Weld Hydraulic Cylinder

[Taylortractornut]

I used to build custom cylinders and repair them for a company I worked for. It can be welded and fixed. Just clean it reallyh good with thinner or either and then rinse it with a good degreaser. SOme times I use a torch to burn some of the grease out of the pin hole then grind it out with a nice flowing v . A sharp V will likely make a great flux trap. Becareful of under cut at the end of the weld. I usually make my first pass in the V then let it cool and chip the weld. Then I usually make a cover pass just for extra precaution. I ve only had 2 that still pin holed but Later fixed one. THey were both on Sellick Fork lift side shifts in a tie mill. The operator used the side shift to elbow stacks of ties over.

 

[Kernopelli]

I have had good luck welding cylinders using my mig. I shortened both of the bucket cylinders on my loader about 4 years ago and and have had zero problems with them. It was a little different scenario than what it appears you are needing but still think it would work for you. I was very careful to match the mating surfaces and beveled them slightly for penetration and cleaning/prep for welding. I positioned the cylinder so that when I started a pass I could make one continuous bead without having to stop and reposition....turned out great on both of them. The lift cylinders on my loader are actually aluminum bodied and I had a local shop weld one of them for me about this same time and it has worked fine as well.

I agree with Mark on appropriate care when using brake cleaner and heat...."care" meaning don't do it. It may not work quite as well but I keep starting fluid around specifically to use as a degreaser. It's cheap and works well for most cleaning duties, deep cleaning oil permeated metal may be an entirely different issue however. I would go with grinding as others have suggested.

 

[wdchyd]

The hydraulic cylinder is leaking where the rod side cap is welded to the cylinder body from a couple of pinholes.

Could you post a closer pic showing rod gland arrangement......if it's a threaded cap, someone should not have welded it from the start.....typically any welding done on this side of the cyl has to come apart or you'll just cook the rod seals anyways......

 

[wdchyd]

Never EVER use brake cleaner on something you are going to weld unless you want to die! If it doesn't kill you right away, it'll be a slow and painful death. Even one drop inhaled is enough to do it.

Mark's right on.....Don't mix Brakeclean/welding.....it makes Phosgene Gas

Brake Cleaner = Phosgene Article

Here's one link......

 

[DanD78]

Thanks for waking me up about the Brake clean spray. I would have never said to use it if I had known what I know now. I think I will go back to using some other kind of degreaser.

Dan

 

[toy]

Could you post a closer pic showing rod gland arrangement......if it's a threaded cap, someone should not have welded it from the start.....typically any welding done on this side of the cyl has to come apart or you'll just cook the rod seals anyways......

I can't really tell for sure in the picture either, but it looks like a male threaded cap in a female barrel. In the picture from what I can make out I can't see the weld but if it is welded is it welded all the way around the cylinder? If it is not actually welded he might be able to take it off and maybe unscrew the cap and put a new o'ring on it and put it back together. I am like you wd though I can't really tell, but I do know that if it has a cap with an o'ring on it that seals it off and you weld it [the cap] then I believe it will make it worse. If it is still doing it's job and is not leaking too bad and I can keep it from spraying by just not retracting it all the way it almost fits into the catigory of if it ain't broke then don't fix it.

 

[bdeboer]

I can't really tell for sure in the picture either, but it looks like a male threaded cap in a female barrel. In the picture from what I can make out I can't see the weld but if it is welded is it welded all the way around the cylinder? If it is not actually welded he might be able to take it off and maybe unscrew the cap and put a new o'ring on it and put it back together. I am like you wd though I can't really tell, but I do know that if it has a cap with an o'ring on it that seals it off and you weld it [the cap] then I believe it will make it worse. If it is still doing it's job and is not leaking too bad and I can keep it from spraying by just not retracting it all the way it almost fits into the catigory of if it ain't broke then don't fix it.

I am leaning toward the don't fix it until it gets worse, but have included another picture. The picture is from my cellphone and poor. The cap appears to be welded all the way around the cylinder with the packing on the outside. There is a bubble gum looking weld (at 11:00 o'clock) from someones previous attempts at repair. This is one of the leaks.

 

[gauthier]

Well,I have never,even thought about using brake fluid[wait that was brake cleaner],gas,kerosine,starter fluid to clean before welding,,what do you guys weld on??,,Maybe alchol,but generally a torch will burn every kind of oil off,than you grind/brush...,,,now,they make steam cleaners and vapor degreasers[think vapor degreasers use brake fluid!!!:laughing:],but you follow by steamcleaner,,don't know all the details,,but it would never cross my mind to use brake cleaner to clean metal before welding,,,maybe its a sheet metal thing???

 

[wdchyd]

Carb Spray.....avail at Wallyworld or auto parts store......cheap, quick, and degreases PDQ....a little goes a long way:thumbsup: