In this paper the influence of heat input and preheat temperature on the critical implant stress was analyzed for the weld metal of API 5L X80. High strength steel marked as API 5L X80 is produced with a thermo – mechanical controlled process (TMCP), its chemical composition shows low carbon content due to which the steel has good weldability, but in the weld metal zone cold cracking can occure. The goal of this paper is to define optimal work conditions in form of flux cored arc welding (FCAW) welding parameters at which no cold cracks can be found. The experiment was conducted using central composite design (CCD) and design of experiments (DoE) with two independent variables (preheat temperature and heat input). Mathematical models were developed for all three different wire types that were used (two rutile, one basic flux cored wire). The samples in this paper which had cold cracks were further analyzed on the scanning electron microscope (SEM).