Onfoot
Well-Known Member
Here's the latest on Hanna and the crack. I spoke today with a fellow who is supposed to be one of the best welders in the Territory at Mobile Maintenance (https://www.mobilemaintenance.ca/), showing him the photos and discussing options. He said that re-welding would be a crap shoot. It might work, but would just as likely it worse. He also noted how welding cast steel, unless done appropriately (which he explained at some length), would almost inevitably leave small imperfections that would lead to (in my case) leaks. From looking at the photo, he had no doubt that the weld was not appropriately done. Sigh.
He suggested going with an epoxy, but was unable to suggest any in particular. He also suggested grinding the exterior weld to flatten and make for a better surface to bond the epoxy. I was concerned about weakening the crack. He did not see that as an issue.
Which leads to the conversation I had with a representative for Belzona. I was asking especially about Belzona 1161. The rep said that Belzona would have been perfect IF it had not already been welded. The Belzona would not, he assured me, adhere to the weld. In time, it would just peel off. His suggestion was to check out a competitor: Defcon Tungsten metal epoxy. He also said that I should use a heat lamp to sweat out the oil in the cast steel pores. I.e., clean with brake cleaner, then put it under a heat lamp for 3-4 hours. Repeat at least a couple of times, leaving the heat lamp on overnight for the last time. Oh yeah, and to be sure to thoroughly rough up the previously applied epoxy on the inside of the diff.
Tomorrow I am going to call the technical support lines at Loctite, JB Weld, Permatex and Defcon and see what I can learn. I'll let you know what I find out.
He suggested going with an epoxy, but was unable to suggest any in particular. He also suggested grinding the exterior weld to flatten and make for a better surface to bond the epoxy. I was concerned about weakening the crack. He did not see that as an issue.
Which leads to the conversation I had with a representative for Belzona. I was asking especially about Belzona 1161. The rep said that Belzona would have been perfect IF it had not already been welded. The Belzona would not, he assured me, adhere to the weld. In time, it would just peel off. His suggestion was to check out a competitor: Defcon Tungsten metal epoxy. He also said that I should use a heat lamp to sweat out the oil in the cast steel pores. I.e., clean with brake cleaner, then put it under a heat lamp for 3-4 hours. Repeat at least a couple of times, leaving the heat lamp on overnight for the last time. Oh yeah, and to be sure to thoroughly rough up the previously applied epoxy on the inside of the diff.
Tomorrow I am going to call the technical support lines at Loctite, JB Weld, Permatex and Defcon and see what I can learn. I'll let you know what I find out.