Metal core wire/FabCor 86R Question

We use a metal core wire C6 as our main filler metal. The core is indeed a granulated metal. It behaves much like a hard wire except on steroids. The core doesn't provide any shielding like flux core wires. It has a bit more glass than hard wire. You normally use an argon mix and run spray arc around 27 volts. Our wire is not a positional wire... Strictly flat and horizontal. Because it is like a hard wire there is very little smoke. We are a CWB shop. Randy

Randy,

We have C6, it is our standard GMAW wire. If we run it really hot it leaves a light "glassy" slag like material behind, but usually not. I assumed it was the silica in the wire, I know we threw out some Hyundai wire a while back that must have had a really high amount of silica in it. We were getting "bubbles"(inclusion) in the welds, they were attributed to the silica. The information I found on Millers and Hobart Brothers sites

mentions using 75/25 for the shielding gas with the FabCor. They also show C6 (ER70S-6) as being a hard wire and the FabCor (E70C-6M) being a metal core/tubular wire. ???

Anywho, thanks for the input Randy, Jim

Metal cored wires caught on quickly in the Vancouver area for several reasons. One is the reduction in smoke. Another reason is that initially the Canadian Welding Bureau recognized metal cored wire as equivalent to flux core gas shielded. That meant a welder did not have to do two tests. Either process qualified the welder for the other. That has changed in the past few years and now you must test with metal cored wire separately. It is very easy for the manufacturers to change the metal deposited with metal cored wire since the critical alloying elements are in the core. They do not have to change the complete wire like they do for hard wire. Odd that Hobart uses C6 to designate solid wire. Here in Canada S6 is solid wire and C6 is metal cored wire. That article on the metal cored wire is also odd. It is damned difficult to run proper spray with only 75 percent argon. From my understanding you need at least 80 percent to get a proper spray transfer. Possibly that is why the company was running 32 volts while we run around 27 or 28 volts. Randy

Thanks for the replies Randy, and now that you mention it I may have been wrong about the C6. S6 sounds familiar, I will have to check Monday, but I seem to also remember seeing C6 on some wire. Whew, those flux core fumes must really be getting to me. LOL

Regards, Jim