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welding cast alloy
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:32 pm
by Rhett
What gas do I need to weld cast alloy? and how much is the wire?
I have universile gas will it work?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:51 pm
by matthewK
ummm i cant think of it, but there is a parcific gas for the job im pritty sure give BOC a call and ask the questions , go to supergas better prices then boc well where i am it is
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:59 pm
by bazooked
cast ali? if so straight argon, and ya better welding it with the tig, and dont forget to pre heat it and keep it warm, wrap a fire blanket around it while welding, and same goes for cooling let it cool real slooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. otherwise u will end up with more cracks.
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:02 pm
by Bundy_Harry
if the cast is already cracked, brazing will give you the best fix. If it is to repair a cracked casting you can use either oxy/acet or oxy/lpg
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:04 pm
by Bundy_Harry
if the cast is already cracked, brazing will give you the best fix. If it is to repair a cracked casting you can use either oxy/acet or oxy/lpg
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:05 pm
by POS
Yep TIG with ARGON.
What are you fixing.
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:11 pm
by Mousie
you must use a TIG with ARGON...
otherwise i reccon your waisting your time..
if u carnt tig properly pay some one to do it otherwise you could end up in a biger problem then when you started..
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:45 pm
by awill4x4
Argon is the gas you must use.
The success of the welding is entirely dependant on the quality of the alloy casting and unfortunately the appearance of the casting is no indicator of just how well it will weld.
As a general rule, holden castings are crap, Turbo 700 bellhousings especially. I have just welded a V6 inlet manifold for a guy and it welded well for about 75% the other 25% was very ordinary and I'm a stickler for getting it as clean as I can prior to welding.
Early Ford castings were good, rear diff hats on BA Falcons are f#####g terrible. Most of the motorbike stuff is pretty good but you have to be careful with some Yamaha castings, the sneaky buggers will use a high magnesium alloy on some covers sometimes and it can't be welded unless you have a high mag content filler at a cost of about $8-$10 per rod

, unless you've got an emergency job, run out of filler and get charged (more like farken raped) at $25 per rod from Eutectic. (needless to say their welding reps are shown the door quick smart, we'll never buy off them again).
Regards Andrew.
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:20 pm
by ISUZUROVER
I have MIG welded cast alloy plenty of times with good results. Every time with 1.2mm wire and pure argon.
As Andrew says above, you get very different results with different castings. I have found that grey looking castings don't weld very well, if at all. I have been told that this is because the zinc content is too high.
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:11 pm
by Rhett
Thanks for the responce. Looks like I just have to give it a go and see what grade it is.
And who said anything about fixing somethin POS

I musta talked to damo and craig to much on the weekend and got more crazy ideas