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Check the condition of the ground wires and the clamps, Mine was acting like that and I cut the wires back past the oxidized parts and it came back to life.
 
Biggkidd said:
Nope only the welds broke the leaf springs mount to the S shaped ALU and the I beam sits on top of the S piece. The I beam is the frame rail and the S piece is the body and leaf spring mount. They cross one another at 90*.
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You didn't quench the welds, did you? BIG no-no on spring steel!
I thought we were welding aluminum.
 
Magus said:
You didn't quench the welds, did you? BIG no-no on spring steel!
I thought we were welding aluminum.
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We are working on ALUMINUM that's why all the trouble, steel is no issue. I just tried welding steel with the old MILLER stick welder since I wasn't able to strike an arc on the aluminum and it still wouldn't strike an arc on steel so it surely has a problem. I've had it for MANY years but haven't needed it with having the Lincoln 175HD that has no problem with 1/2in. or even 1in steel when welded on both sides. Most of the steel I weld is from 14ga to 3/8 inch.
 
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No I didn't quench anything never managed to make the ALU weld and even if I had I wouldn't quench that. Now when I repair large iron / cast steel parts I often quench them.
 
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Magus said:
Check the condition of the ground wires and the clamps, Mine was acting like that and I cut the wires back past the oxidized parts and it came back to life.
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This is all the advice I can offer then, sorry man. :(
If the clamps and wires get too oxidized they do exactly what you're describing. it's a fifteen-minute job at best and worth trying.
 
Biggkidd said:
No I didn't quench anything never managed to make the ALU weld and even if I had I wouldn't quench that. Now when I repair large iron / cast steel parts I often quench them.
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That makes them brittle, the best way is to cover them in sand and go eat lunch, they won't crystalize then. :)
 
Magus said:
This is all the advice I can offer then, sorry man. :(
If the clamps and wires get too oxidized they do exactly what you're describing. it's a fifteen-minute job at best and worth trying.
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This has solid brass tapered dowl type plug in's and I cleaned them and the receptacles along with the stinger and clamp... I should pull the case and see if anything inside is corroded!
 
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Magus said:
That makes them brittle, the best way is to cover them in sand and go eat lunch, they won't crystalize then. :)
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When repairing the three point hitch arms I generally quench and then temper. My welds haven't broken yet but the arms each have several to many repairs where they have broken in various places over the last 17-18 years. Not sure if they are cast steel or malleable cast iron.
 
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Look at the wires themselves. My Lincoln has a set screw you can undo.
there is the problem point. take the sleeve off and see if they're brown or scorched.
 
Biggkidd said:
When repairing the three point hitch arms I generally quench and then temper. My welds haven't broken yet but the arms each have several to many repairs where they have broken in various places over the last 17-18 years. Not sure if they are cast steel or malleable cast iron.
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I only use stainless steel on cast, far superior weld. Pity most stainless welding is TIG or MIG these days. If a broken piece looks like sand inside, its likely cast or crystalized badly.
 
Magus said:
I only use stainless steel on cast, far superior weld. Pity most stainless welding is TIG or MIG these days.
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If and when I KNOW I am welding cast iron especially old cast iron I use Nickle wire and pre heat slow cool and bury / insulate with wood ashes to slow the cooling process even more.
 
Malleable iron is far different than cast iron even though it is often cast. Think iron water pipe versus the fittings. Most pipe is malleable and the fittings are true cast. Malleable iron bends and is tough where cast is brittle, cracks and breaks much easier.
 
Where do you find nickel rods these days? I haven't seen any in years!
those teal green stainless ones either come to think of it.
 
Magus said:
Where do you find nickel rods these days? I haven't seen any in years!
those teal green stainless ones either come to think of it.
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Amazon and ebay or plain old google
 
Magus said:
Look at the wires themselves. My Lincoln has a set screw you can undo.
there is the problem point. take the sleeve off and see if they're brown or scorched.
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Good idea!
 
Yeah this Miller stick welder has LONG heavy leads about as fat as a sharpie marker.
 
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Peanut said:
This thread got me thinking about another mig welder I disliked. I once ran a hydraulic seam welder for 2months. I welded in the panels that make up the sides of a box car. I welded the edges of two panels to a frame member then moved the machine to the next seam. It was a production line at pullman std, we built train cars. I worked in the box car ‘side’ shop, we just built the sides.

The welder had wheels and moved on rails. There were two of them at that production line position. One for each side of the center door. They’d pull the welded side 'frame' underneath the 2 seam welders. It lay flat and the panels were already tack welded into place.

I sat in a seat and ‘drove’ the seam welder with hydraulic controls like a back hoe. I welded 5 seams 10ft long, took about 30min. Flux poured from a pipe just in front of the weld. A vacuum pipe sucked up loose flux just behind weld head as it moved along. Flux came in 50lb bags, had to periodically fill a big hopper. It took 2 guys to put on a new spool of wire, weighed about 80lbs.

I hated the job, bored out of my mind. It was a union shop, periodically jobs came open for bids based on seniority. I was a happy camper when I lost that job and got moved to the flat car line (pig line). There I welded the 5th wheel hitch assembly into place. At least I was burning rods instead of wire.

I couldn’t find a pic of these big seam welders, below is something similar, a stationary seam welder (2nd pic). About the same size, just imagine it on wheels and you could drive it... (at least the padded seat was comfortable... 😅). I marked the vertical frame members in the 1st pic. The seam welds were on the back or inside the finished box car.

Funny, we built both 'Trailer Train' and 'Rail Box' cars. We also built hoppers, gondolas and tankers. I think 2500 guys worked there, maybe 1500 were welders. Takes lots of welding to build a train car.

(Sorry @Frodo , back to the regular scheduled programming...)

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I ran one at Theuer building truck containers, hated it. Geez. I had forgotten that hell hole.
I lost the ability to see blue in one eye due to light damage from their plasma cutter. Some retard turned it on before I got done servicing it. With no water in the tank, I got the full blast 6" from my face!
 
@Peanut - thanks for the story. These days and times it is hard to imagine a weldor being out of work!

(weldor is the person running the machine. Welder is the machine. Unless you're metaphysically morphed to become "one" with the machine? Many do!)

I always had interest in welding and fabrication, but feared becoming too good at it and that becoming a career type cast... My career goal was the professional critic!🙂
 
I was an assemblyman. that lasted 4 years. My true destiny was making carpets.


Gods that sounds so pitiful!
 
Magus said:
Where do you find nickel rods these days? I haven't seen any in years!
those teal green stainless ones either come to think of it.
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Tractor supply, ace hardware. Airco welding supply, ‘prolly can order it through Wally World or Amazon
 
Ordering on line is so cool
When I was young if it was not available then you had choices
Either make what ever it us you want or forget about it and move your happy butt on to a new project
I lost count at how many flange gaskets we put in using a cracker box
 
FarmOR said:
@Peanut - hese days and times it is hard to imagine a weldor being out of work!
🙂
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It was bad for several million people, bad times, thanks jimmy carter! I'd bought a mobile home/lot on a lake, had a new car. Found someone to take over the note on my house so it wasn't a repo. Wasn't so lucky with the car, bank got it. When I found work it was in Texas, working on boats running supplies to oil rigs out in the gulf... yep bad times for a lot of people. Since I had no car I'd hitch hike back and forth from alabama. Did what I had to do, gotta eat! 🙃
 
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Frodo said:
That is. Strange
Goggle your local weldingvsupply
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Nickel welding rods:
They ain't ever been cheap, but if you can save a cracked engine block, they are money well spent. :thumbs:
No, they are not extinct either...
https://www.amazon.com/Weldcote-Nickel-Welding-Electrode-Repair/dp/B005BCTUTY
Screenshot_20230722-215253_kindlephoto-2268893168.png


I used them dozens of times in the past to perform "miracles". :)
 
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