Question about welding a suction piece

[ricktuttle]

Hi guys, I'm a newbie with what is probably a stupid question for most of you, but here goes....
There is a hairline fracture in topside of my suction housing/piece about two inches up from where it mounts to the intake and it is about two inches long but doesn't go all the way through to where it can be seen on the other side like when you look at it from inside the boat. I noticed it while I was inspecting and replacing loader bolts this winter. Can this be ground out a bit and welded up? If so are there any special instructions I should tell my welder dude?

[wet77]

worked on a boat last summer for a guy that had a similiar problem where the name plate on a JF Berk. mounts it cracked across and below the bearing.
I had a friend of mine weld it up and it seemed to work fine. :cool:

[wsuwrhr]

Aluminum work hardens with time.
Your suction may have had a casting flaw that is just now showing itself.
Aluminum can be repaired pretty easily by welding. The question is, why is it cracked in the first place.
Keep that in mind.
Brian

[ricktuttle]

I is a very thin hairline crack and it doesn't go all the way through or extend down to the mounting area. As far as what made it crack I don't know, but I did have a loader fail, break loose and fall off the boat completely last summer and that may have contributed in some way, but we really inspected everything after that happened and believe it or not there wasn't much damage at all in the pump housing. There was just a couple of gouges about .020" deep up further in the housing but everything else looked good. I don't know if it makes any difference but this is a Dominator pump. All of this has got me wondering if I should buy a new housing?????????? :cry:

[sleekcrafter]

I is a very thin hairline crack and it doesn't go all the way through or extend down to the mounting area. As far as what made it crack I don't know, but I did have a loader fail, break loose and fall off the boat completely last summer and that may have contributed in some way, but we really inspected everything after that happened and believe it or not there wasn't much damage at all in the pump housing. There was just a couple of gouges about .020" deep up further in the housing but everything else looked good. I don't know if it makes any difference but this is a Dominator pump. All of this has got me wondering if I should buy a new housing?????????? :cry:
Are you sure it's a crack, and just not a crack in the paint? i have had several suction housing stripped down to bare metal, and you would swear that the were cracked. I went as far as to Magnaflux the parts, only to find it's just a color difference in the metal casting. The coloring goes thru to both sides, thats the unsettling visual part. Both my housing were found to be free of defects. Good luck on repairs if needed, the aluminum in the castings are quite dirty, and you will have a lot of junk surfacing while welding, but it does repair easy enough.
Sleek

[wsuwrhr]

Brian is 356 aluminum used in these castings? Aluminum is an interstesting material, some aluminum alloys actualy get get stronger when "strain hardened" or work hardened. And then some are old weak castings. I would wonder as well why it broke to begin with :idea:
Denis
Alot of castings are 356, I think it is the most common.
Brian

[ricktuttle]

sleekcrafter, it is on the inside of the suction housing, there is no paint/powdercoat there, it is just bare aluminum, and it is very obviously a crack as it didn't used to be there and it can be felt with the fingernail.

[wsuwrhr]

I is a very thin hairline crack and it doesn't go all the way through or extend down to the mounting area. As far as what made it crack I don't know, but I did have a loader fail, break loose and fall off the boat completely last summer and that may have contributed in some way, but we really inspected everything after that happened and believe it or not there wasn't much damage at all in the pump housing. There was just a couple of gouges about .020" deep up further in the housing but everything else looked good. I don't know if it makes any difference but this is a Dominator pump. All of this has got me wondering if I should buy a new housing?????????? :cry:
An old trick to stop a crack from coming back, is to drill a hole at both ends of the crack. The crack can't continue on thru the hole.
my .02
Brian

[ricktuttle]

Should the housing be heated up before welding on or not?

[Red Horse]

Heating all depends on the size of weld or repair being made. Aluminum gets rid of heat real well so if the area is large then you need to heat it first. If the area is not too awful deep then you can get away with no filler rod and simply weld the crack. If it is deep (over 1/8) then you might need to gouch it out. Dependant upon the equipment you have. Some TIG machines are not all that powerful. If you have a good 200 amp machine, then just give it hell and it will do fine. Someone else said this as well. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Nothing screws up welds worse than junk in the weld.

[ricktuttle]

Thamk you Sir. That is very helpful.

[ttmott]

Aluminum when welded looses a large amount of it's original tensile strength. Some alloys can be heat treated after welding like the 6000 and 7000 series to get the mechanicals back but I don't know how the cast aluminum alloys do. It is not uncommon when a rod is thrown through an aluminum block to "window" it or weld it back up. Windowing, when done properly requires the block to be heated to 400 deg F. Windowing is usually only done in non stressed locations. In the case of a pump I would be cautious as there a lot of big stresses that this little casting needs to resist like the complete thrust of the jet, inlet water pressure, rotational vibrations from the shaft and impeller, etc. You loose this casting in the boat and down goes the boat. I guess it is all where the crack is.
Tom

[wsuwrhr]

You loose this casting in the boat and down goes the boat. I guess it is all where the crack is.
Tom
My advise in a nutshell.
Price out a new suction.
Brian

[Squirtin Thunder]

Victorfb did the repair on Roostwears E pump suction housing and it looks real good after a season. You may check with him on how he did it.

[victorfb]

roostwears suction housing was cracked at a section were it was outside the boat.(E-pump). so there wasnt too much concern if it leaked. but i wouldnt worry too much since its in the suction housing. when i started cleaning roostwears housing i found a 3/8" hole at the end of the crack. someone had repaired it by useing "bondo", yep BONDO. and it was holding. of course it wouldnt do anything for the crack itself but it didnt leak. so welding it was basically a permanant fix in my mind. after all, it is the suction area. my main concern was more of when the boat is beached and the pump is bouncing on the sand when the wake board boats go by and make surfable waves. but thats another issue all together.

[ricktuttle]

Does Dominator still make pumps? If so how can I get a hold of someone to get a price?

[American Turbine Man]

American Turbine manufactures the Dominator, in fact this coming June will be the 30th year. Call 800 622 JETS on Monday. ATM

[ricktuttle]

I'll be callin' Monday. Thank you