FCAW electrode for dirty steel?

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I have been welding for a living for 17 years but I'm a FCAW novice.Lately I've been running NR 211 for a lot of my general fabrication and light structural jobs. It saves me plenty of time compared to stick but seems to be very sensitive to any surface contaminants. I always clean the material as much as possible, but it seems even the tiniest piece of rust or dirt will cause porosity. In my experience technique is usually to blame for weld faults but I wanted to check if NR211 is known as a bad wire for dirty work? If so can anyone recommend a general purpose self-shielded wire better suited to jobs where clean up is difficult? Or please give some technique advice?Thanks
Reply:I’ve been pleased with Hobart Fabshield 21B [E71T-11], easy to remove slag. You may need to experiment with various brands.
Reply:Stamp, you might want to cantact either Lincoln or Hobart (talk to Ivan) and explain all you will be welding. I did and he recommended Hobart FABSHIELD XLR-8. I told him steel between 3/16" and 5/8" but sometimes 1/8" to 1". Also, I said it might have traces of  rust, paint, oil....... less than clean. I told him I like how a 6010 burns thru everything.Lincoln recommended, after critisizing my Miller equipment, their NR203NI. I never ran flux core. I know a guy with two LN25's, and he said I can borrow one to try the Hobart wire. If I like it, then I will buy a flux core gun for my suitcase feeder."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Hello stamp, the others have given some good information, also keep in mind that gasless flux-cored wires are susceptible to moisture pickup if they aren't stored properly, this can be worse if you live in a humid area or you only occassionally use this piece of equipment and leave the spool of wire on it. In some cases there are recommendations to remove the spools daily if they aren't being used 24/7 and keep them in a heated storage. That is the extreme, yet, and particularly if you are only occassionally using this on your equipment, you might consider removing it and putting it back into the plastic bag that it comes in and use the tie or rubber band that came on it to reclose it before you store it away. You mentioned using NR211, that is a great general purpose wire, yet it has some bead thickness limitations and if you exceed those parameters you can end up with bead cracking issues. Whichever wire you end up using be sure to check all of the specifics and limitations that apply to it's use and application, they are readily spelled out in the manufacturers descriptions. A bit more for your consideration. Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:I sorta got a bad rep for welding on rusty stuffFlux core run hot will do just fine.  Don't care what the prefectionists say.  If it starts stubbing, or the weld looks cold or messy, turn up the heat.If the puddle looks good, it's pretty generally a good weld, and you won't see crap in it.Look at some of the garbage I put up here, and you don't see pristine joint prep, but the stuff still turns out pretty good.  X-Ray quality..........probably not, but in 20 yrs, who caresRusty metal, oily metal..........If you run hot enough the slag from the flux carries the impurities to the top of the bead.  It's the stuff you wire brush off or chip off.Porosity can sometimes be attributed to too much stickout.  Keep the stickout to a minimum and the weld stays hot.  It's one of the drawbacks to wire welding, insufficient heat due to the small electrode.  Tight and close wins the day.It's a free opinion, and worth what ya payed for it"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:ok, thanks for the advice. i plan to experiment with a few different wires, but it gets costly and I don't want to waste a customer's time or money while I play around with settings.I have a roll of 211 (1.7mm) in the feeder, an unopened roll of 212 (1.7mm), an open roll of 233 (1.6mm) and an open roll of fabshield 21B (1.2mm). That should give me enough to work with for the time being.my favourite to use so far is the 233- it lays down a beautiful weld, but it smokes a lot and the slag is thick and hard to take off. and its damn expensive
Reply:That's really odd 211 is my GO TO in a pinch wire for welding dirty and corroded metals.   I usually run it in my LN-25 and run the 0.068 Diameter wire and don't use it if im doing multiple passes or anything over 3/8" thick.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Thats a good topic STAMP.    I've kinda wondered the same thing.     You'd think there would be some that welded like 6010.     And if there was, youd think it would be a reverse polarity thing for the sake of penetration.   Well being your willing to use 233, I'd confidently say 232 has a lil more pen. than 233.
Reply:Originally Posted by DualieThat's really odd 211 is my GO TO in a pinch wire for welding dirty and corroded metals.   I usually run it in my LN-25 and run the 0.068 Diameter wire and don't use it if im doing multiple passes or anything over 3/8" thick.