stainless vs mild steel?

[pondy]

hi, small question, making a battery box to go on my race quad, i have one now but changing to a larger battery so need to make anoyther box. i brought the one im running now, the main box is made from 1.5mm stainless and has been tig welded together, i want to make mine for mild steel and mig weld it, should i be worried about strengh, should the material be thicker? the battery weights about 15kg and the bike takes some abuse, has 3 mounts that will be 3mm thick steel

sam

 

[langy]

3mm is a bit thick for a batt box, most are 1.6mm

Stainless is nice and don't rust but no reason not to use mild steel, powder coat is an option.

 

[pondy]

its only the 3 mounts that are 3mm, the rest is 1.5mm, will be powder coated after, only reason i want to use mild steel and my mig is i dont have a tig and on a budjet

 

[langy]

You can MIG stainless

its only the 3 mounts that are 3mm, the rest is 1.5mm, will be powder coated after, only reason i want to use mild steel and my mig is i dont have a tig and on a budjet

 

[mike os]

you can, but is it really worth it just for a bat box? given teh cost of wire & different shield gas

 

[pondy]

buying the stainless then the wire etc, the price is loads more than doing it in mild, its going to be under the seat and will be hardly seen from the outsite, the only thing im worried about is the strengh really.

here is what im talking about, they retail for £150 in the uk, or about £80 if i imported

http://www.lsracing.com/img/Guide_32.pdf

 

[mike os]

I could be wrong, but I dont think strenght is the real issue, probably more for corrosion resistance I would have thought?

 

[brightspark]

I could be wrong, but I dont think strenght is the real issue, probably more for corrosion resistance I would have thought?

the ones in your motor are presed tin sh ./././te and last the life of the car virtualy.the battery shouldnt leak otherwise its knacked . if its going to get a hammering make it slightly larger and rubber line it

 

[mike os]

my thoughts exactly... this one is for a quad .... so some leakage to be expected? or are modern bats better then thet?

 

[brightspark]

most are sealed for life maintainance free

 

[mike os]

phew... i'm not loosing it then

 

[pondy]

most are sealed for life maintainance free

yep, all sealed, the only thing i do is keep a battery tender on when not in use

 

[chunkolini]

Mig and stainless?
Use the same gas. I put up a post on the SS and Mig gas thing a while back, I used a vairety of gas mixes and photographed the results. See here, http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19083


I have a part used reel of 1mm wire (send PM), use antispatter, rig sheilds to protect from spatter. and Bob's your uncle.

Chunko'.

 

[pondy]

Mig and stainless?
Use the same gas. I put up a post on the SS and Mig gas thing a while back, I used a vairety of gas mixes and photographed the results. See here, http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19083


I have a part used reel of 1mm wire (send PM), use antispatter, rig sheilds to protect from spatter. and Bob's your uncle.

Chunko'.

will be in touch, not sure what route to take yet