Welding Tips and Tricks

Quick question for y’all, the shop where I do maintenance work in winter, on one of their forklifts one of the main hydraulic lines has a pinhole that occasionally squirts out oil. It’s not a worn down patch, just a single pinhole so a quick Mig weld I’m hoping should plug it. But the problem is, the line is on the main lifting cylinder, and it’s welded on, I can’t take it off. And it’s a 10’ long by 10” diameter cylinder, taking that out of the machine, getting all the oil out would be a 2 day job. All for a tiny pinhole.

Would it be possible to try and weld over the pinhole as is, on the machine? Get all the paint off around it, acetone rub it etc first of course.

Thanks

I would drain as much as possible and o a braze the torch should burn out oil and paint if the hose is off heat wire brush braze with lf bronze

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Mike Westbrook wrote:I would drain as much as possible and o a braze the torch should burn out oil and paint if the hose is off heat wire brush braze with lf bronze

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Sounds like a plan right here...^^^

Mike Westbrook wrote:I would drain as much as possible and o a braze the torch should burn out oil and paint if the hose is off heat wire brush braze with lf bronze

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I’ve never done O/A brazing, just Tig and silicon bronze.

My main concern is, is there any danger of something blowing up in my face? Since it’s probably full of oil when I do weld?

As long as the hose is off and the oils drained it may catch fire but I doubt explode you could Tig braze same idea different heat source I've done them out in the field on equipment mostly just smoke I fear the pinhole is a rust hole rubbed hole or crack and mig would just aggravate those problems

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Mike Westbrook wrote:As long as the hose is off and the oils drained it may catch fire but I doubt explode you could Tig braze same idea different heat source I've done them out in the field on equipment mostly just smoke I fear the pinhole is a rust hole rubbed hole or crack and mig would just aggravate those problems

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I just went to have a look, it’s not actually the line that’s leaking, it’s where the line is welded to the cylinder. So plenty thick to weld on, and a good heat sink.

That's an imperfect fillet weld. Grind it right back in that area to remove the pin hole and weld it up. Tig would be best but mig will work too if you're good enough. Permanent fix. Make sure it's draIned first and open to atmosphere.

Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk

Coldman wrote:That's an imperfect fillet weld. Grind it right back in that area to remove the pin hole and weld it up. Tig would be best but mig will work too if you're good enough. Permanent fix. Make sure it's draIned first and open to atmosphere.

Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk

Yeah, die grinder to dig some out, and mig welded over it. I know why it failed in that spot, because its pretty much impossible to get a mig gun in there, without over an inch of stickout.

Couldve maybe used self shielding i guess. And no nozzle.

https://goo.gl/images/uXksFg these are great for close quarters. Have a long tip to go inside them.

weldin mike 27 wrote:https://goo.gl/images/uXksFg these are great for close quarters. Have a long tip to go inside them.

Huh, never heard of that! I’ll see if Lincoln makes one for their Magnum guns

They seem to, but refer to them as tapered tips.

Hydraulic oil is a non compressible fluid, it will not explode, it will catch fire tho, if u drain it make sure its open to atmosphere because once air is inside, it can explode, the main thing with hydraulic cylinders is to keep in mind the internal seals are made of a special nylon/plastic, and it melts easily when welding. Whichenver side of the cylinder that hard line is on, just remove the line feeding that side, actuate the cylinder a little bit to suck in some air and consequently pushing back the hydraulic fluid, that should be sufficient, then just get in and get out, dont putt lots of heat on the cylinder.

Make sure to keep that cylinder cool hole welding. Wrap it in wet Rags dripping wet with attention to where there is a seal or O ring . That will hopefully keep your rubber parts near there safe from excessive heat. I often supplement with or use a spray bottle spraying water also. Whatever works Keep those areas [emoji41] cool.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk