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Jun 13, 2012 10:11:27 GMT
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I know of loads of exhausts done like this, it seems to work fine but I was speaking to a bloke at a custom exhaust place and he reckoned they would end up cracking fairly quickly.
Is this balderdash? I know stainless expands about 50% more with heat than mild steel, so maybe he had a point?
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barty
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,088
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Jun 13, 2012 10:13:23 GMT
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weve done it before with no problems, only thing is the welds will rust
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Jun 13, 2012 10:19:52 GMT
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As Barty says, not a problem if the welds are good but the welds will rust eventually along with a small area of stainless next to the weld. Shouldn't cause any problems though...
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Jun 13, 2012 10:22:06 GMT
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ive been doing it for about 10 years(albeit with argosheild rather than co2) and ive not had a single one crack.
as barty says, only downside is the welds rust,, but were only talking a bit of surface not enough to shorten the life of the exhaust at all. a bit of hi-temp or zinc spray pretty much stops that anyway.
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Jun 13, 2012 10:24:55 GMT
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Nice one. I'm not over bothered about it rusting, I only really used stainless pipe because it's what I had to hand rather than being anal about having a shiny exhaust or owt!
Thanks chaps!
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Jun 13, 2012 11:19:52 GMT
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LOL co2  |
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"No............I think I'll stick with the Maxi"
Arther Daley
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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Jun 13, 2012 11:49:22 GMT
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Cracking will possibly be down more to material, High Chrome stainless will probably be more likely to crack,
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,791 
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Jun 13, 2012 12:09:52 GMT
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Why not just get a small roll of stainless wire?
Generally speaking tho for stainless welding you use either pureshield or a nitrogen mix
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Jun 13, 2012 12:37:00 GMT
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If your happy using co2, why not just use a high amp car battery, a couple jump leads and a stainless arc rod?
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"No............I think I'll stick with the Maxi"
Arther Daley
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Jun 13, 2012 12:54:12 GMT
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Edit: As others with much more experience have said, I've welded stainless with mild wire with no problem. If your happy using co2, why not just use a high amp car battery, a couple jump leads and a stainless arc rod? Sorry for the thread hijack, I've got a little hobby welder 100amp (iirc) it uses the little soda stream style cylinders. It really easy to get hold of the co2 cylinders from work, is it really worth getting argon ones which seem to be harder to get hold of? I'm about to repair the battery tray in my Chevette, will argon make a huge difference to the quality of the weld? |
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2012 12:59:42 GMT by Robinxr4i
Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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Jun 13, 2012 13:18:02 GMT
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when welding mild steel mix gas is way better than using pure argon, the weld doesn't penetrate as well with argon. also, welding stainless with mix gas is no problem, it just splutters a bit more but it's not that bad.
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Jun 13, 2012 13:27:50 GMT
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Thanks for the info, I'll stick to co2 for my battery tray then lol!
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Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,309
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jun 13, 2012 16:01:08 GMT
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Edit: As others with much more experience have said, I've welded stainless with mild wire with no problem. If your happy using co2, why not just use a high amp car battery, a couple jump leads and a stainless arc rod? Sorry for the thread hijack, I've got a little hobby welder 100amp (iirc) it uses the little soda stream style cylinders. It really easy to get hold of the co2 cylinders from work, is it really worth getting argon ones which seem to be harder to get hold of? I'm about to repair the battery tray in my Chevette, will argon make a huge difference to the quality of the weld? Depends who you ask. For me, going to Argon helped me from being a messy welder to being a reasonably tidy one with solid welds to boot . But as with anything, practice makes perfect. |
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Jun 13, 2012 18:29:04 GMT
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Co2 is just rubbish, i mean utter garbage, for your battery tray go to any welding supply co, or Halfrauds and buy a disposable argon shield/mix can.....and if your welding loads, find somewhere that has loads of argon shield bottles and do a deal with them, my local weigh in yard charged me £80 deposit and £40 for the fill, and £40 there after for refills....a full sized bottle usually lasts me around 3 years
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"No............I think I'll stick with the Maxi"
Arther Daley
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Jun 13, 2012 21:02:28 GMT
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CO2 can help when welding thin metal, as it reduces the overall heat of the weld. But this means naff-all penetration on anything over tin-foil thickness. Good for tacking things together and general bodywork stuff. But for things like battery trays, or anything structural, a CO2/Argon mix will improve the weld substantially!
Pure Argon is best left for specialist welding (stainless) and arguably, would benefit your situation.
All types are on the shelf at Halfords - but for the love of god, read the bottles, not the shelf labels! They get mixed up rather easily
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You're like a crazy backyard genius! |
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Jun 14, 2012 14:01:48 GMT
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Next time I'll invest in a Argon/Co2 bottle, the metal in the battery tray of the Chevette is really thin. I repaired a small section last night and the Co2 seemed to be fine got plenty of penetration once I got into the swing of it lol.
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Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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Jun 14, 2012 14:25:50 GMT
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From the MIG forum, it's said pure CO2 is 'bad' (m'kay) to weld s/s with - can't remember why. Argon mix works fine, done it a fair bit, exhausts, and if needing to weld a nut to a mild steel bracket I prefer s/s nuts as they weld nicer than mild BZP ones.
Re mild, again from the MIG forum apparently CO2 welds hotter so they use CO2 on thick structural things. True or not, I'd say argon mix is better for thin metal, smoother and less reactive. Got some with a higher CO2 content (for thicker steel) it's not that nice to weld thin with, am getting some low-Co2 mix for my forthcoming project, it's noticeably nicer.
CO2's ace though for general melting as it's so cheap if you can wangle a pub bottle. It is more reactive and fizzy, when upside down the hot rock in the ear potential is definitely higher vs argon mix... ;D
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'66 Amazon <-> '94 LS400 <-> '86 Suzuki 1135 EFE
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