I give up


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Posted by David Sherman [24.32.202.83] on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 13:49:50 :

In Reply to: Porous welds posted by David Sherman [24.32.202.83] on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 22:52:20 :

Thanks for all the advice. After making an even bigger mess of it trying various other tactics like using a tiny tip and welding each crack individually, starting past the end of the crack and welding towards the middle, welding 1/2" at a time and letting it cool down before welding more, Annealing the whole area at a dull red and cooling it slowly, etc, etc, the more I work it over, the worse it gets. The cracks are now long and wide. No matter what tactic I tried, when it cooled, the cracks got bigger. It reminds me of when I once tried to weld the thin cast-iron side of a cheap wood stove, before I knew it can't be done with a torch unless you heat and cool the whole plate evenly. I'm going to try to solder over the biggest cracks with 50/50 plumbing solder, which should be fairly flexible, and then hope the paint (2 coats of rust-oleum brushed on) seals it from the inside and stays stuck under water with a fire under it. I know there are better paints but I've already spent enough on what was supposed to be a "free" hot tub.

The inside is dirty and rusty, and has 1" ribs welded across the bottom both directions every 8" or so, so I can't get it very clean. I can't sand-blast it or get a wire wheel in between the ribs, so I'll just blast it as best I can with the pressure washer, let it dry in the sun, and start slathering the paint on. I suppose I could fill it up with water, dump a box of soda in, hang a scrap electrode in the middle and use the electrolytic de-rusting method in reverse to clean the tank. Might take a long time on something that big, but I bet it would work.

Anyway, the warning for everyone else is "don't assume military engine crates are made out of ordinary mild steel."



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