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Welding fuel tanks

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waj(at)quik.com
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:45 am Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Hello group ,I am getting ready  to weld( I hope) my fuel tanks .My plan is : Use .040  5052-H32  material , 1/16" pure tungsten electrode ,1/16" 5356 filler material ,cleco  together ,preheat & stitch weld to control distortion .I lay no claim to  fame as an aluminum welder ,however in my earlier live I was a certified pipe  welder on several Nuclear power plants .With some practice I may be able to  regain some of my lost skills .Can anyone the group offer any suggestions that  may help me on this plan . Thanks Wade Jones  South  Texas

   [quote][b]

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p.mulwitz(at)worldnet.att
Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:25 am Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Hi Wade,



 Just a rumor (I don't have the urge to weld tanks myself) that there is a special optical filter you can use while welding aluminum that makes it easier to see the puddle.  All I can recommend is you ask you supplier about this.



 Good luck,



 Paul

 XL fuselage



 [quote]Hello group ,I am getting ready to weld( I hope) my fuel tanks .My plan is : Use .040  5052-H32 material , 1/16" pure tungsten electrode ,1/16" 5356 filler material ,cleco together ,preheat & stitch weld to control distortion .I lay no claim to fame as an aluminum welder ,however in my earlier live I was a certified pipe welder on several Nuclear power plants .With some practice I may be able to regain some of my lost skills .Can anyone the group offer any suggestions that may help me on this plan . Thanks Wade Jones  South Texas

 

 [b]

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larry(at)macsmachine.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:05 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Wade,

You're selection of materials is right on and you might look into an 

electric lensed helmet if you've not already.  I have a bit of history 

written to a web journal Section 2 starting April 3, for TIG welding my 

aircrafts tanks. I made almost all the mistakes one could, so there 

might be more that would be of interest to you.  Also the menu entitled 

"lead edge tanks" and "header tank" have images that show a method, jigs 

and process for setup welding fittings and testing the tanks, etc.  See 

www.macsmachine.com.

If you have specific question on any of this along the way don't 

hesitate to ask.



Larry McFarland - 601HDS

Wade Jones wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   Hello group ,I am getting ready to weld( I hope) my fuel tanks .My 

 plan is : Use .040  5052-H32 material , 1/16" pure tungsten electrode 

 ,1/16" 5356 filler material ,cleco together ,preheat & stitch weld to 

 control distortion .I lay no claim to fame as an aluminum welder 

 ,however in my earlier live I was a certified pipe welder on several 

 Nuclear power plants .With some practice I may be able to regain some 

 of my lost skills .Can anyone the group offer any suggestions that may 

 help me on this plan . Thanks Wade Jones  South Texas

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waj(at)quik.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Thank you ,Paul & Larry for your advise .I already have an electric self 

darkening lenses in my helmet .I don't think the enhanced vision filter 

would work on these type helmets ,but I will check with my supplier .And 

Larry I read about your complete fuel tank building process ,you have a 

great site .  Thanks again Wade

---

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agustafson(at)chartermi.n
Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:57 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

do not archive



I planned on making this a story to put in an EAA Chapter newsletter, to 

kill two birds with one stone, but with all the traffic lately on welding 

fuel tanks, I decided to just give some facts from my expierence now.



I went to forums by the Tin Man at Oshkosh two or three times



Bought small torch tips from the tin man



Bought flux from the Tin Man



Bought Rod from three different places



Bought wire from the Tin Man



To begin with, I could only melt aluminum and see it drop on the floor.



Then with some practice I could keep it off the floor but it would not stick 

together.  You could break it right apart.



Realized   I CAN'T SEE!



Trip to the welding store to purchase goggles



To the big discount store to purchase two kinds of reading glasses



Back to the welding store to purchase lenses



First one was too dark, 2 steps lighter was too bright but #7 shade was just 

right. I ended up using a pair????of reading glasses with one lens removed. 

And taping a #7 shade to a fishermans magnifying glass (the kind that clips 

to a baseball cap visor. Now I could see!



Back to forum at Oshkosh, this time with questions.



At this point I can make a bead on flat stock but not near the edge.



And it will only work if the flux is on the rod only and not on the work 

piece.



With more practice, starting to make pretty good lap joints.So I decided to 

put the flanges



facing inside the tank.



Made one tank out of  .040   3003, clecoed  together but had many leaks and 

even more with the clecoe holes and it was too heavy.



Order more 3003, this time .032



More practice, learned how to put flux on the work and indirectly heat it so 

the flux doesn't get burnt.



Tried pinch joint again, getting better



Second tank, this time the way it's supposed to be with the flanges facing 

out and tach weld every inch using metal spring clamps to get tight joints.



More practice, this time on like size pieces just prior to the real thing. 

There's a big diference in heating 4 square inches compared to 40+.



When welding a pinch joint, 3/16" - ¼"of the seam gets melted down



End result!!!  After  1 ½  years of welding practice, I just closed the 

second wing a few days ago.



Some major points I learned:



1.  Must be able to see very well.



2.  Work must be very clean (SS brush real well just prior to welding)



3.  Do not direct heat the flux  Once it burns you can't see the puddle and 

it's contaminated



4.  The work must melt or you are not getting penetration



5.  Keep moving . Try not to stop since rewarming the joint is difficult and 

usually results in a leak at that point



6.  Practice Practice Practice Takes patience. I gave up many times, saying 

"I can't do this"



It probably cost me more to learn and purchase material and equipment than 

it would have to have a professional do it.



BUT,  I am among only a few of us who can say we can gas weld aluminum.



Aaron Gustafson   601 HDTD  Plans  0-200   11 years next month

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btucke73(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:29 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Wade,

   

      You have the right materials.  There is no need to preheat, however.  Sometimes when preheating aluminum, you can very slightly contaminate the material, and the weld will not look quite right.  It will still work, just not as pretty.  With a 1/16" electrode, you can probably go with a step down gas cup.  This allows for getting into tighter spots, and better view of what is going on.  You will be glad you chose .040.  It is much easier...

   

       Also, I do not recommend using outside flange joints.  They are not as strong.  The Tony Bingelis article on welding gas tanks specifically say to use lap joints, and not outside flange.  It also points out that you should use pleanty of filler rod...

   

  VR/

   

  Brandon

   

  601HDS / [quote][b]

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waj(at)quik.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:05 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Thanks Aaron And Brandon ,it takes a lot more to  gas weld aluminum than to tig weld it .Hey Brandon I e-mailed you awhile back  when you first test flew your plane at ocean Side Ca. My daughter has a business  just across the field from you ,it is a Budget truck rental on Mission Ave .I  have told her to look out her door sometime and see a good looking 601 ,nice  paint job .  Thanks again Wade Jones

 [quote]   ---

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rvickski(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:55 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Wade, 

I used .040 5052 H32 with 5356 rod and had excellent

results, this is what I learned after fabricating 2

"practice" tanks.

 

Trim and form the tank ends after the body of the tank

is welded, I got a much nicer fit this way and fit is

everything. I relieved the flanged corners of the

ends, this made for a no gap fit, don't worry if there

is a little hole in each corner. I tacked each joint

in the middle then the middle again and again until

there was a tack every inch or so. 



I made tank #3 with the bead and tank #4 without. I

have come to find that the technical reason for the

bead is weld stress expansion, a eighth in. radius on

the end flange helps here also.



If you have your senders they can be adjusted and fit

while the sides are off and it is much easier to

flange the bung openings if you have access to the

inside.



I laid about 150 inches of weld bead on surplus

material over the course of a month or so to get

really comfortable. 60 amps and 15cfh was about right.

Bright and shiny clean material is a given and wipe

the rod with a clean rag and alcohol. Plan start to

finish welding on one tank in one setting and don't be

shy with the filler rod. Have your pressure test stuff

and stainless brush handy, fix the pinholes before the

material can oxidize, Lincoln electric says you are

good for a couple of days but I like to strike while

the torch is hot, so to speak.



good luck and have fun



Roy Szarafinski

701 plans

south Michigan 22deg F and lovely

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waj(at)quik.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:27 pm Post subject: Welding fuel tanks

Thanks Roy sounds like sound advice .I have not worked on the plane for a 

couple of days due to equipment repair .To the group ,I was real proud of 

myself today .Last year I bought an old good looking Airco welding machine 

because it had AC/DC &HF needed for Aluminum welding .After getting it home 

it would not weld on AC or DC however the HF was working .I found that by 

hooking this machine to my other machine that does not have HF I was able to 

weld Aluminum .Now for the good part ,today I determined that one of the 

diodes was shorted to ground .After reading the schematic for awhile I 

decided that I could eliminate the diodes and bypass them as they were not 

needed unless DC welding is required .By doing this the machine works great 

on AC &HF and that is what it was bought for .I also found some replacement 

diodes locally for $30.00 each ,which I will replace at a later date and 

restore my DC welding capabilities .Sorry about the long post but I was 

proud to find out this could be done ,and may be of help to someone else . 

Wade Jones

---

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