Dissimiliar Welds

[banzaitoyota]

I am in the process of Fabricating a new Downpipe for my RX7 TII.

The Flanges are 1/2" 304L Stainless Steel and the Tube is 16 Gage Aluminized MS Exhaust Tubing 3" OD. I am using 308 Wire/Tri Mix in my HH135. So far the welds look decent.

My question is:
Can I use the 308 wire and Tri-mix to weld the MS tubing alone; so I don't have to change wire?

[banzaitoyota]

anyone?

[cope]

I haven't tried it, but I have heard from several people thta the SS wire seems to do good on carbon steel. Not sure about the aluminized; you may need to sand/grind the weld area before welding.

[rangerod]

Dissimilar Welds

banzaitoyota

I use stainless rod on the support equipment we repair. Since it is usually dirty, rusted & contaminated, with who knows what in the crack, even after cleaning they puddle usually bubbles up. After adding the SS filler rod the weld puddle will stop bubbling up. Welding with SS I have also noticed it reduces the number of return repairs on the same area probably due to SS propeties (more flexible). These parts are not structural though they are usually panels on structural parts we do use the required filler rod. You should not have any problems welding those parts with SS. Do what Cope advised and sand off the aluminized coating in the weld area first

[Guest]

308 is a good wire to use on dissimilar metals, 309 is better, but 308 will do the job. I use it myself. The aluminized coating will vaporize as you weld it, so you just need it to be grease and oil free. You say the welds look good, and they porbably are, so go for it.

[banzaitoyota]

Thanks guys I'll post pics later John