Gear cluster welding

[nichzimmerman]

I have been happy with the quality of my gas welds up to this point, but this morning I completed the first landing gear cluster, and the words that kept coming to mind were, "if you can't tie a knot tie a lot".

On the back side of that cluster, there is lots of welding of surfaces that are a quarter inch apart or more. My Meco with a #4 tip was struggling to pump enough heat in there to get penetration. The results sure aren't pretty and uniform, and there is quite a bit of void space behind some of the welds. Any words of wisdom from those who have gone before? I assume this applies to all the models. Thanks.

Nic
4 place #1217


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[SC Patrol 253]

I'm having the same issues. I look forward to hearing some suggestions...

Todd

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I'm thinking about going to my local welding supplier and picking up a cheap Smith knockoff for those clusters. I know those torch tips will get in there. Even with the long-reach Meco tip, the head is still pretty bulky.

[Gavin Chester]

The Metco long-reach is what I used as well. I also used a older style plumbers torch with just a tap valve ( Not the new safety trigger style ) and a extension hose to the bottle. you can then clamp the head in any position you need to heat the back side of the weld cluster as you weld on the opposite side.

[alaskabearhawk]

Good tip...I was going to suggest having a second person keep preheating while welding.

[nichzimmerman]

Good suggestions. How do you all tackle the areas in the interior of the fittings that have huge gaps? Just shove in lots of rod and accept that there will be voids?

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[Mark Moyle]

Gap not a good thing but.....ER60 or 70. Horse shoe gap filling... On the high heat side. Start the bead on the parent metal, around/toward the filled area and out to the other side of the weld. Let cool a wee bit, do it again and again. You'll slowly advance and insure you've got good penetration. If you try goobering.....filling from the center out...no penetration of the parent metal.


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[fairchild]

could I suggest-
A. Tig welder ( I might be biased.... :-) ) - can get all most infinite penetration...
B. cope the joints better until there is no gap ?

[alaskabearhawk]

I've been thinking about this quite awhile and it has really bothered me. In my mind, "lots of welding of surfaces that are a quarter inch apart or more" is not good at all. The gaps, even for O/A welding are far too wide for an acceptable weld. Get someone who knows aircraft welding to look at it and give you options, even if you have to pay them. There will have to be some kind of patches or flat out repair IAW AC 43-13B.

[whee]

I think the gaps you guys are talking about are on the back of the landing gear fittings. Everybody has those gaps but some are bigger than others. I used my O/A torch and was able to reach in to where the fitting contacts the tube and buildup the weld till I could reach it with the tig torch then I completed the weld with the tig. Only reason I used the tig is because my weld quality is so much better with it.

[nichzimmerman]

To be clear, I attached pics of the area I am talking about. The first one still needs to be welded, the second is the other side of the aircraft that I already welded. I hope they come through...


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