Thread: butt welded pipes leaking.

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Yup, all the things Pat said. Mig is ok for exhaust, but on intake tubes, especially pressurized by a turbo, tig is the only way to go. There might be some folks who can stick weld them and not have leaks, but it takes some very good welding skills to do it!!!

hardest thing to weld is tube or pipe i ground my welding table and set the joint up for a ligth tight fit up after tack in the 3 spots. i roll the tub with one hand and tig weld with the other with no filler rod

.....As Pat & Dave said Tig is the best way.... But if all you have is an arc welder & you don't want to pay someone to do it, you might try putting a back up piece inside the tubing. Example is if the tubing is 2 1/2" ID then put a piece of 2 1/2" OD {1/2" wide} inside to back up the weld. Run it hot & roll the pipe like Pat said so that your always welding in the flat position. Or put a piece of 2 1/2" ID on the outside if your using 2 1/2" OD tubing. Two lap joints might be easier for you to weld than 1 butt joint.... Or you might try rolling the tubing doing the welding all uphill or all downhill.... just a thought...... But again, as Pat & Dave said, Arc welding pipe/tubing is about as hard as it's going to get!!! Bill

ps, don't know what size rod your using but 3/32" rod is easier to control than 1/8".....