Noticed that the left side lid on my grapple was not closing. My first thought was I had bent the cylinder, but after further review it was the pivot pin anchor that had broken. After some thought I figured this could be repaired and then improved so there would not be a repeat. First thing is to clean the grease and paint off. I want to bevel the edges where I will be welding before I hammer it back in place. Just easier to do it now. The reason for beveling is to allow for 100% weld penetration for the strongest joint. I hammered it back as close as I could and then welded it wherever I could.
Grapple repair
- Thread starter Yooper
- Start date
Next I cut a piece of 3/8 x 1-1/2 flat stock that would nest in the anchor. Notice how I ground off the paint on the grapple and the mill scale on the flat stock. This is your best surface to weld on. Next I welded the flat stock all around. This will take the stress of closing the grapple and it won't rely on just the thin parts that I welded on the original design. Then I ground and sanded the surfaces flat and used my right angle air grinder to make the holes for the pins round again. That grinder is just so handy! Clean the welds with a wire brush and give it a little rattle can touch up and I can get back to hauling brush.
Hope this thread will give some of you a little guidance on welding repair. Thank you!
Hope this thread will give some of you a little guidance on welding repair. Thank you!
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Yooper, what causes a stick weld to go cold suddenly. Today I was doing a repair on a trailer and everything was going fine then, 3/4 way along a weld, the arc almost disappeared and I couldn't get it back. Everything was polished with a grinder before I started. Only thing I can think of is that it was a rotten misty day and the rods had gotten damp.
Thanks for any hints
Thanks for any hints
North Idaho Wolfman
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I'm thinking more of a ground or equipment failure.
But Yooper is King of welding around here, so I'll wait for his words.
What rod and equipment are you using?
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Do a practice bead on some scrap and when your done feel the ground clamp to see if it is warm/hot. I suspect this is your issue. Clean the clamping surfaces and it wouldn't hurt to cut the cable back a few inches and reconnect with a new terminal if that is the type you have. If this doesn't work, I suspect a loose wire connection in your circuit. A friend was having the same issue on his wire feed and it turned out to be a loose wire at his circuit breaker. Welding draws high amperage on the circuit which will cause the wires and connectors to warm up. Then they cool down. Over time this process promotes loosening the connection which starts the process of getting even hotter which raises the amperage and drops the voltage.
Anybody that is having issues with the weld starting out good but getting unstable as you go should go over all the welding circuit connections and tighten them up. This is not a job for the electrically challenged. Get help from somebody who knows what they are doing if you don't. Electricity can kill!
rkidd
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GreensvilleJay
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The lack of arc is usually lack of ground conenction. I see a lot of 'pro' welders NEVER clean/grind the area for the ground connection, kinda makes me wonder about the rest of their talents...
I think you have nailed it. Now that you mention the loose connection, I remember unplugging the welder and plugging the grinder into the same socket. I had to thump the plug to get the grinder to work but I was so tired at that stage that I never made the connection between the two. New socket and new earth lead and we will see how it goes after that.
Thanks for taking the time to answer and thanks to everyone for their input.