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Posted by David Sherman [24.32.202.83] on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 22:52:20 :
This isn't exactly Dodge but it is old iron. I'm trying to make a hillbilly hot tub out of an old military engine container. I had to weld up a bunch of holes in the bottom that somebody had torched in it, and I welded a piece of 6" pipe in the bottom near one end for a stove pipe. This is all gas welding with T45 rod, since that's all I can do. I thought it would be easy, but as soon as I had a couple inches of water in it, it started leaking all over the place. Half the welded up holes leaked, and it leaked in 5 or 6 places around the stove pipe. I re-welded the holes from the opposite side as before, thinking that would make them extra smooth and good, and I turned the whole contraption upside down so I could re-weld around the stove pipe. I thought I did a real neat job, being sure to feather it well out, move the torch around a lot and make I was well down into the metal. Turned it right side up again and it leaks just as bad as before. Different holes in the bottom leak now, but still just as many. I can't see any cracks or pinholes, but there must be some. Is this rod too brittle? Maybe I should use some old baling wire or something soft like that instead. I'm tempted to just paint it thoroughly and hope the paint seals up the holes, but I know that's not a very good solution, especially with a fire underneath it. I can't see the point of going through all the trouble of re-welding it again until I can figure out why it's porous. I did manage to get the joint around the drain pipe to quit leaking, so I know it's possible. I just don't know what I need to do. Another idea, is to grind all the welds shiny and then braze over them to seal them. This sounds like a lot of work, and not a little expense. This was supposed to be an easy project, but these leaky welds are driving me nuts. Maybe it's God's way of telling me I need to move into the 20th century and get an arc welder. Any ideas?
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