Welding Tips and Tricks

So anyone out here have experience welding on cast Iron diesel engine parts, more specifically diesel engines for large ships. I have to weld some cracked parts and just don't want to miss anything.

Robert,
I've never welded on an engine out of a ship as there's not much ocean in my neighborhood. I have welded a bearing journal web in an engine out of a payloader and did a block repair on a old Cat generator. The Cat engine leaked a little oil from the top of the weld but otherwise held up and the payloader lasted until they retired it a few years after.

It was a very long time ago for both of those so I don't remember all the particulars. I used high Nickel rods made for cast and the bearing web we packed with insulation (from the kiln on site) to let it cool slowly. Vee'd out from both sides and stitch welded it to try and limit heat input.

I wouldn't trust a cast repair on a ship that I planned on going through the North Atlantic with in mid-winter though, just saying.

Len

www.metalsurgery.com to see how the professional fix it men and women do it

First, off are the parts going to be machined afterwards? Second, can you get to the the parts to clean them and grind them? Third, does the parts have any kind of stress on them? I personally like the lincoln nickle rods-soft weld 99ni, soft weld 55ni, and ferroweld. The 99ni rods are good for a single pass but pre heat and slowing the cool down is critical, and they are machinable but expensive. 55ni is a good rod a little bit cheaper than 99 and are also machinable most of the time. They are good for parts that are thicker and can be used when more than one pass is needed, and they are less likely to stress crack than 99. The ferroweld is a good cheaper rod they really shine when the parts cant be cleaned really good, they are also really easy to run but CANNOT be machined. Now, the way I usually weld cast and this all is just my opinion and preference i clean it as good as possible, v it out if possible, pre-heat, weld short beads if possible, and after each weld I take a ball pien hammer and ping all around the weld and surrounding area, and when all the welding is done I take and wrap it in wool blankets to help slow the cooling down. Sand also works great if there small pieces and you have some. I hope this helps.

Brad

Hey Brad. I had this conversation with a guy on facebook, he was adamant he would use 7018s and then drill a hole in it afterwards... Im like... Yeah... No.

Hey mike, did you wish him the best of luck with that lol.

I left him to it. He was prepared to wreck a few drill bits, so I'm sure he's a marvelous operator. The kind you always find on face book. Lol

Thanks very much for all the tips and as far as the facebook guy goes well he can do whatever he wants as long as im the one who get to fix it later and no one gets hurt lol. because then I will ask first and I will be confident in the repair .

btw those tips came in handy

RobertB wrote:btw those tips came in handy

I'm glad the forum was able to help.

How'd the job go?

Steve S

the job went well once I used yalls tips and made sure I grooved it out and drilled a hole at either end and welded it in small sections and she is up and running thx