How To Weld Dirty Cast Aluminum
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2024
- Hey everyone my names chris in this video ill show you a broken cast aluminum vw alternator bracket car part I have from my customer that was repaired before this and didn't hold up and I'll show you my way of trying to weld and repair this part. Customer said he couldn't find another one so I wanted to try to repair it. Hope you guys enjoy. Thank you.
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I've done a lot of motorcycle cases over the years and I found boiling the parts with a little lye (drain cleaner) in the water releases a lot of oils and contaminates from the base metal. I let it cool and use a hose to the bottom to flood the crud over the top before pulling the parts out! Give it a try. You may be surprised!
I will definitely. Makes sense thanks for the info I’m always interested in learning new and better ways of doing things . Appreciate it 👍
Thanks for your honesty and sharing (dont mind the trolls) I think most people appreciate what you are doing!
Thanks appreciate it. I forgot where I heard it but someone said when you start to get the negative comments then your doing good haha. Not saying that’s me I’m still a far way to go for that. I’m definitely new with TH-cam and making and editing videos I probably could have edited it better and described the project better and how it went compared to others but I’m still learning with it I have welded plenty of aluminum and cast aluminum to think I’m pretty decent with them more so aluminum. But have definitely learned and learned even more from others all around online that will say cast aluminum sucks and depending on the part or job / costumer it’s all different sometimes the part isn’t worth it to spend a bunch of time and money on making it perfect. I probably should of added some of that in the video maybe next time I guess. I appreciate your comment and the time you took to write it. Thanks 👍
Thanks for the tips great to know
Hope it was helpful thank you for watching 👍
Im always welding junky scrap aluminum and it usually does okay unless you get a piece like i once picked out of the scrap pile. It was a nice looking piece of cast aluminum but when i tried to use it for something and weld on it i started the arc and heating it up and oil started rolling out of it like stepping on a sponge.
Amazing how much liquid a solid looking piece of metal can hold.
Yea it’s crazy take a thick piece of aluminum if you haven’t tried already like at least 1/4” but 3/8” or thicker and heat it for a second with a torch mapp gas , propane or anything and watch how fast and how much water comes out of it castis even worse or oil soaked like you said 👍
Those pieces are known to break in that location due to the owner removing the support bar for the alternator and or bracket bolt bushing inserts which increases vibration and stress to that area= another fracture.
Have a machine shop mill it 1/4 and JB weld a 1/4 steel template and your golden forever.
Appreciate the advice got to know for the future I’m not too familiar with how it went on the vehicle. I don’t we have the costumer’s number to help him with that information if he comes back in I’ll let him know or a future part like that. I’ll definitely remember it though for future reference. He said it was just a temporary fix until he got a new one. Thanks for watching and appreciate the helpful info 👍
Thanks for watching it was months from filming and editing the video so had to remember everything 😂. Any advice for how to improve future videos appreciated thanks 👍
There are definately different grades and alloys of aluminum. One of the purest and most weldable ive done was a jaguar cylinder head.
I don’t think I ever welded a casting from a jaguar. Never welded a cylinder head that was aluminum I don’t think plenty of oil pans. Cast iron I’m not a fan of. Cast aluminum if it’s not all dirty oil soaked or oily I don’t mind sometimes I hate it at first but afterwards it’s kinda nice to have a challenge. Thanks for watching 👍
@@WojnarskiWeldingFabricaion cylinder heads are usually a good grade but that jaguar was noticeably a high quality
@@johndoe43 I can see that too jaguar is a high end car I would say makes sense for them to use better materials. Some Mercedes oil pans I welded went pretty good maybe that’s why too 🤷♂️ just my guess. Definitely interesting to know
Nice work and thank you for sharing, Chris! Where's your shop? It seems like I'm hearing a S.E. Pennsylvania accent.
Thanks Doug thanks for taking the time to watch👍 I’m from New Jersey, forked river lived for most of my life was born in Hamilton area. I moved here to Florida about 2017-2018👍
"That's just what it is." Is the general consensus on cast aluminum it looks like. Lol
is the strength as good as original with something like this?
With this one probably not as strong as from the factory after welding. It still has some pretty decent strength that’ll probably last a while maybe the lifetime of the vehicle depending on how much stress is on the part. This part welded dirty so that’s not gonna be as strong in the long run with porosity inside and maybe with running heat from welding it might mess take out some of the strength compared to a fresh casting. But I’m sure it’ll hold up pretty good. The costumer was buying a new piece in the future and just needed this to hold him over until he was able to find one.
Chris, may I ask, how much electrode stickout do you use for jobs like this, i.e., using a std collet body? Reason I ask: I can't get decent puddle going with a standard (HF Vulcan) collet body & #5 or #6 cup on clean rolled aluminum, irrespective of my Argon flowrate. When I switch to a gas lens, BAM, no problem. YT is full of advice about stickout with gas lens but not much discussion for std collet body. I'm either using too much stickout, or my HF Vulcan collet bodies are not made right, or somehow not compatible with CK torch.
It could be a bad collet and collet body or cup. Maybe not though I bought some cheaper gas lenses before that wouldn’t puddle for nothing if it’s working fine with everything set the same, The machine settings, argon flow, and it works good with a gas lense but than switching it then it goes bad it could be bad parts that aren’t sealing up right maybe. Maybe not though hard to say unless I seen it in person. But when I run a standard collet setup on aluminum I’ll use a #6 cup with 1/8” tungsten sometimes the #5 cup doesn’t give me enough gas with a 1/8” tungsten. I like the blue tungsten, tungsten choice isn’t critical just don’t use the pure green tungsten on an inverter machine they say. And for stick out maybe 1/4”-3/8” depending on how tight of a corner I have to get into. And argon flow 100% argon around 15-25cfh. I run my balance at 35-40electrode positive other machines go by electrode negative and would be 60-65 en. And around 120 on the frequency. Feel free to ask if you have more troubles hope this helps. Cups go by 1/16” of an inch and they say for stick out if you have a #6 cup that’s 6-16” or 3/8” so max stick out should be 3/8” , #8 cup max stick out should be 1/2”. You can cheat it a little and go more especially with a gas lense.
no acetone???
Plantex Tigershark flap discs and Kangaru oil work better than anything I have tried on Aluminum! They are awsome
Thanks for the tip these white hard discs work better than any flap disc I tried for aluminum it eats away the material pretty fast without clogging. I haven’t tried many flap disc brand’s maybe like 10 brands give or take never tried that brand you mentioned definitely possible it works a lot better. I’ll look into them might have to try them. Never tried the oil either definitely interesting thanks for the tips 👍
a little work with audio levels post production or a stable mic position would help you alot sir :)
Yes that’s something I’ve been trying to work on each video much appreciated. I’m using a GoPro 12 and the sound is good when it’s quiet in the shop but then when someone else in the shop is grinding it changes the quality especially if the welder is running it really kinda ruins the audio. Last couple videos I made but still editing I got a media mod microphone for the GoPro but not sure how that will work maybe I have to try to find a better microphone like a noise canceling microphone. Also each video I edit the volume a little. Trying to improve with each video. Appreciate your advice that’s something I thought as well thank you 👍
Pin holes is not good
No pinholes are definitely not good. If you ever welded cast aluminum especially used dirty cast, you know almost every time your gonna get it even sometimes with a new part, it all depends on the materials it was made from many high end Tig welders not me will tell you that. I could of grinded the weld out and gone back over it again maybe multiple times to try to make it have no pin holes. That would of put a lot more heat into the part it being cast it probably would be ok. But it would of definitely took more time and cost the costumer more money. He was fine with the way it was and didn’t wanna spend more time it was just to hold him over until he was able to find a new part. I’m not the shop owner so I can’t really just give my time away to make every part perfect. Look at my instagram page and you can see plenty of work with no pin holes most of it is not cast aluminum but there’s still some cast aluminum work on there that’s way better than this. Really the video was to show about dirty cast aluminum but I guess I didn’t explain it properly still learning I only have a couple TH-cam videos up. Enjoy your day
Man that's some filthy cast for something that was poured molten. Cleanliness is the answer to alluminium. An acid etch once you clean the joint is very helpful. The previous weld was good considering the substrate. A precursor bathe in suitable acid ( I'd have to look it up) or at the very least degreaser. Followed by a brisk brush with aluminium dedicated wire brush and a water flush. Dry with paper towels and bolt it down in position on a plate. Then cut out every stitch of previous joint.
If you're charging for the work do your best eh?
I understand what your saying 100 percent and good helpful tips I would usually clean with a aluminum cleaner or degreaser.It was really just a hold over job to hold the costumer over for the a couple days until the new part he ordered came in. He didn’t want to spend a lot of time and money on it when the new part was on the way that he paid for and the previous repair from a different shop
@@WojnarskiWeldingFabricaion jut in case there was some new ideas I could share ''
@@jackrichards1863 definitely 👍. I appreciate your comment that was probably one of the best detailed helpful techniques thanks. I don’t weld cast a whole lot maybe a handful of times a year if that. Aluminum I weld a lot and stainless. Any info is appreciated. I don’t think I explained it as good in the video that it was just a quick repair to hold the costumer over until he got his new part in. So he didn’t wanna spend too much time and money on it. I think your technique was really good. I’ll keep it I. Mind for next time. Still new to TH-cam making and editing videos but having fun with it. Thanks 👍
Why didn’t you mig it?
I guess main reason I I’m not the best aluminum spool gun welder. it’s a pain to set up the spool gun at work and drag everything out when the Tig is right there. Honestly never tried to or even seen anyone spool gun weld cast aluminum I’m sure people do but most people I learned from and pretty good welders I’m friends with Tig weld cast aluminum. Just from my knowledge I’m not familiar with it ar the best with it I guess is my reason for Tig welding it. Hey maybe the spool gun would do better just never tried it or heard of anyone really doing it
If you put up a video saying how to world aluminium before you do make sure you know how to weld Aluminium you’re blaming the material you just can’t weld. you never cleaned it properly I’m shocked
Have you ever welded “cast” aluminum / dirty used cast aluminum? Not aluminum plate, sheet, pipe, tubing. If so please share some advice on how to clean it better before welding. Feel free to share some pictures of the cast work. Look at my instagram page you can see the difference in work between non cast aluminum welding. Many top end Tig welders “not me” will tell you that when welding cast aluminum or cast iron it’s all different with every part. Some parts are made with junky metal and welds horribly. Could I have welded it without pinholes possibly, but not at first I don’t think there’s much more cleaning that could have been done before hand to avoid that. After it was welded like that I could have grinded all the porosity out and tried welding it it probably would have welded better now that there was better material for the new weld to stick to. But it’s possible that I would have had to do that more than a few times to make it better. All while adding more heat into that part which may weaken the part more, maybe not. But it would of definitely been more time added to that and that being a charge by the hour job it could of made a $50 job turn into $200 give or take. I’m not the shop owner where I can give my time away for free to make the part perfect. The costumer was happy with the part and price and didn’t wanna spend anymore money on trying to make it any better, he was told ahead of time too that it may turn out like that. Most people that take on cast aluminum or cast iron jobs will tell their costumers that you don’t really know how it’s going to weld until you start to weld it. I’m not the best welder I’m definitely fine with admitting it, but please feel free to share some advice and some pictures of your work instead of insulting someone that is trying to share different advice not everyone is perfect enjoy your day
@@WojnarskiWeldingFabricaion Obviously hit a nerve, not going to read all your rare reply. All I can say I’m not the one misleading people on how to weld aluminium Before joining the two pieces together, you should have completely ground away all of the old Welding That was previously done. You cannot clean dirt out of aerated Welding. stands to reason all I’m saying is think before you post these videos.
This is a good, honest, real world, account of repairing a pretty crappy old casting. If you watched the whole video you'd have seen plenty of cleaning & grinding out the old weld. Done all he could have done & I doubt that anyone could have got a much better result.
@@MidEngineering appreciate your comment thanks. I don’t think he watched the whole video or maybe doesn’t weld much cast aluminum, I could be wrong the back I think was cleaned pretty good the front I could have done a little better after racking it. The reason for not grinding the putting out after I welded it was it was just a temporary part until the costumer got a new one. Appreciate your comment and thanks for watching. Subscribed to your channel watching some or your work nice work you do. 👍
I have been trying to weld some LS block and that is a hallelujah to hell process. This LS 6,2 will not get clean what so ever..... did burn it with spirits, benzine, gas torch etc etc.....
Maybe you can tell me how to do this job.....
NO ONE else have been able to give me a good advice in this matter.
Poor welding
Clean and brush with SS wire and only used on Aluminum