I had another stanchion break on me. Both times it was a clean break at the weld. Would a beginner welder be able to make a stronger weld or should I just replace it with another used one?
Weld or replace?
- Thread starter Project_Mayhem
- Start date
I’m not sure what is on your boat but most of the posts are fairly thin walled stainless steel. Not to say a “beginner” welder couldn’t weld that material just saying it’s not as easy as welding a couple of pieces of “steel” together.
A suggestion would be to check at the SBO store for the cost of a replacement?
If it keeps breaking at the weld I would replace it. The heat affected zone is to brittle.
When you say beginner is he/she able to TIG? That is the only process to use if you want to give it a try to repair it.
When you say beginner is he/she able to TIG? That is the only process to use if you want to give it a try to repair it.
A spool of stainless, gasless welding wire is about 30. Used stanchion is about 50. Price difference is negligible. It would be nice to be able to repair them as needed
We only have MIG welders at the shop unfortunately
We only have MIG welders at the shop unfortunately
Do you have a MIG or TIG welder? Do you have stainless rods, or wire as applicable? Do you have some similar materials to practice on before you try the actual repair? If the answer to each of the above is yes, then you might be able to do the repair. But welding stanchion tube to base plate isn't super easy, so it's not a slam dunk that a beginner can pull it off.
Unless they are prohibitively expensive, you might be better off finding new ones.
Another option would be to take it to a professional welder who does a lot of stainless work and have them do the welding.
I've done some TIG work on my stanchions. I would consider myself somewhat of a beginner, although I have quite a bit of stick and oxy-acetylene experience. I attached some rod loops to the tubes for my mast raising rig. It was doable, but difficult to work with the dissimilar thicknesses. Macgregor stanchion tubes may not be as thick as yours, though.
They're already broken. All you have to lose is time and a bit of material.
Post pics if you try it!
I wouldn't have thought you could do it with flux core, but apparently there are those who can. Sounds like it took him quite awhile to dial it in, but he made a 10 ga T weld without melting everything. Sounds like it's a bit hard to control though. Welding the tube to the plate is a fairly difficult joint in itself. Add the difficulty of a puddle that has flux and it seems this would be pretty tricky. I think you're making the right call by just replacing them.
If I break 2 of something I either look for a different design or try to figure out what I am doing wrong. I'd either order a different type or change my practices and order the same one. I doubt welding something so small, including the finishing work, is worth the savings.
I was hoping welding it myself could result in a stronger component but as Jim26m mentioned, it takes some skill to weld these things back together. I know of one vendor that will have some later this month. In the meantime I'll ask a few welders in the area. I'm all for making it stronger without going crazy