Well I finished the week off by trying to weld a plug into a old (75 yrs or
so ) heating radiator, the boss told me too use 309L SMAW and a couple
hundred degrees preheat. That failed miserably so I cleaned everything off
and tried a higher preheat temperature and allowed the heat to soak for a
minute before welding.
Well it was a total failure, I did notice the second time around that the
base metal appeared to be evaporating as the arc approached, very strange
behaviour indeed. On Both attempts the weld cracked as soon as welding
stopped even with preheat around 500F, and it appeared as though the weld
could be pulled off by hand.
I am starting to think the radiators may be unweldable or possibly just
difficult. Monday I will attempt the repair with a Cast Iron rod. failing
that I will suggest a threaded plug instead of a welded in one.
I was hoping that someone here may have successfuly repaired one of these
old radiators and would be willing to share their technique. I will only
have a hour monday to make another attempt before the owner tells them it
can not be welded, and I would like to actually make this work,,,very
stubborn!!
Thanks for any help or suggestions,( except solar heating )
John
- posted
18 years ago