From the Designers Guide to Stainless Steel Welding: Certain standards of weld metal invariably have a fully austenitic structure, for example, 310, 310Cb, 310Mo, and 330. In these, the ratio of ferrite-formers to austenite-formers cannot be raised high enough within permissible limits to produce any free ferrite in the austenite. Consequently, these weld metals must be used carefully in highly restrained joints and on base metals containing additions of alloying elements like phosphorus, sulfur, selenium or silicon — such as base metal 302B, 303, and 314.
It further states that a 312 filler should be used to avoid cracking.
Rick,
The sulphur content in the 303 results in poor weldability and reduced formability compared to the 304. The high sulphur content can cause hot cracking, so the 303 is not generally recommended for welding. But, if unavoidable and a lower strength can be tolerated, 308L or 309 electrodes can be used. For welding, no preheat or post heat is generally needed, but Post weld annealing is needed to restore corrosion resistance.
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