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Rookies Welding Tanks ...

 
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mbima(at)hydro.mb.ca
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 6:19 am    Post subject: Rookies Welding Tanks ... Reply with quote
It took me 1 month of part time work to fab 4 tanks. All of that time
included learning how to weld thin scrap aluminum (burning lots of
holes), cutting, bending, beading, fitting, clamping, welding (with a 35
year-old Purox torch). Before this I had 1 big bottle of amateur
welding experience. The local tig welders did not believe me when I
said that it was .025 - as they thought it was 1/2 the thickness of the
minimum to torch-weld.

I am not tooting my own horn here - just giving some other amateurs
confidence that with enough patience, allowing yourself to fail and
learn, an empty wallet (I am not paying $1000 to Zenith if there is a
remote possibility I can do it myself for a tenth of the cost), and of
course the stubbornness of a three-legged mule, IT CAN BE DONE.

I pressure/leak tested all of them (blew up one of them like a balloon
with about 4 psi), fixed the pinholes by welding, tested them again, and
then dumped in the tank seal for even more insurance (although the pros
recommended not to do that because the tank becomes un-weldable to
repair). When the first tank leaks, I will just replace it with another
complete tank (cost about $25 in materials).

HAPPY BUILDING
Martin Bima
STOL-Vair

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cgalley(at)qcbc.org
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:54 pm    Post subject: Rookies Welding Tanks ... Reply with quote
The FAA certification check pressure is only 3.5 psi in the installed
condition. 1 psi will do the job. Use a toy balloon on the vent so it
blows up long before you can damage anything.

Cy Galley - Chair,
AirVenture Emergency Aircraft Repair
A Service Project of Chapter 75
EAA Safety Programs Editor - TC
EAA Sport Pilot

---

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btucke73(at)yahoo.com
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:29 pm    Post subject: Rookies Welding Tanks ... Reply with quote
I put a ball valve and a fitting on mine and simply
blew into the tank for pressurization. Stop when the
tank sides begin to balloon slightly. I then used my
daughters bubble solution to find pinholes and marked
them with a sharpie. I used 5052 for my wing tanks,
as per a Tony Bingelis article at .032, and 6061 for
the header tank, as per plans at .025. They were
all deformed after welding, but who cares? Thicker is
easier. If I were to do it again, I would probably do
it with .040. The weight difference could be
minimized slightly by the reduced amount of filler
needed to fill gaps due to heat distortion on the
thinner metal.

My welding services are available to anyone within
driving distance of Oceanside, Ca. -For the
reasonable rate of 2 cold delicious beers an hour.

R/

Brandon Tucker
601 HDS
Corvair purring like a kitten
in final assembly

http://home.sandiego.edu/~btucker-03/

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pilotdna(at)hotmail.com
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:02 pm    Post subject: Rookies Welding Tanks ... Reply with quote
Thanks for the post Martin!

I wanted to make my own tanks so I purchased the "Gas welding aluminum"
video by Kent White (since I already have a torch that I'm pretty confident
with) but the TIG guys here in the University of Florida machine shop
laughed at me so I put that task off. I figured it only looked doable in
the video because Kent White has supernatural powers when it comes to
aluminum.

Your post has changed my mind on that, and since my primary objective for
the build is learning, I'm going to give gas welding my tanks a shot. Every
now and then an encouraging post like yours makes reading this list really
worthwhile! Worst I can do is mess up some aluminum, and wasted material is
often money well spent just because of the experience gained.

Do not archive
Douglas Eatman
601XL/Corvair

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