GMAW · Carbon steel
ER70S-6
The most widely used carbon steel wire feed consumable, with enough silicon and manganese to weld through light rust and scale while wetting out into a flat bead.
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.
- ERClassified as both an electrode and a filler rod.
- 7070,000 psi minimum tensile strength of the weld metal.
- SSolid wire.
- -6The chemistry class carrying the highest silicon and manganese of the common carbon steel wires, giving the strongest deoxidising action.
At a glance
- Process
- GMAW
- Family
- Carbon steel
- Positions
- All positions with short circuit or pulsed transfer; axial spray is limited to flat and horizontal fillets
- Polarity
- DCEP
- Shielding
- 75 to 90 percent argon with the balance carbon dioxide for spray and pulsed work, or 100 percent carbon dioxide for short circuit
- Minimum tensile
- 70ksi
Typical uses
- General shop and structural fabrication on carbon steel
- Automotive, trailer, and equipment repair welding
- Production fillet welds where good wetting and bead appearance matter
How it runs
- High deoxidiser content copes with light rust, scale, and residual oil
- Excellent wetting, giving flat beads with well blended toes
- Leaves silicon islands on the bead face that must be removed before painting or a further pass
- Stable arc across short circuit, globular, spray, and pulsed transfer
Storage and handling
Store spools sealed with desiccant in a warm, dry area, and bag partly used spools; a rusty wire feeds badly and puts porosity in the weld.
Compare with
GMAWER70S-3The middle of the road carbon steel wire, deoxidised enough for clean plate and light scale but leaner than the high silicon wire that dominates general fabrication.GMAWER70S-2The most heavily deoxidised of the common carbon steel wires, which is why it tolerates rust and mill scale and is the standard pick for open root passes.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.