I am wondering what would be the best way to weld some steel "weld elbows" together. The metal was purchased from a local pipe store and is 1 1/2" in diameter (i'm not exactly sure how thick they are). They are quite thick compared to exhaust pipe and are not stainless or cast. If you need pictures I could post some up later tonight.

So far I've cut all the tubes and tacked together everything with a compact Lincoln 230V MIG welder. I don't think there is enough penetration with this welder and 22-25gauge wire to do it.

Please offer some advice and suggestions. Can I MIG it somehow, or does it need to be TIG'ed or Arc welded.

Here is a pic I found which is very similar to the pipe i used:






Modified by XES at 2:22 PM 12/5/2004

 

The BEST way to do it is to just pay me to do it.

 

More than likely you have Schedule 40 elbows, .135" wall thickness, 30* chamfers on each end.
If they're mild or stainless steel: TIG weld one root pass with .035" ER80L wire at 80 amps with a full argon gas back at 30 cfh, let the joint air cool for ~15 mins (until the core temperature is below 400*F, but I doubt you have an infared pyrometer or any melt sticks on hand so just let it sit for ~15 mins), then run a stringer pass with some .045" wire at 100 amps to fill the groove.

If you're MIG welding just pour it on until the joints don't leak.

 

I MIG sch 40 elbows all the time. I just cut the chamfer a little deeper and wider and lay one good pass. Never had one crack. Your machine is plenty big enough to make a serviceable manifold.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bailhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I MIG sch 40 elbows all the time. I just cut the chamfer a little deeper and wider and lay one good pass. Never had one crack. Your machine is plenty big enough to make a serviceable manifold.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Would I need a certain thickness of wire, or anything else to make the MIG work? I was told that the welder we have (I believe it is a Lincoln Electric SP-175 230V welder) would not provide enough penetration to give a reliable, strong weld (which is going on a high hp high heat car). Are any other welding methods much stronger, etc.


Modified by XES at 2:20 PM 12/5/2004

 

Great info on the welding, looking to do some like that in near future. Little experience but that helps know those tips.

 

You can mig weld it up fine as long as you have your welder setup nicely and you know what your doing. The mig you have it plenty for sched 40 pipe. I would just recomend you don't grind down all the welds after your done because your basically grinding off half your bonding strength.

You can always pay someone to tig it up for you if you want it to look nice.