Welding tunnel

[davidhahn15]

Let's make a long story short.
While mounting gas can rack....
I now have a 1/4" hole in my tunnel cooler that needs to be filled.
Hole is in the mounting bracket groove and only goes through the topside of the cooler. The hole does not go through the bottom layer

What grade aluminum is the tunnel on 2016 axys?
Anyone know what filler rods to use?
Hole is in the mounting bracket groove...
Any better options than to have it welded up quick?

 

[meathooker]

Let's make a long story short.
While mounting gas can rack....
I now have a 1/4" hole in my tunnel cooler that needs to be filled.

What grade aluminum is the tunnel on 2016 axys?
Anyone know what filler rods to use?
Hole is in the mounting bracket groove...
Any better options than to have it welded up quick?

Sorry to hear (or see)!

Previous Polaris colleges were easily welded - pretty sure they were 6000 series aluminum. I can check with my coworker who welded mine tomorrow to see what he used.

 

[LoudHandle]

Pretty sure the coolers are extruded from a 50 series alloy (they bend far too easily to be a 60 series). That is going to be a challenge to weld and look good after the fact. My choice of filler rod would 5356 and TIG weld it. Probably will need to drain the coolant, open up the flanges for access, and remove some paint for welding.

Good luck!

 

[MountainJunkie]

Let's make a long story short.
While mounting gas can rack....
I now have a 1/4" hole in my tunnel cooler that needs to be filled.
Hole is in the mounting bracket groove and only goes through the topside of the cooler. The hole does not go through the bottom layer

What grade aluminum is the tunnel on 2016 axys?
Anyone know what filler rods to use?
Hole is in the mounting bracket groove...
Any better options than to have it welded up quick?

Contact Polaris at a national level and mention that you have a metallurgy question regarding a Polaris snowmobile.

 

[jhurkot]

Oops, didn't realize that grove was above the cooler. Wonder if you could tap it and plug it with a bolt.

 

[2XM3]

I would try this first, get some 3m DP420 make up a little snug fitting block that just fits in the channel, with a small spud thats a press fit in the hole, clean and wire brush it spotless and glue the plug in there. That stuff will pretty much hold anything. However it more than likely can be tig welded fairly easy if the guy is good at it, the paints toast if you go the weld route btw

 

[Rick!]

They are either 6061-T6 or 6063-T5 (maybe T3, but that would be way soft for structural stuff). And they are thin - not a lot of room for learning how to TIG on them.


The tunnel is a 5000 series sheet which turns to low grade stuff when you weld it.

 

[geo]

Not a glue fan for this kind of repair on a newer sled. I'd weld it but check how deep the drill bit went on the bottom side too. Pretty thin stuff and a .040" nip may be more than 1/2 the thickness.

You won't lose any powder coat or structure if done correctly. Maybe 6 or 7 secs of low amp welding.
I'd split it into 3 (because it's in a hole, right side wet in, left side wet in then down the middle along the length of the tunnel) with a bit of heat dissipation (damp rag if your impatient) as you switch hands between beads. Check for crap each time and only pick out what you need to. Initial prep for me would be; heat gun to boil out water, a quick-light scrape with a deburring tool followed by acetone wipe into the hole.
Treat it like a dirty casting. My go to rod for dirty aluminum is 4943 now. Wet's in real easy.
60, 70 amps and pedal to the metal to keep it short and sweet, bit of helium, 1/16th electrode, 1/16 rod, ol' 50/50 split in cleaning, ol' 60HZ for cleaning. It'll take more time to put on your helmet and gloves on.

Every shop should have a tig welder in the corner for Friday night emergencies like this.

 

[LPIdaho]

I have had my tunnel coolers repaired by welding at MTNTK. They did a great job!

 

[LoudHandle]

Not a glue fan for this kind of repair on a newer sled. I'd weld it but check how deep the drill bit went on the bottom side too. Pretty thin stuff and a .040" nip may be more than 1/2 the thickness.

You won't lose any powder coat or structure if done correctly. Maybe 6 or 7 secs of low amp welding.
I'd split it into 3 (because it's in a hole, right side wet in, left side wet in then down the middle along the length of the tunnel) with a bit of heat dissipation (damp rag if your impatient) as you switch hands between beads. Check for crap each time and only pick out what you need to. Initial prep for me would be; heat gun to boil out water, a quick-light scrape with a deburring tool followed by acetone wipe into the hole.
Treat it like a dirty casting. My go to rod for dirty aluminum is 4943 now. Wet's in real easy.
60, 70 amps and pedal to the metal to keep it short and sweet, bit of helium, 1/16th electrode, 1/16 rod, ol' 50/50 split in cleaning, ol' 60HZ for cleaning. It'll take more time to put on your helmet and gloves on.

Every shop should have a tig welder in the corner for Friday night emergencies like this.

Geo shouldn't this be 4043? Guessing you fat fingered the keyboard there. But you guys have some weird alloy choices that we don't see in the states. About the only time I use 4043 is for castings. Too close to salt water to use a filler with that much zinc.

 

[Roostmonkey]

If it's a1/4" hole, cut a PC of aluminum rod at the same diameter and an 1/8" longer than the depth between the top and bottom of the cooling chamber. With the tig tortch, sweat the rod into the surrounding metal. Weld it as 6061 and you will be good. Easy fix.

 

[TheJett29]

I prefer 4047, 100% argon