Aluminum welding for Idiots !

[skyking]

I have an alum. fuel tank that seeps. I would like to know the best way / product to use for repair. Do any of the low heat "solders" / really work.Do you use a propane bottle torch or my oxy /act rig. I can see my self just melting the darned thing. Help!!

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Can you take it to a welding shop? I have welded an aluminium rim with success but I am not an expert. I would not try a fuel tank myself...

 

[Erampu]

What Tim said. Being a novice and trying to fix a fuel tank is a recipe for a large explosion in your face.

 

[thightower]

Agreed, if you don't have the right stuff, welding on a gas tank is extremly dangerous. I have welded on heavy equipment diesel tanks, been around welding on natural gas equipment. They usually let nitrogen (if I remember right) run in the tank before you ever strike the arc, otherwise it go boom.

 

[skyking]

I went out to the hangar and dug through my welding stuff and found some Rubbon 55 soft alum solder .Then I pulled up you-tube and watched some videos. I filled the tank with water about 80% so the alum on top could get hot enough .Practiced on some thinner alum first , then using my propane torch instead of my torches i followed their instructions. It worked great and I didnt burn through . Pretty cool.

It sounds funny but I did put on a motorcycle helmet and safety glasses and waved the flame around the tank before I started. Id rather look stupid than look dead !

 

[dladcock]

We have used the low temp rods on pontoon boats and they seem to work well.

I would have a Pro weld a fuel tank. Lots of reasons you don't need that to fail.... ever. Plus the BOOM FACTOR should be avoided at all costs.

dla

 

[bob15]

Why weld it?

What about using this Eastwood product:

http://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-kits.html

Or Por15

http://www.por15.com/

Or Kreem

http://www.kreem.com/fueltankliner.html

I've used the Eastwood product on my JD B tractor with good success.

bob

 

[Shadowdog500]

I have an alum. fuel tank that seeps. I would like to know the best way / product to use for repair. Do any of the low heat "solders" / really work.Do you use a propane bottle torch or my oxy /act rig. I can see my self just melting the darned thing. Help!!

I can see it blowing up in your face. Take that job to a pro shop. Welding fuel tanks is extremely dangerous. I have a friend who is a pro welder that had one go off on him while he was testing the tank with a flame (shop owner purged it for him). It blew all the windows out of the shop and landed my friend in the hospital. Don't play around with this one.

Chris

 

[skyking]

Why weld it?

What about using this Eastwood product:

http://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-kits.html

Or Por15

http://www.por15.com/

Or Kreem

http://www.kreem.com/fueltankliner.html


These products will degrade and seperate if you put gas in them that has ethanol /alcahol

 

[bob15]

POR15 & Kreem are OK with E-10.

As for Eastwood, I have yet to see any issues with it and E-10 gas, and the tank has been coated close to 10 years now.

bob

 

[Zeke]

It sounds funny but I did put on a motorcycle helmet and safety glasses and waved the flame around the tank before I started. Id rather look stupid than look dead !

I'm trying to remember the time I got my leathers on with full face helmet to do something. I know what you mean. But if the potential was that dangerous, why were we doing this?

I get a chuckle out of those that believe that exhaust from a running engine into a gas tank will prevent an explosion. Might work, I don't know and don't intend to find out.

 

[fredybender]

I use POR15 in my engine heads intake...
its water based, and will not degrade with fuel, brake fuel, and relatively high operating temperatures, etc...
This car has 400 000kms on the clock...

 

[brianpgriset]

I agree with the suggestions to use epoxy. Way safer, plus it happens to be easier and cheaper. Just try it.

Worst thing that happens is it starts leaking gain. Now, worst thing that can happen with welding...

 

[NitroShark]

I would TIG weld it. Do it right, or have someone do it for you.

Shawn

 

[neel2008]

I also vote TIG but if I was gonna say like weld a steel gas tank I would fill it 75-90% with water and let the argon from the mig run in the tank for a while to purge anything that might be left in the air space of the tank....

 

[AndyA]

Saftey issues aside, if you've never welded aluminum, this is not the place to start.
Aluminum is tricky since it melts before it gets red hot. It's really easy to heat it too much and have a big hole fall out.
If you intend to do it yourself, plan on several months of practice with scrap pieces before you attempt the tank.

 

[Zeke]

Saftey issues aside, if you've never welded aluminum, this is not the place to start.
Aluminum is tricky since it melts before it gets red hot. It's really easy to heat it too much and have a big hole fall out.
If you intend to do it yourself, plan on several months of practice with scrap pieces before you attempt the tank.

I will repeat "safety issues aside." However, when I went to welding school at the community college as a 60 something senior, I was started off doing TIG DCEN on mild steel. I did that for about 3 Saturday sessions and grabbed some AL out of the scrap bin, set the machine to A/C with a pretty even balance and lit up. Sure, I messed up for about 10 minutes. But hiding from the instructor in the booth, I worked myself into it before the day was out. And that was going back and forth to steel. Same tungsten, just a bit duller.

I wanted so bad to try the pulse, but I didn't know anything about setting up the pulse frequency, background and balance. I don't know about several months of practice unless I wanted to be some hero in a fab shop stacking dimes around corners and such.

Besides, I'm so tired of the exaggerated dime stacking that I appreciate an old school smooth weld more so. I say if Skyking has the proper equipment to go for it. At least give it a go on scrap.

Safety issues in consideration. Remember that is all has to be super clean. If there's **** in the existing weld or metal, it will be **** weld.

 

[kmacht]

I sure hope that fuel tank wasn't on one of those airplanes you found in the barn.

Keith

 

[ClintNZ]

I also vote TIG but if I was gonna say like weld a steel gas tank I would fill it 75-90% with water and let the argon from the mig run in the tank for a while to purge anything that might be left in the air space of the tank....

Yep, it's important to do things safely with a fuel tank, but it's not rocket science to do it proper.

I would also suggest checking carefully for leaks when you are done. One good way is to pressurize it with air - regulated down to just a few psi - then spray some soapy water around the join & look for bubbles.

Cheers
Clint