Quote:
Originally Posted by leathermang
Having engineering degrees has no bearing on having a good ' hand ' at welding..
You admitted that you knew your power settings were not what they should have been... and that tried to compensate for that... filling a hole and having proper penetration are not necessarily the same thing...
And my input on this thread it not really for you... but for others who might come across some similar situation...
Welding upside down is very hard.... at the very least avoiding the sparks falling on you or rolling towards you once they hit the floor..
I suspect that what that really needed was TIG....
I would not spray anything which was going to be heated later with zinc...
I have seen ' cold zinc ' sprays intended to protect metal...
Proper zinc application to a metal of course involves electricity... ' galvanization '...
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0675.pdf
If you have a way to spray from the backside... I would recommend ' Fluid Film '
Fluid FilmŪ | Corrosion Preventative, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor
If you wire brushed that area....and brazed over it... it would also protect it from
moisture and rocks ....
AND.... you did not say you had not had any Automobile Suspension Welding fail in that six years... sometimes the ' Risk- Reward' judgement involves critical safety equipment ... and most of the time it does not... |
I welded up a cracked rear cross member with a HF Flux Core Welder and it was somewhat as you said.
I had never used a Flux Core Welder before and I did not practice so I did a whole lot of grinding and re-welding and I set Myself on Fire x3 even though I was wearing a Cotton Military BDU Coat.
It is simply that if you are extremely close to what you are welding and a big enough blob comes off it can catch Cotton on fire.
It was extremely cramped and I finally took the time to raise the Vehicle as High as I could possibly get it with when I had available.
Being under the rear of the Car puts you in a dark area and it is extremely hard to see where you are going to weld until you start and it is too late.
There was places where a normal Drop Light was not enough. I think Something like a Flood Light would have done better.
Another thing is that I was told by nearly everyone that I should have scrapped the Car because it was a safety Issue. So I am wondering why everyones Flame Thrower is not on?
Having this type of problem in the Rear is not nearly the same as having it in the Front which has more weight on it to begin with and has to deal with the forward Weight shift when you brake.
Best Wishes to Bill on his repair.