Rrunnach
Member
- Messages
- 1,126
- Location
- Scotland
Got the call to close up an 80 year old fuel tank from a Rolls-Royce 20/25. Steam cleaned and, fully sandblasted outside, access holes cut for internal blasting. Decent metal, just a tad thin around cutouts.
Plates tacked, commenced hot work. Near the end panels, I noticed this stuff coming to surface of weld pool, shiny look to it. I ceased hot work for a wee peek, then noticed the shiny stuff was actually soft solder, capillary action was pulling the solder through the weld pool.
Turns out, end panels of tank are actually soft soldered all round, there may be some kind of knocked up joint, with soft solder as a final sealing compound?
Image RRT3, seam to left of welded up access apertures, is actually a grooved seam, with soft solder being the final sealer. This was disturbed too, after plating, repaired solder area using large electric soldering iron, along with bakers fluid and new soft solder. Must have been a long task 80 year ago, I imagine copper irons heated up in a forge, prior to adding solder?
Apart from ends or sides of tank, it is manu'd from one piece of sheet, groove seam to hold it together. The various inlets/outlets, are brass to steel tank, held by copper solid rivets, then sealed with soft solder.
Two hour job was doubled with the soft solder melting out.......................ho hum, should last another 80 year!
Plates tacked, commenced hot work. Near the end panels, I noticed this stuff coming to surface of weld pool, shiny look to it. I ceased hot work for a wee peek, then noticed the shiny stuff was actually soft solder, capillary action was pulling the solder through the weld pool.
Turns out, end panels of tank are actually soft soldered all round, there may be some kind of knocked up joint, with soft solder as a final sealing compound?
Image RRT3, seam to left of welded up access apertures, is actually a grooved seam, with soft solder being the final sealer. This was disturbed too, after plating, repaired solder area using large electric soldering iron, along with bakers fluid and new soft solder. Must have been a long task 80 year ago, I imagine copper irons heated up in a forge, prior to adding solder?
Apart from ends or sides of tank, it is manu'd from one piece of sheet, groove seam to hold it together. The various inlets/outlets, are brass to steel tank, held by copper solid rivets, then sealed with soft solder.
Two hour job was doubled with the soft solder melting out.......................ho hum, should last another 80 year!