need to weld magnesium cracks

[James66]

Hi all
Not really sure where to post this so I figured as its a tig process ill post here

Ive got some very small cracks beginning to show on magnesium wheel
Is there any members on here that any of you could suggest would be willing to take it on a weld it?

Id much rather put a few £ in a persons pocket than a company

Cheers
James

 

[daleyd]

Is it for a car or bike? If it's a bike I certainly wouldn't be looking at repair - google Robert Dunlop wheel failure for what happens with magnesium wheels when they go wrong.

If it's a car I would think long and hard for the same reason. You may find a professional company which would repair it properly, but I wouldn't have thought you would get much joy from someone who does a bit of welding on the side.

Just my opinion, and someone else may tell you different.

Best of luck with whatever you do!

 

[BrokenBiker]

i have seen a magnesium wheel go bang, the company i work for make hgv brake, but also have a line in motorsport and have had mag wheels in for testing and they test them to destruction. Very impressive to watch one go wrong under controlled conditions but i wouldn't want to be near it in real life scenario.

that said the company i did my welding course with had a sister company repairing wheels and they have done a few mag wheels afaik

 

[BrokenBiker]

search 94 tt Honda crash on youtube. It is a clip showing the point where the mavic rear wheel dettached itself from the hub during a corner as a result of damage caused after landing the bike from brief jump. Robert Dunlop was riding at the time and wasn't exactly taking it easy either

 

[daleyd]

I saw that when it happened and it's why I would be wary of repairing mag wheels.

As I said, a pro company may be able to help, but beware of DIY repairs. (Not to say it's not do able, but think about the consequences if something goes wrong)

 

[Shox Dr]

There was a very close call, in the BSB/WSB series a few years ago, where a rear wheel collapsed exiting a corner, because of that accident any wheel that has been involved in an accident can't be used again.


I wouldn't

 

[hotrodder]

I'd be wary of many 'pro' shops that repair wheels too as a lot (most?) of 'em seem to think that welding up a crack = good as new

Just like aluminium the vast majority of magnesium wheels ARE heat treated which is locally destroyed when welding. With mag it can be kinda a double whammy in that the heat treatment is as much about ductility as anything i.e. simply weld it and it can end up weaker AND more brittle

Google something like 'magnesium wheel T4 heat treatment' and you get hits like this... http://www.marvic.it/en/magnesio/proprieta-meccaniche/
O.Z. use T4 temper for their magnesium wheels

If it's something so rare it's effectively irreplacable you haven't got much choice, typically this makes the cost of heat treatment and some proper NDT a bit more palatable. It's not foolproof as i know of one place that i wouldn't trust to repair a garden chair that offer magnesium wheel repair but as a very rough rule many of the cowboys may steer clear of magnesium as it's surrounded by myths and the filler wire is 'kin spendy

 

[dannyp]

cracks = metal fatigue

IMO there is no point repairing the wheel itself is at end of it's use full life, you can weld p what cracks you can see but there will be more that you cant see, in a way the structure of the metal itself is giving up. small dinks in the outer edge of the rim are a bit different tho. when my wheels start to crack round the spokes they don't go back on my track / toy car. for the price of a wheel i'd hate to turn the car into a ball of scrap. at the end of the day if it's fast enough to warrant mag wheels its expensive enough to have new ones.

( I will admit in the past I did try and weld them but then had the idea of spraying them with dye penetrant so see if there were any more cracks i'd missed....... after te developer went on there was a pretty major change of plan)

 

[rich the mechanic]

I think it is a bad idea unless it is just on a rim edge and caused by a known factor like hitting a pothole recently. I used to repair cast alloy motorbike wheels and we would weld then if they had a small split in the edge but no further as a bead retainer can be weaker than the structual part and still hold the tyre on and inflated also old mag deteriorates I have seen old hubs which cracks have opened up on rebuild to be stripped down welded and then rebuilt for more cracks to appear either just next to or several other places instead. You will also see people saying about x-ray inspection this is only any good if the operator/inspector is clued up on mag alloy (hollow) castings as they show a great deal of marks on a picture that look like cracks but arn't.

Hotrodder is the afore mentioned repairer in Aylesford, Kent?

 

[captain-destructo]

there used to be a guy in Stockton-on-tees repaired bike wheels
Roy Thursby i think his name was
try a google search see what comes up from some of the replies above you may change your mind!!!!

 

[hotrodder]

Hotrodder is the afore mentioned repairer in Aylesford, Kent?

No, up north somewhere. From their site they appear to be happy to repair wheels that have been peeled apart like a banana and it gets worse when they show progress pics of a repair. All the weld pics are very blurry, perhaps intentially as it looks like they tried welding through paint with their eyes closed and a dose of the DTs

You generally don't have to look very far to find horror stories about other places either for example... http://www.escortrscosworth.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29879

 

[brightspark]

there used to be a guy in Stockton-on-tees repaired bike wheels
Roy Thursby i think his name was
try a google search see what comes up from some of the replies above you may change your mind!!!!

i wouldnt take a pushbike wheel to that t,,,er need i say more

 

[milk]

i wouldn't fancy having a mag wheel repaired. and i doubt most wheel repair places would use correct filler anyway due to cost

 

[rich the mechanic]

No, up north somewhere. From their site they appear to be happy to repair wheels that have been peeled apart like a banana and it gets worse when they show progress pics of a repair. All the weld pics are very blurry, perhaps intentially as it looks like they tried welding through paint with their eyes closed and a dose of the DTs

You generally don't have to look very far to find horror stories about other places either for example... http://www.escortrscosworth.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29879

I'm glad of that as I now send people to them as we stop doing wheel repairs and just stick to spoked wheels.