its own shielding
Minimum tensile: 70ksi

Typical uses

Single-pass welds on thin steel with small portable machines
Light repair work, brackets, and garden or shop projects
Outdoor tacking where a gas shield would be blown away

How it runs

Runs at low current on small single phase machines
Classified for single-pass work only, so it is unsuitable for multipass joints
Properties are not fully fixed by the classification, so products vary
Noticeable spatter and smoke compared with a gas shielded wire

Storage and handling

Keep the spool bagged with desiccant between uses; small gasless spools sitting open in a damp garage will spit and cause porosity.

Compare with

FCAWE71T-11A general purpose gasless wire with a smooth spray-type arc, common on small machines and light fabrication where no impact toughness requirement applies.FCAWE71T-8A self-shielded flux cored wire that needs no gas bottle, combining all position capability with the low temperature impact toughness structural codes ask for.FCAWE71T-1The dominant gas shielded flux cored wire for structural work, giving high deposition with a fast freezing slag that holds the puddle for vertical up welding.