Welding aluminum without a welder

[jethro]

Has anyone seen this stuff popping up on their Facebook pages or elsewhere? https://solutionwelding.com/products/rods?fbclid=IwAR2kvhTDT3JtE-Oyw5jzGQLW7Qul6KfMqj1DGlAniZsMKFnDhuvdgK5P-k0

Looks like you can "weld" aluminum with just a propane torch? This seems to me like they should call it brazing, but I'm not super well versed with either. Just wondering if this stuff is the real deal and works well or what. I could see this being great for us tin boaters, but only if it actually works.

 

[lovedr79]

i havent ever tried this. it is brazing. i doubt that it has much strength. they used to sell them on TV years ago. i wouldnt trust it at all.

 

[jethro]

i havent ever tried this. it is brazing. i doubt that it has much strength. they used to sell them on TV years ago. i wouldnt trust it at all.

Yeah, I agree, although the videos are pretty impressive, but they can probably make it look however they want. Was wondering if anyone has actually used it.

 

[DaleH]

I had tried such rods years ago, with both propane and the hotter MAPP gas and the results were an abysmal failure and complete wa$te of good money.

‘Snake oil’ salesmen those YouTube videos are!

 

[MrGiggles]

I have played with them. Harbor Freight has a cheaper version if you want something to mess around with.

The melting temp of the rods and aluminum are not that far apart. Apply too much heat and you will end up with a far bigger hole than you started with. You have to be very proficient at oxy/acetylene welding to get it right.

I patched a crack in the drain plug on one of my old boats. It's still holding up, but it's not exactly a high stress area.

If you just needed to fix something small, it may be work. But you aren't going to be able to fabricate any big projects with the stuff.

 

[onthewater102]

I've dabbled with it, it works, but the thin material boats are made from warps and distorts from the heat so you can't use it to fill leaking seams or anything you'd want to do with it. I used it to fill a gap along the corner where a deck sheet met the framing beneath less than perfectly and in that rigid area it worked great.

You can buy aluminium brazing rods at most hardware stores. They're not some internet only vunderproduct.

 

[The John]

Ive used it in a low stress area to fix a tear below the waterline. I was super careful to heat the hull and it worked and took hold. This tear had minimal separation between the edges, I wouldn't use this as some of the videos shown to add material to gaps.

all and all its a tool, but hiring someone to weld a rib or an area with movement/stress is better for the mind.

 

[jethro]

Ah ha, so it's been around forever, it's just this company is trying to make it sound like the newest thing.

 

[WINGO-LINGO]

Just used some for the first time tonight, using the yellow Bernzomatic yellow MAPP gas(Home Depot) and the Bernzomatic sticks. I also have the Harbor Freight sticks, which are better. Tired of the holes in back of Jon boat, so I stainless steel wire wheel buzzed the area, then rodded/filled the holes. Haven't cleaned up yet, so verdict still out. But I think I like it.

 

[thedude]

I have soldered my whole life. Is there a need for flux or some agent to make it flow into then micro seams?

I can see how many accidentally turn heat into a cutting torch real quick!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[WINGO-LINGO]

Been at it again this morning. Decided to remove cheap rivets I put in last week, and fill with these inexpensive brazing rod.
I was using the rivets as hole fillers. I would only use these brazing rods as hole - fillers not structural.
I need this boat to duck hunt - not for pretty. Cant find a welder that wants to do these little cheap jobs.

P.S. - I ran the boat this past weekend - - zero problems with the brazing rod repairs I did. The only water that came in boat was drip from decoys.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Been at it again this morning. Decided to remove cheap rivets I put in last week, and fill with these inexpensive brazing rod.
I was using the rivets as hole fillers. I would only use these brazing rods as hole - fillers not structural.
I need this boat to duck hunt - not for pretty. Cant find a welder that wants to do these little cheap jobs.

Try high schools and junior colleges for those little welding jobs.

 

[WINGO-LINGO]

The rods work well. I filled abot 10 rivet holes in transom, then took the boat out a few days later. Zero problems.