Welding Tips and Tricks

I have a 275 gallon tank I was to repair for a small pinhole in the bottom. I got the tank and honestly was just floored, the pinhole is easy....but the abortion of a previous repair at the drain fitting is going to be some work. This is a mixing tank for a food product and no way am I letting it go back in service like this.

So the project begins.....

....I could clench a torch in my ass crack and squat over the piece and make a better weld. Only ONE pinhole leak???

Show us the before and afters Rick.

Good grief, put JB Weld on the last welders Christmas List. At least the weld on the I-Line fitting looks good.

Funny thing is the pin hole is in the bottom of the tank..lol

I got the 13g Stainless patch cut out last night, will be working on it tonight. I haven't decided yet if I am going to weld the new ferrule in first or patch then drill.

wouldn't know where to start to fix that neck.
maybe 50 ton crusher.
craig

Heck...it probably just looks bad from the outside, I'm sure it was purged and passivated correctly What food company did that come from so I know what to avoid...Purina Dog Chow?

Gotta like all the butt holes on that inside shot, yet it didn't leak

DLewis0289 wrote:Good grief, put JB Weld on the last welders Christmas List. At least the weld on the I-Line fitting looks good.

Hey D, this guy wouldn't even get the grinder for Christmas, eh?

Well it better be a Metabo, DeWalt would never last that guy.

Good thing you cut it all out there's no way you could figure out which hole was the leaker.

Got the patch made and tacked in tonight....

When i saw that previous fitting

rick
really nice fit on that patch.
bet that took some time to fit up.
craig

I would just leave it the way it is and call it done...looks better and probably doesn't leak as bad

exnailpounder wrote:I would just leave it the way it is and call it done...looks better and probably doesn't leak as bad

The fitting actually didn't leak..lol I was asked to repair a pinhole that was in the very bottom. I'm thinking it leaked at one time and someone just kept migging it till it stopped...

Thanks, yeah that patch tool a little bit of time but once I started tacking it in went pretty good, felt like a body man. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to weld and finish the patch then do he fitting, or do the fitting and weld it all. Weighing he pros and cons of that now..lol

Then I'll finally weld that pinhole up in he bottom.

Markus wrote:When i saw that previous fitting

Yeah pretty bad that someone didn't even consider it would hold a food product....luckily the product has a high level of alcohol so it most likely killed anything that lingered. The tank was not currently in service thank god.

I would do the patch first, fitting second. I am from the school the less I have to weld around the better. The other side of the coin, once everything is tacked in place it's just a welding party from that point. Personal preference.

DLewis0289 wrote:I would do the patch first, fitting second. I am from the school the less I have to weld around the better. The other side of the coin, once everything is tacked in place it's just a welding party from that point. Personal preference.

You and I think alike....kinda scary

Great minds think alike, and we both have probable learned the hard way of the do's and don't to make our life easier. I have worked my own self into a cussing on more than one occasion over the years.

Rick_H wrote:Got the patch made and tacked in tonight....

Are you going to have to purge that entire tank or can you get backside coverage some other way?

-Sandow

Sandow wrote:

Rick_H wrote:Got the patch made and tacked in tonight....

Are you going to have to purge that entire tank or can you get backside coverage some other way?

-Sandow

It's a portable tank with a removable lid so I can get to the back. I'll be welding it in shortly...

Rick...what is your procedure for welding thin SS? Do you chill bar or do you stop pretty often to take out heat? I can't really tell from the pics how thick the metal is but I have seen stainless do some crazy warping without heat control. Yours looks nice and smooth. I can see a few stops and starts in your welds but not many.

Freaking outstanding. You need to post the side by side pics of before and after lol.

Finely found a weld that looks worse than mine!!