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Complete numbskull rookie error - sheered bolt in flywheel


zhap135

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4 hours ago, Sparepart said:

I fear that you are opening a Pandora's box with that question. I have learned to weld after a fashion by trial and many many many errors. In retrospect what I should have done was to take the time and expense to have proper instruction.  As you know there are three main types, Arc, Mig and TIG.  I "started out" with an Arc welder because there is less complication, just the welder and welding sticks and mask and gauntlets and apron to buy. However I soon found that arc welding is more of an art than a science, one needs to understand so much about how air is kept from the molten metal during the welding process, not only the physical movement of the welding stick but also the chemical composition of the flux and its relationship to the type and thickness of the metals that are being welded AND taking into account the temperature of the weld. It is VERY hard to weld thin metal with an Arc welder. Also I never got to try and purchase Stainless Steel welding sticks which I assume are expensive. Basically I GAVE UP with the Arc welder. Then I purchased a Mig welder, Clarke 135TE from Machine Mart. Although it is more complicated, wire spools, gas cannisters etc I have found it so much easier than Arc welding, once the correct wire speed, current and gas flow has been set up. TIG welding is yet a mistery to me, involves coordinated movements of two hands, one holds the tungsten tipped arc generator that gives high temp and the other feeds a metal rod into the molten pool that forms the weld. So I would say your are best to start with a MIG welder and I advise you to get some instruction, or get a load of scrap metal on which to practise. Oh yes, also, some of the welders out there require more that a 13 amp power connection, beware.

 

Thanks Spare, yes, spotted that some are higher than 13! Thanks also for your words of warning. A Mig might be the way forward then - was the clarke 135 a decent starter kit did you find? I see that with teh right wire and gas it can also weld ali and SS

I hear you also on your view about getting proper intruction, this makes a lot of sense. It's also something that I've been thinking about for a while. 

 

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For me the Clarke 135TE kit has been all I have needed for the work on the Exmo. It came with enough accessories to start welding mild steel, within half an hour of getting it home I was welding  away. The mask in the kit is useable but a light activated mask (£40 ish) is a MUST to avoid accidentally burning your retinas, keep the one in the kit for the next solar eclipse. Since then I have used Argon and Argon/CO2 mixtures to weld SS (using SS wire of course) though the welds look good in SS there is a lot of opportunity for error, in as much as thin SS is very easily warped and there are different compositions of SS that can mean the welded metal changes its molecular structure and makes it prone to rust. Something you might notice on SS shells. This is what I mean about a Pandora's box, the chemistry and physics and metalergy involved in welding goes on and on. I have purchased some aluminium wire to try, but am still at the stage of watching You-Tubes of how to use it ... another world of alloy types, temperatures etc. I still use the Arc welder, but only for more "agricultural" welding of thick iron/steel like repairing the hinges on a friend's shipping container or fabricating angle iron fence braces and the like... especially if the welding is outside ...where the wind would blow away the shielding gas of the MIG welder.

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Probably the only problem you will encounter with the 135 will be duty cycle --- may only get part way through the task in hand before cutting out due to transformer heat --- always seems to take for ever to cool.

The duty cycle should be shown in the spec, will be something like 35% time on @ 100% current draw.  So drinking tea will occupy 65% of your time; no bad thing.

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also don't buy the disposable bottles of gas! they are expensive and you'll get through loads of them. I made that mistake. I've now got a bit rented bottle from sgs (i think). It's a deposit and then you just pay for refills which are about £40 but last loads of times more than the disposable ones at  £15 a pop. 

I tried aluminium welding but didn't manage to get a stable weld. Also if you have a steel liner it can jam more with aluminium wire. I got a bunch of birds nests.

I welded all my exhaust (inc 4-1 mani) in stainless with my mig and quite pleased with the results.

If you are welding mild steel outside the flux cored wire is good as less likely the shield of gas is blown away.

 

 

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2 hours ago, fry61 said:

Probably the only problem you will encounter with the 135 will be duty cycle --- may only get part way through the task in hand before cutting out due to transformer heat --- always seems to take for ever to cool.

The duty cycle should be shown in the spec, will be something like 35% time on @ 100% current draw.  So drinking tea will occupy 65% of your time; no bad thing.

Spec gives a range, 100% at 44A, 60% at 57A, 15% at 115A and 8% at 130A. You can draw a curve to predict intermediate values. So at 44A you can weld away forever and at 130A you will drink a lot of tea ... or might go down the pub. Personally I have not yet had it cut out yet, but do tend to weld in short to medium bursts mainly because I find it hard to wear my specs with the mask, so don't, and then have trouble seeing where the weld is going, so keep stopping to check. I get so close to the action to see properly that the glass is pitted with blobs of sputter, ah ... sputter another good topic 🙂

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Thanks all for your responses. It happens that there is a welding supplies and training est. in my town, Letchworth. Having had a chat with them, they've invited me in for an hour or two to have a look at and trial some different products and get some advice. As I was humming harring about getting a welder anyway, I think this seems reasonable - the guy even said why not bring the flywheel in and we can have a go! So happy days!

That'll be in a couple of weeks, so back to other jobs until then!

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10 hours ago, fry61 said:

Proper training will give you a great start to producing strong welds, best way to go.

Yes, the full on accredited courses they do start about a grand for a week- it's tempting but I'm not sure I can justify it. They currently don't do intro/hobby courses, but I might press them to see if it's an area of business they might want to develop

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1 hour ago, zhap135 said:

Yes, the full on accredited courses they do start about a grand for a week- it's tempting but I'm not sure I can justify it. They currently don't do intro/hobby courses, but I might press them to see if it's an area of business they might want to develop

yeah that's the problem I found. Proper courses are expensive. I reckon if you spent a grand on a welder you would weld pretty well quite quickly. I bought a SIP (around £220) and have struggled with it for ages thinking it was my technique (might still be partly). Changed the liner, added a liner to the swan neck, added a big gas bottle, shouted at it, kicked it a little, ignored it hoping it would miss me... eventually found the wire guide wheel was worn so it couldn't grip the wire and push it properly which explained the jerky nature and burn back. Stuck the wheel on the lathe and skimmed it down and now welding considerably better.

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I did my training at the local tech college ( half a life-time ago )  they had a weekly evening coarse, went for 2 years. The instructor was an artist with the gas & electric welding -- thin sheet welds had completely even swirls throughout the run & penetration spot-on.

I find that the biggest problem now-a-days is I'm usually finishing the job needed just as I become competent again.

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