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Up Topic Welding Industry / Technical Discussions / Tig question. When is 5356 called for?
- - By T0M (*) Date 02-23-2004 03:50
I am welding intercoolers and am wondering if I should stick with 4043 or use 5356. the say 4043 is for corrosion resistance and 5356 is for strength, but which is the stand for cooling cores like intercoolers?
is 5356 harder to weld with?
Thanks
Tom
Parent - - By awill4wd (**) Date 02-23-2004 09:51
Tom, like yourself I weld intercoolers here in Australia. I use 5356 wire exclusively with excellent results. Using 5356 I find it no more difficult to weld with than 4043. Another benefit of 5356 is on jobs that need anodising, the anodised weld area doesn't show up black like 4043 or 4047. I fabricate the tanks in either 5005 or 5052 aluminium grades and prefer a 3mm thickness or .120".
Regards Andrew.
Parent - - By T0M (*) Date 02-23-2004 13:39
Thanks. One more question, When you fit your endtanks to the core, do you make the tanks flush to the core? or do you make the tanks a tad narrower than the charge face of the IC?
I have been making my tanks fit flush and though I have only welded a couple of intercoolers thus far, I have had difficulties cracking a puddle into the core without putting too much heat on the endtank, i havent ruined any endtanks but it was very close.
I also found I was melting the fins on the ambient air core face. I thought about trying to make the endtanks to fit narrower so where there is a lip of the charge face to weld to, rather than the ambient air face.

is there a particular way this is supposed to be done?
Thanks
Parent - By awill4wd (**) Date 02-24-2004 10:38
Tom, I assume from your comments that you are using bar & plate cores where there is no actual header plate like there is in tube & fin constructed cores. On the bar & plate i/coolers I build I make the endtanks flush to the core, I push the AC balance to a bit more penetration which gives a narrower bead and I cover the core with some thin scrap material right up near the weld joint so that it doesn't melt the fins. I use a 1/8" Ceriated tungsten ground to a point and a gas lens ceramic.
Luckily, my Tig machine is a high quality pulse machine and I find pulse welding on i/coolers gives me the best results.
Regards Andrew.
Parent - By BillC (**) Date 02-24-2004 14:27
Tom,

In my opinion the biggest thing that defines a good weld is knowing exactly what materials you are joining. The materials define the process and the necessary filler material.

According to the ASM Handbook, Volume 6, 5356 filler is not recommended for use with sustained temperatures exceeding 150F.

Regards,
Bill
Parent - By brande (***) Date 02-29-2004 07:23
Aluminum alloy choices are very important. The right alloy can give you the best properties and the wrong alloy will waste your time.
That said, filler metal choice must be dictated by base metal and weather or not a subsequent heat treat of the weldment is planned, if the base metal is of the heat treatable type.

There are a lot of charts for aluminum stating strength/corosion benefits. Stay away from these as a rule. With so many alloys available now, it is prudent to pick the right one.

As posted earlier-5356 does have 150F degree working limit. There are many other 5000 series alloys that function well at higher heat, however.

Anyway-let me know what the base alloy is and if heat treatment is planned.

The Aluminum Association in Washington DC has a great book on this topic called "Welding Aluminum-Theroy and Practice".

Any questions-email me direct-this is right up my alley and I would be happy to help!

Good Luck

brande
Up Topic Welding Industry / Technical Discussions / Tig question. When is 5356 called for?

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