soldering/repairing aluminum

DogBunny

DogBunny

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http://www.aluminumrepair.com/
I found the above site while Googling to see if aluminum can be soldered. Their product sounds promising, although a bit spendy -- it starts at $65.
What does anyone think? Has anyone tried it?

From the site:
"All you need to repair any metal stronger than new is a heat source (propane or mapp gas), a turbo tip, or oxy-acetylene, and our material. This new repair technology performs well on aluminum, cast aluminum, pot metal, copper, magnesium, and all white or porous metals. You can easily repair corroded or oil-impregnated areas that can be next to impossible to fix using welding machines with aluminum welding rods or other brazing products."
 
The success of the product depends on how CLEAN the material is and the torch tip.
I bit on a similair if not the same product 15-20 years ago.
Watched the demonstration several times but was unable to duplicate good results at home.
Doesn't mean you won't. If you want to try a stick or two pm me and I'll see if it still resides at the back of the welding cabinet.
 
weekendrider, thanks for the input.
They claim this is the "third generation" of their product, so maybe it works better now than what you have, which I am guessing was the first generation.
 
An updates on the performance of these aluminum “brazing” products? I bought my rods around the time Jim did and at that time you could only get them at trade shows. Now they’re being sold everywhere. I’ve got a thin gauge aluminum repair to do and was thinking I’d try them again (don’t know where the old ones are). Watched a review last night and the Hobart rods seemed to work well.
 
AC TIG is the best method to repair aluminum, but I realize not everyone has access to it or can TIG weld. I have welded some pretty oily nasty aluminum with great success. All it takes is proper cleaning, proper preheating, the right shielding gas, the right electrode/filler rod. I welded up a GSXR oil sump I smashed into the road after having a few to many beers in my younger days. I had to clean the ever-loving shit out of it but it welded beautifully. I consider myself a fairly experienced welder and I have never had any success with any of the "as seen on tv" or "big box store" aluminum soldering rods. Keeping aluminum from flame oxidizing even with flux is near impossible at best. A pulsing AC arc does an ok job of clearing impurities and scouring oxidation but even that is a struggle sometimes.
 
Thx Rusty. The crack I’m trying to have repaired is on the hull of a small aluminum fishing boat. I spoke to a friend with a custom weld shop and he said he has had limited success welding boat hulls because of the unknown grade of aluminum used on the hulls. He didn’t want to try it for fear of running into a problem. I thought maybe these brazing rods might work for me.
I guess I’ll keep looking for a weld shop that could help me.
Thx for your input.
 
bosco659 said:
Thx Rusty. The crack I’m trying to have repaired is on the hull of a small aluminum fishing boat. I spoke to a friend with a custom weld shop and he said he has had limited success welding boat hulls because of the unknown grade of aluminum used on the hulls. He didn’t want to try it for fear of running into a problem. I thought maybe these brazing rods might work for me.
I guess I’ll keep looking for a weld shop that could help me.
Thx for your input.
Click to expand...
Several years ago I "acquired" a 16' flat bottom John boat from my command that had been used for ship hull maintenance and was in pretty bad shape. I used JB Weld Marine to repair some cracks in the hull and had really good success. I do agree with your welder friend, galvanic corrosion of boat hulls can introduce a whole new set of welding obstacles especially with thin aluminum like the stuff used in small craft hulls. I'd give the JB weld a try and give the thing a healthy coat of non-fouling paint below the water line. Maybe some snarling shark teeth up on the bow to give it that PBR gun boat look ;)

https://www.jbweld.com/product/waterweld-epoxy-putty
https://www.westmarine.com/bottom-paint/_/N-1z12tce?Nrpp=30
 
Thx Rustie. I’ll scratch my head about this for a day or so. I’m going to the local marina today and will get their opinion on it. As far as I know it doesn’t leak right now but I just wanted to attend to it before I get it in the water at the cottage for the summer.
 
Princess Auto sells Bernzomatic aluminum brazing rods if you still want to give it a go. I did the welding the pop can spout shut trick and I have zero welding skills. It was a very strong plug. Give it a good buffing with a non-contaminated stainless steel brush first.
 
MacMcMacmac said:
Princess Auto sells Bernzomatic aluminum brazing rods if you still want to give it a go. I did the welding the pop can spout shut trick and I have zero welding skills. It was a very strong plug. Give it a good buffing with a non-contaminated stainless steel brush first.
Click to expand...
I was watching a video on the brazing rods available and Hobart had a good rating. They’re available at Princess auto too. Maybe for entertainment I’ll get some and try some test pieces. Could be useful for the future.
 
I have used a product called Lumiweld. I would liken it to soldering for aluminium. In the kit you get a little stainless wire brush and a stainless agitator rod. I have used it with mixed results. It is ok but for light stuff but for proper fixes Tig is best.
 
bosco659 said:
Thx Rusty. The crack I’m trying to have repaired is on the hull of a small aluminum fishing boat. I spoke to a friend with a custom weld shop and he said he has had limited success welding boat hulls because of the unknown grade of aluminum used on the hulls. He didn’t want to try it for fear of running into a problem. I thought maybe these brazing rods might work for me.
I guess I’ll keep looking for a weld shop that could help me.
Thx for your input.
Click to expand...

I’ve repaired a bunch of pontoons and modified fishing boats and row boats Most of the time its 5000 series 5052. So 5356 filler is best. Like everyone says cleanliness is your friend for a clean puddle. A cool trick with with an ac arc is using the cleaning action to cook out all the impurities before you start to puddle. Acetone works well for cleaning. Fresh water boats do much better
 
I haven't tried it, but I did see this video a while back. With practice you might get better results, by its probably a pretty accurate representation of a lot of purchasers.
 

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