EuropaChris
Silver Member
Today was the day for me to bite the bullet and do something useful with my welder. I've had this project on the list for a while - the trick was figuring out how to weld it (or who).
I am in the process of restoring a 1940's vintage Iron Fireman coal stoker and cleaning up a 1960's vintage boiler that will sit on a custom designed base that also contains the business end of the stoker underneath. I started on this path a few years ago when natural gas prices went through the roof. The system will be housed in a detached garage/shop and hot water piped to a fan coil in the furnace plenum (just like the outdoor wood boilers use). The only real difference is I'll be burning Illinois coal. We can save all the acid rain and carbon footprint discussions for later....
So the boiler originally had a domestic hot water coil installed which I didn't plan to need, and over the years the gasket had leaked and corroded the mounting surfaces badly. Rather than repair the mounting area and then block it off with a plate, I simply cut the entire area out and fabricated a solid plate with the same shape.
I beveled both the plate and the boiler (1/4" steel on both) and tack welded a small tab on each side of the plate so it would drop in and sit flat. I fired up the welder and started my root pass with 6011 at 120 amps. I had a bit more gap than desired in a few spots which took a bit to fill properly, and while it wasn't the prettiest welding, it definitely had penetration! I cleaned up the weld with the grinder to level it out and get a good surface for the fill passes. I also wanted to grind down a few spots and make sure there were no slag inclusions.
I then ran my fill passes with 7014 at 140 amps and I was rather pleased at how they turned out. I burned up a pound of 6011 and almost a pound of 7014 today. I uploaded two pics - the first one is after the first 7014 fill pass and the second is after a few followup passes and some cleanup with the grinder removing weldberries. It's not the prettiest job, but it's solid (I hope!). Not bad for having never picked up a stick electrode until a few weeks ago. I also uploaded a pic of "before" - prior to cutting out the area.
I'll pressure test the boiler with water this weekend and check for any leaks. Normal operation will be 12-15 psi with probably a 30psi relief maximum, so I should be more than good.
Chris
I am in the process of restoring a 1940's vintage Iron Fireman coal stoker and cleaning up a 1960's vintage boiler that will sit on a custom designed base that also contains the business end of the stoker underneath. I started on this path a few years ago when natural gas prices went through the roof. The system will be housed in a detached garage/shop and hot water piped to a fan coil in the furnace plenum (just like the outdoor wood boilers use). The only real difference is I'll be burning Illinois coal. We can save all the acid rain and carbon footprint discussions for later....
So the boiler originally had a domestic hot water coil installed which I didn't plan to need, and over the years the gasket had leaked and corroded the mounting surfaces badly. Rather than repair the mounting area and then block it off with a plate, I simply cut the entire area out and fabricated a solid plate with the same shape.
I beveled both the plate and the boiler (1/4" steel on both) and tack welded a small tab on each side of the plate so it would drop in and sit flat. I fired up the welder and started my root pass with 6011 at 120 amps. I had a bit more gap than desired in a few spots which took a bit to fill properly, and while it wasn't the prettiest welding, it definitely had penetration! I cleaned up the weld with the grinder to level it out and get a good surface for the fill passes. I also wanted to grind down a few spots and make sure there were no slag inclusions.
I then ran my fill passes with 7014 at 140 amps and I was rather pleased at how they turned out. I burned up a pound of 6011 and almost a pound of 7014 today. I uploaded two pics - the first one is after the first 7014 fill pass and the second is after a few followup passes and some cleanup with the grinder removing weldberries. It's not the prettiest job, but it's solid (I hope!). Not bad for having never picked up a stick electrode until a few weeks ago. I also uploaded a pic of "before" - prior to cutting out the area.
I'll pressure test the boiler with water this weekend and check for any leaks. Normal operation will be 12-15 psi with probably a 30psi relief maximum, so I should be more than good.
Chris