Welding 1188 grade aluminum

Dec 17, 2004 3 Replies
H

Looking at the possibility of welding a 700 gallon Hydrogen Peroxide vessel fabricated from 3/16" thick 1188 grade Al. Need to weld/attach two separate tubing/flange configurations: 2" sch 10,



1188 gr. tubing to the vessel. Welding would be in the Overhead position, field welded! Do I dare to GTAW the joint....maybe .040 Zirconiated Tungsten? 5-40 amps?

Considering the annealing point is 650F and the melt temp of the wire is



1150+F seems to me to be a ballsy move to TIG it........beside GTAW, I can't think of a practical process to use???? Brazing a low temp solder would likely to warp/collapse the tubing and/or the vessel wall? Any thoughts?

respectfully, Harp CWI/CWE


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E

Allstate 30 flux and solder is very popular for aluminum tube repairs in refridgeration.

TIG using 1100 rod would be tricky but doable if you can get protection from crosswinds.

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H

Thanks, Ernie!

Esab makes an 1188 GTAW wire .................thinkin' about not having AC available, only DC in the field...probably the Maxstar 150 and a lotta luck tacklin' the gravity issue(OH)!

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E

That really sucks because the Maxstar 150 feeds the gas through the negative terminal, so it is quite difficult to use DC electrode positive for aluminum. You can do it, but you need a gas valve body torch handle. You have to route the gas directly to the torch, bypassing the solenoid valve in the Maxstar.

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