stick welding old thin header tubes?

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pishta

pishta

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Holy cow, whats the trick? Im trying to use 5/32 E6011 rod, set the buzzbox as low as it can go and cant strike an arc, move it up to about 40 and I can get an arc, but I blow right through the tube. Now this stiff is pretty thin old crap, not your 16G new header stuff. I guess I could MIG it but the stick seems to give a better bead. The flux mig I use (no filled bottle yet) looks like pretty bad after Im done, very built up, looks like no penetration, although welding super thin tube cat get much penetration. Any tips?
 
if you have a MiG with no gas you will have to use flux core wire and revers the polarity on the welder to get a nice weld........Artie p.s. im not a welder but I do allot of it and I wouldn't think of stick welding it good luck
 
1. The issue with arc welders is that many of the are AC arc welders and the alternating current makes getting a decent bead very difficult.

2. The diameter of rod is too thick. I don't know if anything thinner than 1/8" is available but if it is, you should use it. Thicker rod requires more amperage, which means your more likely to burn through.

3. Flux core wire is really only suitable for heavy material. For 16 gauge tubing you should be using .023 wire with 75% Argon and 25% CO2.

4. You should be able to get decent results with Mig though you need to use gas along with it.

Regards,

Joe Dokes
 
6011 is not near as good as a 6013 rod for that kind of work they dont penetrate as much as the 6011 and a little rust dont bother them either get the smallest ones you can get
 
Man, if your trying to stick weld a rusty old header, I feel for ya, Thats gonna take SKILL
 
I agree it's pretty dicey stick or mig on thinwall. I've had the best luck with gas, OxyAcetyl. I get waay better heat control and nice puddle/penetration. The key is to stitch it where you want it to stay, then go back and do short travels around the tube, 1st on one side and then the other. I put together a broken pipe that cracked off of a manifold flange,(flange on the pipe), just to get it to town. It ended being so nice it's still there and holding like new.
 
The 6011 was available, and the size I had was the smallest too. I just about gave up on the stick, its too hot. Ill just flux mig it and grind the BB's off it. Seems I have to go over every weld twice to get all the pin holes. Oh well, nothing but time and rods and grinding wheels...
 
If you can place a piece of copper or aluminum directly behind what your trying to weld. Steel will not stick to either of those two metals and the backing weld holds the puddle in place until it can harden. A old trick that works great on sheet metal also.
Regardless you can't weld rust.
 
BigWhip said:
If you can place a piece of copper or aluminum directly behind what your trying to weld. Steel will not stick to either of those two metals and the backing weld holds the puddle in place until it can harden. A old trick that works great on sheet metal also.
Regardless you can't weld rust.
Click to expand...

X2! I use copper water pipe. You can bend it to desired shape and flatten it at the end and hold it with the ground clamp of the welder.
Or you can braze it with a torch and use a coathanger!
 
Wow!
I am a journeyman welder and if someone said that a 5/32'' 6011 is the smallest rod you can get, they are out to lunch.
You can get them in 1/16'', but i would not use a 6011 for this at all, a 1/16'' 6013 would be my choice if stick welding was the only option.
Using a copper or brass backup strip would be a good idea.
Personally, i would tig weld it or gas weld it after the joint was cleaned well and all rust removed.
Forget flux core or innershield. Mig would work if it was very clean.
Welding any rusty exhaust pipes is just a crapshoot anyway......it will never look pretty, just seal and hold.
My advice is to take it to a muffler shop and get them to scab it together for you. they might even do it for a 6 pack of beer or pop!
Want it to look better after it's welded?
That's what they make grinders for.
 
thats pretty funny 5/32 to weld a header tube. im a structural steel welder and i hardly ever use 5/32 rod. you can get some really tiny rods, thinnest ive ever used was 1/16 but i knew a guy that stick welded quarters on his cutlass.
 
6011 is a very agressive rod. You have to whip it in and out of the weld puddle.Its designed to dig in rust and crap. Not for thin wall headers
 
as said before, oxy-acetylene torch... way more control than an a stick welder...
 
Why not just pay a good muffler guy to replace the primary pipe? It's not difficult at all and probably would not be too expensive, either.
 
This is gonna sound strange, but I have my best luck with Oxy/acet and using the wire that they make bucket handles out of.
Grab an old 5 gallon bucket and use the wire off it.
Not sure what it's makeup is but it sure flows nice on exhaust pipe using gas.
 
stick welder is too hot on header tubes,try brazing if you have a torch,mig or tig would be great,or a torch and a coat hanger works
 
If stick is the only way, 1/16" 6013 (mentioned previously) would be my choice. Somewhere in the 35 to 50 amp range. Base metal still would need to be solid, surface rust cleaned up but solid base metal.

:glasses7:
440outlawdart said:
stick welder is too hot on header tubes,try brazing if you have a torch,mig or tig would be great,or a torch and a coat hanger works
Click to expand...
 
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