Need to weld some thin stuff

[BrokenBiker]

its looking lik I am going to need to weld the exhaust again (in a different place than before) and my mig is dead again so it's goin to have to be the stick welder.

My question is...2.5mm rod on60ish amps and hope there aren't any slag inclusions and I can get a good weld or a 2.0 rod on 50 amps?

Exhaust is bog standard aftermarket replacement so about 2.5mm wall thickness.

 

[123hotchef]

i welded the bracket back on my mates the other day 2.5mm rod at 50amps did the trick

 

[Rrunnach]

Depends on nic of matl, tall order using 2.5's. I have a small pack of Oerlikon Fincord 1.6 rutiles, I shudder to think how long I have had this pack, as 1.6 mma rods are like hens teeth. If you were closer, you could have had a few to do the repair.

 

[PTvor]

A 2.0mm rod at 55 amps and go electrode negative i'd say, but your rods may be different and the dial on your welder may be different.

I think you need to experiment with some 2.5mm plate before trying the exhaust.

 

[Sarto]

Do you have to weld like a butt joint or can you put a patch across the damaged area, and weld on a thicker metal?

 

[BrokenBiker]

Do you have to weld like a butt joint or can you put a patch across the damaged area, and weld on a thicker metal?

i dont know yet...i started it outside work earlier and could tell straight away there is a hole somewhere...its horrendous again...it could be patch job in which i will use some 3mm i have to cover the hole then seam weld around it...doesnt need to be strong just gas tight enough that it doesnt blow...or it may be a case of the crap gasless mig welds i did on the centre-cat joint have crakced, in chich case its a grind them out and but weld 2 bits of pipe job

 

[BrokenBiker]

think i will have a little play with the 2.5's i have here on low amps DCEN on a scrap length of the same pipe and if that is still too hot i will go up the farm and ge some 2mm rods i left there a while ago after not needing them for anything else so left them there incase i was ever short on rods when repairing the gates their lads drove over in the deere

 

[Woody.v8]

I dont like been part of a throwaway society but unless there is a cat or dpf on that part of the exhaust , price one up ,sometimes its not worth the grief.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I dont like been part of a throwaway society but unless there is a cat or dpf on that part of the exhaust , price one up ,sometimes its not worth the grief.

it is going to be far easier for me to weld up a hole than to replace the section that has the hole...its essentially a one piece exhaust now as i have welded all joints as it was the only way to stop it blowing for the mot...problem is the centre-rear joint was welded on the car and the only way to get it off without cutting it is to take rear axle off...and if i do cut it i have to re-weld it on the car which isnt going to be that easy with a stick welder...and if i replace centre section i have to weld it to the cat agian which means whole system off...im hoping it is just a hole developed on the underside so i can just clamp a bit of steel over it and blast around it without having to take anything off...

 

[pedrobedro]

There's no such thing as a one piece exhaust if you have a decent angle grinder. We put a new one on my daughter's car just before Christmas and the centre and back box cost £45 including new clamps. I looked at welding the old one just to get a ticket but it was like tissue paper. If it's on a straight bit just wrap a bean can round it with a couple of clamps. Brother in laws Sprinter I cut a 4" section out of the exhaust then put a piece of flexy in, slid it over then back and two clamps and it lasted a couple of years.

 

[PTvor]

im hoping it is just a hole developed on the underside so i can just clamp a bit of steel over it and blast around it without having to take anything off...

I've welded 2mm steel with 2mm rods @ 55A DCEN a few times and it's worked quite well. I didn't even bother much with doing it in little bits - thin metal technique. But that was welding downhand, comfortably with everything clean and nicely prepared. This talk of holes developing on the underside sounds like overhead welding and bloody awkward.

Best of luck with it whatever you do, but it comes across as a horrible job, especially in this weather.

 

[Woody.v8]

GunGum anybody?

 

[Windy Miller]

A standard aftermarket exhaust system that's 2.5mm thick? You sure?

 

[PTvor]

GunGum anybody?

I haven't heard of that stuff for ages, since the 70s.

In my experience, it might just have kept you legal for a few days or scraped you through an MOT. The problem was that by the time Gun Gum was applied, the whole exhaust had gone thin, so it would blow through somewhere else before long.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

GunGum anybody?

Used with the appropriate/matching bandage iirc.

 

[BrokenBiker]

A standard aftermarket exhaust system that's 2.5mm thick? You sure?

Yeah I measured it when I bought it before welding it a few months ago...it's a cheap nasty piece of crap but I was in a hurry for an mot so had to have it.

 

[Windy Miller]

Yeah I measured it when I bought it before welding it a few months ago...it's a cheap nasty piece of crap but I was in a hurry for an mot so had to have it.

Well I'm very surprised. Should be easy enough to stick weld then!

 

[Robotstar5]

Used with the appropriate/matching bandage iirc.

Here you go - link

 

[octo0072000]

not a lot of money for exhaust lots on the bay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-M...670687?hash=item5d55933a9f:g:-M8AAOSwNSxU5vai

 

[Parm]

For once just be sensible and do what most others might do, empty tin can, tube of exhaust paste and two jubilee clips. Much less fecking about than all the other pisshh !!! The new repair might outlast your car