Stainless Steel Welding Rod Chart: 308L, 309L, 316L

Stainless steel welding rod chart

The filler for each pair of base metals, written as the stick rod, TIG rod, MIG wire and flux-cored wire to ask for. It is compiled from Lincoln Electric’s filler metal tables and Hobart’s dissimilar welding chart. Galvanized steel counts as mild steel once the zinc is off.

Reading the names

• L means low carbon: at most 0.04% in an E309L-⁠16 rod, against 0.15% in a plain E309-⁠16 (the AWS limits on Lincoln’s data sheet). Less carbon means fewer chromium carbides forming beside the weld, and those are what let a stainless weld zone corrode. Many rods carry both names, such as E308/E308L.
• The number after the dash on a stick rod is the coating: -15 is lime, for DC only and the pick for vertical and overhead; -16 is titania, for AC or DC; -17 is silica-titania, for AC or DC, mainly flat and horizontal (Lincoln). The chart shows -16 because it runs on AC or DC; the other coatings of the same alloy join the same metals.
• ER308LSi, ER309LSi and ER316LSi have extra silicon, which makes the puddle more fluid and helps it wet out in MIG (Hobart).
• In a flux-cored name such as E309LT1-⁠1, the last digit is the gas: -1 for CO2 and -4 for 75% argon, 25% CO2; T0-3 wires are self-shielded (Lincoln). “TX-X” in this chart stands for those digits: read the spool label.
• Hobart names 312 as the other leading filler for dissimilar joints. It has more ferrite than 309L (over 25 FN against perhaps 7–⁠12), which makes it more crack-resistant, but Hobart says to avoid it where the part runs above 800°F (427°C).

Not sure which lead is DCEP? See the welding polarity chart. Mild steel rod numbers such as E6013 and E7018 are decoded in the welding rod chart.

Fume: welding stainless gives off hexavalent chromium, which OSHA says causes cancer. OSHA’s limit is 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over 8 hours (29 CFR 1910.1026). Lincoln’s data sheets call for special ventilation or local exhaust with these rods: keep your head out of the fume, and wear an approved respirator where exhaust can’t keep the air clean.

This chart is for general repair and fabrication. Pressure parts, food-contact work, code work, and duplex, cast or precipitation-hardening stainless need a written welding procedure. Hobart says the same of its own chart: use it as a reference and let the job decide the alloy. Where this chart and your filler maker’s data sheet differ, the data sheet wins.

Print it for the shop

One page, US Letter (it also prints on A4): the filler for every pair of stainless grades and for stainless to mild steel, the stick rod, TIG rod, MIG wire and flux-cored wire to ask for, and stick amps by maker. Free, no sign-up.

Download the printable PDF (137 KB) Open it as an image

Stick amps for stainless rods, by maker

Stainless needs less current than mild steel, because it holds the heat in the joint instead of carrying it away (Lincoln, Hobart). Each row below is one maker’s own figures. They differ, so the data sheet for the rod in your hand wins.

• Lincoln’s guide: for flat welding, aim about 10% under the top of the range. A -16 rod on AC wants about 10% more, and vertical or overhead work takes a 5/32 in rod or smaller.
• ESAB’s vertical figures run lower than its flat ones: 55–⁠70 A for a 1/8 in rod.

These rows are stainless rods only. The shop amperage chart in our guide to why welding rods stick covers mild steel rods, E6010 to E7024, and has no stainless rows. For those rods, use the stick welding amperage chart.

Before you weld stainless

• Clean first. Grind coatings and mill scale back at least 1/2 in (13 mm) on each side of the joint, then wipe it with a solvent such as acetone (Hobart).
• Keep stainless tools for stainless. Lincoln: use stainless steel wire brushes that have only been used on stainless, and no brush or tool that has touched galvanized steel. Zinc and copper contamination both cause cracking.
• Plan for movement. Austenitic stainless (the 300 series) expands about 50% more than carbon steel as it heats (Lincoln, Hobart), so it warps more. Tack it, clamp it, run stringer beads, and keep any weave under 2-1/2 times the rod diameter.
• Fill every crater before you break the arc, so it does not crack (Lincoln).
• A little ferrite in the weld is what stops hot cracking: Lincoln’s guide recommends at least 4 FN. 309L starts with more (9 FN on ESAB’s rod data sheet, 8–⁠14 on Hobart’s wire), and Hobart ties that ferrite to crack resistance in mixed joints.
• Keep rods dry. Lincoln treats stainless rods like low-hydrogen rods: once the can is open, hold them at 200–⁠300°F (93–⁠149°C), and re-dry damp rods at the maker’s temperature, usually 500–⁠600°F (260–⁠316°C) for 1 hour. Mild steel rods are in the welding rod oven temperature chart.

Quick answers

• Filler by base metal: Lincoln Electric, “Stainless Steels Welding Guide” (publication C6.4000), its filler metal tables for austenitic, ferritic and martensitic stainless, after AWS A5.4, A5.9 and A5.22; Hobart Brothers, “Stainless Steel Technical Welding Guide” (rev. 03/21), its dissimilar welding chart and its table for wrought stainless steels.
• Stainless to mild steel: the Lincoln Excalibur 309/309L-16 and ESAB Arcaloy 309L-16 data sheets, Hobart’s stainless filler metals brochure and its article on how to weld stainless steel, and ASSDA Technical FAQ 9, which cites the Australian standard AS/NZS 1554.6.
• Stick amps: each row is the maker’s own document, named in the row. Hobart’s guide has a second column, for its “Sterling” (-17) rods; it is left out because it does not agree with the guide’s own text on -17 rods.
• Gas, back purging, heat and cleaning: Lincoln’s guide, Hobart’s guide and article, Hobart’s 309/309L wire data sheet and TWI Job Knowledge 104.
• Fume: OSHA’s hexavalent chromium page and 29 CFR 1910.1026.