Is there anything you won't weld?

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Like the title says is there anything you refuse to or don't feel comfortable welding. For me I'm not comfortable with high pressure vessels. I've been offered a propane tank to weld back together because they wanted to make a portable air tank but I wasn't comfortable with the kind of pressure that would be exerted and how my weld would hold up. Anyone have anything similar or not so similar or anything lol
Reply:Used gas tanks.They go Bam!I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Anything that had fuel in it.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Large pressure vessels aren't an issue to weld on. Its small portable pressurized tanks and such that are where things can go wrong very quickly. Mainly because the metal is so much thinner than say a 50,000 gallon pressurized vessel that has 1/2" walls. Now the Natural gas compressor scrubbers had me a little more worried to weld on because instead of a vessel with lets say 400-500 PSI these babys had around 1440 PSI.
Reply:I wont weld stuff out of pre galvanised tube, had some bad reactions to fumes, not worth the health risk
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeUsed gas tanks.They go Bam!
Reply:Got asked to weld old amusement park rides back together, they hung up while I was laughing at them
Reply:.... I won't weld galvanized. I don't have any certification, so i can't weld a lot.....VictorPraxairAir LiquideMillerLincoln Electric
Reply:Originally Posted by Firemanmike69Got asked to weld old amusement park rides back together, they hung up while I was laughing at them
Reply:Originally Posted by Firemanmike69Got asked to weld old amusement park rides back together, they hung up while I was laughing at them
Reply:Originally Posted by MinnesotaDaveHeck, should have done that one just for public safety - they probably just kept using them as-is
Reply:Any vehicle with a fuel leak or even a smell of fuel.
Reply:Originally Posted by A_DAB_will_doX2.  I've had the same call.I also don't touch air compressor tanks with pin-hole leaks.  Too much customer neglect and entirely to much risk of a catastrophic failure in another location after repair.
Reply:I have welded on a hot line a couple times. Purged with nitrogen and keep your head out of the pipe haha. 12" slip on flanges for a compressor flare line. Wish I still had those pictures of that job. Yall would have liked to see them. Interesting set up we had. 5G fixed position in a pipe rack. 12" sch. 80 line. 6010 5P inside and out of the Slip on flange. 7018 cap on the outside of flange. only 6010 on inside.  Did another 2 years ago on a hot line. Branch T connection with a bore hole tap. This was made for the suction line coming off of a Valero compressor. Line was rated at 1440 and had to pass 100% X-ray(needless to say there wasn't 1440 coming through the line at the time by the way!). It is a little hair raising knowing the fact that the company would not shut-in the platform completely for these welds due to production numbers they wanted to reach. We did everything we could to make the welds as safe as possible for me. It worked, but who is to say the next guy who has to do it doesn't have the proper set-up to make these welds. BOOM!The only reason we had to work on them hot is because the Shut-down valves on the incoming side would not close all the way. There as so many leaky valves that are old and wont seat properly in the gulf its crazy. There was only around 100 psi running through the lines. We countered the pressure with nitrogen for over 2 hours before we could start welding and took the gas meters to test. We caught no readings so I commenced with the welding procedures.Last edited by AndrewDavenport89; 04-16-2015 at 11:35 AM.
Reply:Anything rotating at high speed, that can cause injury if a piece lets go.Enjoy those completely unrelated old pictures of aluminium propeller blades having bullet holes welded.
Reply:Add me to list on pressure tanks and gas tanks. I have welded on carnival rides a quite a bit tho. The local carnival opperator lived nearby so he brought me all his work when he was close. I completely rebuilt his octopus ride when he let the bushings get too worn out and the pins wore into the bushing sleeves. I spent about 2 weeks cutting all the pivots off and replacing them with new ones. He paid good and always in cash.Yeah, I know, but it'll be ok!Lincoln Square wave 255Miller Vintage mig30a spoolgunThermal Dynamics Pacmaster 100xl plasmaSmith mc torchEllis 1600 band saw
Reply:Glad to know I'm not alone in being iffy on some things
Reply:Car and truck frames, ill do just about anything else, except exhaust systems, especially "used" ones, meaning its a '95 subaru wagon with more rust on the exhaust than actual metal.I cut my teeth with sidework on garbage like that, I'm done crawling underneath cars to do thatMiller Spoolmate 200 w/t S-52 WirefeederMM 211'09 Miller Trailblazer 302
Reply:@IanDuffinCar body welding and truck frames are very simple to weld on. We have cut cars and trucks in half and spliced them back together. The key to doing it safely is finding the seams where the frames splice into each other. Usually they are overlapping and sleeve into each other instead of one continuous piece. The key to cutting the back or front half of a frame is cutting the sleeve apart and spreading it by heating it up and slamming a wedge in between the sleeve to separate it. (Sort of peeling it back like a tin can) But don't go crazy. Once you have your other half of the frame prepped and ready to slide back into the sleeve line level the axles to the front axles, line level the frame to the front half of the frame. Use all necessary tools to get it completely square. Then you beat your peeled back sleeve back right. Heat it, beat it until you shape it back around the new frame. Weld it up. Simple. We have done 100's of totaled vehicles just like this. The process I explained is mainly for the trucks we have done. Cars are the same principle. Although many cars are UNI-BODY. Which have no frame. Just like Jeep Cherokees. Then you have to find the seam where it was robotically spot welded. Drill out all the welds. Cut the car in half. Put new half of car back together. Fill in the spot welds you drilled out and put a new coat of caulking seal over it.Never cut on a car or truck frame SQUARE(Failing point for structural integrity if cut square)!!! They are usually always sleeved together and you peel them apart and slide it out.
Reply:I am not afraid of welding gas tanks, there is just usually not enough money in them to make me want to do them. Face it, they don't want to spend money, which is why they are trying to get you to cobble something. I wont cobble anything. Same with used air tanks, it is cheaper to buy a new one. It is my understanding that the cheap tanks have a 10 year only life span and they are supposed to be scrapped. I don't weld galvanized for people anymore. I cant stand the smell, or the hot welding BBs. I almost always get one in a glove, through my pants, on my head, etc.
Reply:I won't weld what I DON'T WANT to weld. Since I'm mostly doing this for myself, then I can pick and choose what I want to weld on. But certainly nothing that is going to blow up in my face.
Reply:Same here.  I've done gasoline and diesel tanks, but I know about proper cleaning procedures, inert gas purging, and will use an O2 meter to confirm when it's safe to weld.  But I've turned away tanks that were too far gone to fix if I deemed they were in too bad a shape. Originally Posted by walkerI am not afraid of welding gas tanks, there is just usually not enough money in them to make me want to do them. Face it, they don't want to spend money, which is why they are trying to get you to cobble something. I wont cobble anything. Same with used air tanks, it is cheaper to buy a new one. It is my understanding that the cheap tanks have a 10 year only life span and they are supposed to be scrapped. I don't weld galvanized for people anymore. I cant stand the smell, or the hot welding BBs. I almost always get one in a glove, through my pants, on my head, etc.
Reply:I would be leery of welding fuel tanks like most of y'all said. I've welded galv but it's not something I really like to do it would like to do again. I'm not into zinc fumes or whatever is in there
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeUsed gas tanks.They go Bam!
Reply:I used to weld on amusement park rides almost everyday when I was the welding supervisor at West Edmonton Mall. You had to be a journeyman and they had 3rd party inspection on all welds and millwrights did visual inspections everyday before opening the rides. It is probably one of the most inspected amusement parks after 3 people were killed on the Mindbender roller coaster years ago. One of the big support beams has a bend in the flange where the cars came off that someone wrote RIP on. Every ride is shut down once a year for a complete inspection and teardown if required. I did some welding on bogies for the Mindbender and the inspector was watching me. They sent some other ones out to have done and who ever welded them did a horrible job. I said I could do a much better job and ran a 6010 root and 7018 cap. They called their consulting engineer to set up a procedure for future repairs and he suggested exactly the way I did it with a 6010 root. It's nice when you get a little respect for knowing what you're doing.Originally Posted by Welder DaveI used to weld on amusement park rides almost everyday when I was the welding supervisor at West Edmonton Mall. You had to be a journeyman and they had 3rd party inspection on all welds and millwrights did visual inspections everyday before opening the rides. It is probably one of the most inspected amusement parks after 3 people were killed on the Mindbender roller coaster years ago. One of the big support beams has a bend in the flange where the cars came off that someone wrote RIP on. Every ride is shut down once a year for a complete inspection and teardown if required. I did some welding on bogies for the Mindbender and the inspector was watching me. They sent some other ones out to have done and who ever welded them did a horrible job. I said I could do a much better job and ran a 6010 root and 7018 cap. They called their consulting engineer to set up a procedure for future repairs and he suggested exactly the way I did it with a 6010 root. It's nice when you get a little respect for knowing what you're doing.
Reply:They had one ride they were constantly fixing because it was vibrating itself apart. They were too stubborn to listen to countless suggestions of mounting the ride on thick rubber mats to absorb vibration. Amusement park rides are normally bolted to wood or some other type of material to absorb vibration but this one was bolted directly to the concrete floor.Just read another post and had a light bulb go off. I won't weld a damaged mower blade and put it back in service.Last edited by Welder Dave; 04-16-2015 at 11:31 PM.
Reply:Really?! Hahaha ****ing peopleMiller Spoolmate 200 w/t S-52 WirefeederMM 211'09 Miller Trailblazer 302
Reply:Heard of a guy that died from a hydraulic line exploding and the hydraulic oil was pushed into his bloodstream/body along with parts of clothing. He was hospitalized immediately and didn't last long. Some People really don't understand the dangers of hydraulic pressure.
Reply:Originally Posted by AndrewDavenport89Heard of a guy that died from a hydraulic line exploding and the hydraulic oil was pushed into his bloodstream/body along with parts of clothing. He was hospitalized immediately and didn't last long. Some People really don't understand the dangers of hydraulic pressure.
Reply:Originally Posted by AndrewDavenport89Heard of a guy that died from a hydraulic line exploding and the hydraulic oil was pushed into his bloodstream/body along with parts of clothing. He was hospitalized immediately and didn't last long. Some People really don't understand the dangers of hydraulic pressure.
Reply:Originally Posted by MinnesotaDaveLocally we had a farmer that was injected with hydraulic fluid in the leg by a pinhole in the line.Very sick farmer - he survived.
Reply:Speaking of pressure. We had a "PIG" stuck in the line over at (Undisclosed Location) a couple years ago. (Im sure hoping some people on here know what a pig is). If not it is a rubber, foam, or solid ball with different surface characteristics. Some are soft and round, others are harder with metal spike sticking out. This goes into a pipeline to clean the paraffin off the interior of the pipe. Anyways one got stuck in a very long run of pipeline. Some Incredibly cheap and in-experienced company tried for 2 days with a super heavy duty pump that would fill the line with water, then the pump would pressure up the pipe slowly with air. This line is only rated for 1440 PSI, we had one end of the pipe cut off from the well jacket, built a spool piece to 90 down into a Cutting box(Paraffin box). We strapped it down with 4 chain cum-a-longs with the nose inside the box faced down. We pumped and pumped and pumped. Finally some pressure slid the PIG just enough to let the pressure from the backside come through and BOOM!!!! that line shot off, popped 2 chain cum-a-longs and the last reading we called for on the radio is that he had it pressured up to 5,000 PSI. We ran so fast to the front of the barge to get away I think I left my boots in their place by that cutting box. It took 20 minutes for the pressure to die down. The pipe looked like a Deadly Viper standing up and hissing at you and waving back and forth rapidly. After everything was said and done. They couldn't get the pig out and the company wasted a lot of time and money trying. The line was garbage anyways. We suggested that we shove stainless tubing into the pipe to see how far it was in there. We went 400 ft into the pipe with tubing. Found the PIG. Measured down where it was and cut the pipe. Added a flange connection where we cut. Bolted it back, Re-installed the riser into the well jacket. That took 5 hours. Playing with pressure took 2 Days, and a near-miss death wish.Last edited by AndrewDavenport89; 04-21-2015 at 04:04 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by AndrewDavenport89Speaking of pressure. We had a "PIG" stuck in the line over at (Undisclosed Location) a couple years ago. (Im sure hoping some people on here know what a pig is). If not it is a rubber, foam, or solid ball with different surface characteristics. Some are soft and round, others are harder with metal spike sticking out. This goes into a pipeline to clean the paraffin off the interior of the pipe. Anyways one got stuck in a very long run of pipeline. Some Incredibly cheap and in-experienced company tried for 2 days with a super heavy duty pump that would fill the line with water, then the pump would pressure up the pipe slowly with air. This line is only rated for 1440 PSI, we had one end of the pipe cut off from the well jacket, built a spool piece to 90 down into a Cutting box(Paraffin box). We strapped it down with 4 chain cum-a-longs with the nose inside the box faced down. We pumped and pumped and pumped. Finally some pressure slid the PIG just enough to let the pressure from the backside come through and BOOM!!!! that line shot off, popped 2 chain cum-a-longs and the last reading we called for on the radio is that he had it pressured up to 5,000 PSI. We ran so fast to the front of the barge to get away I think I left my boots in their place by that cutting box. It took 20 minutes for the pressure to die down. The pipe looked like a Deadly Viper standing up and hissing at you and waving back and forth rapidly. After everything was said and done. We couldn't get the pig out and the company wasted a lot of time and money trying. The line was garbage anyways. We suggested that we shove stainless tubing into the pipe to see how far it was in there. We went 400 ft into the pipe with tubing. Found the PIG. Measured down where it was and cut the pipe. Added a flange connection where we cut. Bolted it back, Re-installed the riser into the well jacket. That took 5 hours. Playing with pressure took 2 Days, and a near-miss death wish.