Tig welding tips, questions, equipment, applications, instructions, techniques, tig welding machines, troubleshooting tig welding process
TamJeff
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Nice work on the transmission too. Nothing wrong with those welds. It isn't like you can just go from one end of a joint to the other with predictable travel etc. I have welded a lot of cast. The only way welds really come out any neater is if it's something superficial just to stop a leak or something like that. Broken items take a lot more focus on the mechanical function of the weld over the aesthetics anyway, and that looks great for what had to happen there. It would have taken a second pass, and nobody welding cast wants to heat it up more than necessary or more than one time if they can help it.
Miller ABP 330, Syncrowave 250, Dynasty 300 DX.
Honorary member of the Fraternity of Faded Tee Shirts.
Alexa
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Awill4wd.

Concerning the Bugatti gearbox, I am assuming it was cracked in all the areas that you welded.

Why did you choose a large gap to weld?
Was sequence of which gaps to weld first, a factor?
Was the direction of welding for each gap a consideration?

I enjoyed your contribution.
Tanks.

Alexa
awill4wd
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Alexa wrote:Awill4wd.
Concerning the Bugatti gearbox, I am assuming it was cracked in all the areas that you welded.
Why did you choose a large gap to weld?
Was sequence of which gaps to weld first, a factor?
Was the direction of welding for each gap a consideration?
I enjoyed your contribution.
Tanks.

Alexa
Alexa, I had no input into the size of the "cracks", this was done by our customer prior to him delivering it to our factory.
I wish I had some input as I could have advised him not to make the cutouts as large as they actually finished up.
I chose to weld at the end of the gearbox as the cracks there were smaller and I wanted to keep everything around the shaft bores are rigid as possible.
For the large cracks I spread the welding around going from crack to crack and trying to keep the heat as even as possible throughout the casing.
Regards Andrew from Oz.
We are Tig welders, gravity doesn't worry us.
Miller Dynasty 350
OTC hybrid wave 300 amp inverter Tig at work (Now retired)
Kemppi MLS 2300 inverter, 230 amps of welding brilliance for home use
AKmud
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Finished a truck ladder/canoe rack for a customer today -

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Alexa
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Awill42d.

When you deposited weld metal for the large 'cracks', did you butter (build of the sides of the joint) before welding the center of the joint?

Tanks for your patience.
Alexa
awill4wd
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Alexa wrote:Awill42d.
When you deposited weld metal for the large 'cracks', did you butter (build of the sides of the joint) before welding the center of the joint?
Tanks for your patience.
Alexa
No Alexa, I filled the large cracks with 6mm diameter rods bent to shape and tacked either side of the rod on the outside of the casing.
I then used a die grinder to cut a groove on one side of the rod and welded that side and then did the same to one of the other cracks.
I then returned to the 1st crack and grooved out the other side of the rod and welded that side until all the cracks were close to filled and I then capped the weld area to tie it all together.
I was very careful to ensure good penetration and try to control the heat so the casing was evenly heated while welding.
I did consider buttering either side but decided to use rod to fill the cracks instead.
Regards Andrew.
We are Tig welders, gravity doesn't worry us.
Miller Dynasty 350
OTC hybrid wave 300 amp inverter Tig at work (Now retired)
Kemppi MLS 2300 inverter, 230 amps of welding brilliance for home use
Alexa
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Awill4wd.

Tanks.
I enjoyed your reading your procedure.

Alexa
Nils
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AKmud, nice rack! Curious, do those extensions, protruding out from under the shell, create a gap along the bed rail, or is there a plate there as well?

Thanks,
Nils
Everlast PowerTig 250EX, PowerTig 185 Micro, PowerArc 160STH, Miller Trailblazer 301G, Millermatic 140 Auto-Set
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Great work pictures buddy and a interesting thread Spokesy :)

Great to find another Kemppi fan :D
Have you awill4wd liked MINILOG-function?
-Markus-
AKmud
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Nils wrote:AKmud, nice rack! Curious, do those extensions, protruding out from under the shell, create a gap along the bed rail, or is there a plate there as well?

Thanks,
Nils
The owner routed out some 1" trex material (full bed rail length) around the plate and mounting bolts to have a smooth surface to mate to. Worked out pretty slick. He will have to adjust the rubber flap on the back window to shut tight though.
awill4wd
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Markus wrote:Great work pictures buddy and a interesting thread Spokesy :)

Great to find another Kemppi fan :D
Have you awill4wd liked MINILOG-function?
MarKus, I use MiniLog as my default setting and use it all the time.
It was worth buying the MLS 2300 just to get the MiniLog function. :D
I refuse to pay Kemppi's inflated price on their foot pedal which I like also as my friend where I work after hours has the foot pedal arrangement on his MLS 2300.
Regards Andrew from Oz.
We are Tig welders, gravity doesn't worry us.
Miller Dynasty 350
OTC hybrid wave 300 amp inverter Tig at work (Now retired)
Kemppi MLS 2300 inverter, 230 amps of welding brilliance for home use
SPOKESY
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awill4wd wrote:
Markus wrote:Great work pictures buddy and a interesting thread Spokesy :)

Great to find another Kemppi fan :D
Have you awill4wd liked MINILOG-function?
MarKus, I use MiniLog as my default setting and use it all the time.
It was worth buying the MLS 2300 just to get the MiniLog function. :D
I refuse to pay Kemppi's inflated price on their foot pedal which I like also as my friend where I work after hours has the foot pedal arrangement on his MLS 2300.
Regards Andrew from Oz.
Any TIG Welder work in Oz mate :D ?
awill4wd
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SPOKESY wrote: Any TIG Welder work in Oz mate :D ?
Like most countries worldwide there's been a slowing down in employment.
We here certainly haven't been hit as hard as the USA and Europe but over the last 18 months or so there's been a noticeable decrease in the jobs advertised.
I work in a 2 person shop and we tend to complement each other, the boss looks after the sprintcar chassis repair side of things and I tend to do everything else. We've been pretty lucky and had enough work to keep us both going (just enough at times) with a couple of quiet weeks but at least we're still ticking over and I'm able to put a wage on the table every week.
The slowing down of China's minerals demand has hit the Oz mining sector that has basically held the Oz economy up.
The contraction in the mining sector means workers moving back into the manufacturing side which is slow anyway and often they have unrealistic expectations about wages potential compared to what they were being payed in the mines.
Luckily we own our house and don't live a expensive lifestyle so we make ends meet and save a bit which more than some other unfortunates.
Cheers Andrew from Oz.
We are Tig welders, gravity doesn't worry us.
Miller Dynasty 350
OTC hybrid wave 300 amp inverter Tig at work (Now retired)
Kemppi MLS 2300 inverter, 230 amps of welding brilliance for home use
SPOKESY
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Thanks for reply :D
Citroën
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Not actually today, but a project i did a while ago.

Stainless 316L frames for UV-lights. The units have 4 or 6 pcs. 130W UV tubes! They make a hell of alot ozon when test running them, and they will burn your eyes (like welding) in relative few seconds. Really nasty stuff. :evil:

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Migatronic Automig 233 MPS
Migatronic Sigma² 400 Pulse CW
Migatronic Pilot 2400 HP
Alexa
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Citroen.

The UV lights made me curious.
Just guessing ... are they for some sort of food or water purification?

Alexa
Citroën
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You guessed right :)
It is for water purification in a fish farm.
Migatronic Automig 233 MPS
Migatronic Sigma² 400 Pulse CW
Migatronic Pilot 2400 HP
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The first time that I saw UV water sterilization was in a portable water purifier.
http://www.steripen.com/ (Sterilizes water in seconds.)
This device was also tested by the National Research Council of Canada.
Citroën wrote:You guessed right :)
It is for water purification in a fish farm.
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steripen.jpg
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Big run of road bikes.

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Mark O by Zanconato Custom Cycles, on Flickr
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Hey,
Oh yeah, thats nice...

Mick
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Here's my Friday project... A new vacuum penetration in a liquid oxygen trailer. The old had cracked, through the inner pipe, allowing air and LOX to get into the vacuum jacket. The fun part was coping a piece of 6" sch.40 to the radius of the rear head.
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Naw... the fun part was standing on my head to weld the bottom of this...

Steve S
racingparts
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i weld aluminum almost every day
here are some 1.5mm thick radiator headers

i want to start welding SS, will buy some pipes to make an exhaust for my racing bike

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Here we go, again.

I'll weld this mess tomorrow. One of these visible cracks is leaking! (The topmost right.) I'll spend the afternoon grinding this out.
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Alexa
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Otto Nobedder wrote:Here we go, again.

I'll weld this mess tomorrow. One of these visible cracks is leaking! (The topmost right.) I'll spend the afternoon grinding this out.
GEDC0753.JPG
=====

Otto Nobedder.

From the photo, it invites me to think that a section of the plate, that had been welded in a tee-joint, was cut out.
Was the welded tee-joint The part cut out seems to had also been welded. What was the original bevel configuration of the tee-joint? Full penetration? Welded from both sides? Base material? In short ... how had it been welded?

The red indications from the dye penetrant testing seem to coincide with the locations of the tee-joint weld, but also with the grinding that was used to remove the remaining weld after cutting out the plate.

Keep us informed as to what type of crack and if possible, what path it took through the base metal.
I am curious to find out if other cracks will be discovered.

Tanks.
Alexa
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Alexa,

Here's a better pic to answer a part of your question:
GEDC0754.JPG
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The section removed is 1/4 X 3", 304 flatbar rolled to a 24" radius. Fillet weld, both sides, no bevel.

As you surmised, the cracks are between the (MIG) fillets, generally perpendicular to the tangent of the "ring".

This is not the first time I've encountered this on this design. My suspicion is these vessel heads (also 304 SS) were cold-formed without annealing, inducing natural stresses. The fillet welds add stresses of their own. The purpose of the ring is to distribute forces from the sole "front-to-back" support for the inner vessel, meaning the entire weight of the inner vessel and it's cargo are pushing and pulling on this structure every time the driver hits the throttle or brake.

I see it as a design flaw, that has taken about 25 years to rear it's ugly head, and I expect to see more like this in the near future as all the trailers in this design series are near the same age.

Steve S
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