| Author | Message | ||
     Xl_cheese |
  Needless to say I was a bit disappointed when I picked up my header yesterday after having the bung welded on the front pipe. As I was leaving I looked at it closely and noticed a hole in the weld. Had to go back in and show it to them. THey called the welder that did the work and as he walked in and saw the guy at the desk holding the header the first words out of his mouth were that there weren't any leaks. I'm also going to have to use some kind of sealer for the O2 threads because he ground the top surface of the bung and as I did a leak test in my garage I noticed it won't seal now. I'm assuming he ground it to clean it up? (Message edited by xl_cheese on July 26, 2008) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Dude. I would not only not pay for that, I would make them buy you a new set of pipes. I can't weld, and I could do a better job than that. That "welder" should be embarrassed to call himself that. | ||
| Slaughter |
Yikes. I just paid a local speed shop to weld bungs in both pipes of my Beson exhaust for dyno tuning. I wasnt gonna say anything about your welding job there because until I read it, I thought maybe you just bought a Harbor Freight welder and tried teaching yourself. That's a real bummer... and frustrating as all get-out. | ||
| Lanretsr |
wow, they look like new pipes too. How much did they charge you for that? you might be able to salvage if you grid the weld down and flatten the bung with a hand file. I'd go back though and get your money back and take it and have someone tig it | ||
| Whitexc |
It looks as though he burned through in a couple spots and had to fill it in....thus making it look like a bird turd!!! I think you are justified to get your money back, good luck. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Looks like he tried (and I do mean tried) to stick weld it. TIG does a WAY better job on stainless. Somebody that knows what they're doing could make that look like the factory installation. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
This is what I do. For over 25 years. Tested formally every year for 20 years, informal random tests every 3 months. That weld looks like total crap. I would get time off for that and an immediate retest. The photo shows spatter inside the pipe, what else is in there? It looks like a weld that some kid would do to get some experience on a bike that didn't matter. I've had welding done on my bike at the local shop, Rocky's, and was very surprised at the pro quality of the work. Yes, you should not have to pay for this. Yes, they should pay for the repair at a real weld shop. (and TIG is probably the right process.) Yes, it looks like they should probably buy new headers for you. | ||
| Barnyard |
Well im not old enough to have 25 years but I have 9 in welding and yea that is not excitable I would make them buy you new headers, and bungs. But you could always get some J B Weld and fix it your self. ma bee there welder could do it for you.  | ||
| Nillaice |
bummer, dude. that shop sucks at welding, maybe they do something else better... | ||
| Reepicheep |
Odd... he clearly ground off one spot, but didn't bother to grind down the rest. That would have made an awful looking weld a little less awful looking. | ||
| Jramsey |
JB weld will melt off the first time the motors fired up. That weld is pityfull looking at best. Must have been done by a blind drunk wino. (Message edited by J.ramsey on July 26, 2008) | ||
| Phwx2 |
I had a guy weld a bung in the exhaust on my slant six truck motor and it was his first time welding and he did a better job. This guy is a real artist. | ||
| Ustorque |
as a sheet metal worker and welder by trade i would fire myself for that job. Being stainless the first and only option to weld that bung on would have been tig.....that is completely inexcusable, sorry for your loss.  I hope that butcher at least threw in some steak tips! (Message edited by ustorque on July 26, 2008) | ||
| Teddagreek |
May not be a total loss... You'll need a new bung probably.. The weld almost looks like a hammer would knock it off.. Sucks....  | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
that guy had zero clue the pipe was stainless. You can weld stainless without having to use TIG, but as was mentioned above, he should have used TIG rod. | ||
| Smoke |
sorry to see that quality work. i would take more pictures and then have it repaired by someone with talent on a tig. i would then bring the bill and the pictures of the present welds back to the original shop and see what the shop owner will do. if it was me(shop owner), i would reimburse you-no questions. jmo tim | ||
| Rah7777777 |
I didnt know the local high school metal shop charged anything....... seriously, I would have shit a brick! | ||
| Reepicheep |
USTorque, why not oxy-actalyne? If you have the right stainless filler, I would think it would be slower but equally effective. (this isn't an argument, its an honest question). | ||
| Brazenbuck |
And you didn't use the header to take a swing at the welder? I know it would have been the wrong thing to do, but I can't say I wouldn't have done it if someone F'd up my pipe and then got an attitude about being called on it. | ||
| Xl_cheese |
So I took it back this morning and spoke with the owner. He wasnt' going to budge on a refund but he did say he wasn't happy with that weld and he would personally clean it up. He took it to the back and smoothed the weld down. He also leveled the bung surface and checked the pipe for leaks. He asked me if I wanted him to spray that section so it wouldn't rust. I told him to go ahead. It's still not pretty, but it will work. Now I can go see what the front cylinder is doing. Lesson learned. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
You might want to checks your values. Isn't an AFV of 97 a little low?  | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Re: oxy weld Stainless is highly reflective so, besides being really hard to see the process, most of the heat is reflected back. On a piece this thin it's a bother, larger pieces will melt the oxy tip before they're hot enough to weld. Stainless is also toxic as would be all the ingredients. The whole process is pretty fussy and errors can cause changes in the metal quality and strength. One can only hope that the "welder" who did this gave himself arc-eye to help him remember weld techniques but, seeing as he was willing to hand this over as a finished product, I doubt he'll know what arc-eye is and make the connection. PS the wino comment. I've had the joy of working with buddies under the influence, never seen anything like this. It's like the bicycle thing, if they can stand, they can weld. Not to be encouraged, though. PPS the school comment. A teacher would have guided this and made sure it was done right. It would not have been released back like this. Actually, with the right setup it's not that hard. In a shop, it would be beginner stuff. And, in a school you would know the risk and, usually, no charge. | ||
| Etennuly |
What would he spray on it to keep your stainless steel pipe from rusting? That •••••• is the one who taught the guy that did it in the first place!  | ||
| Badlionsfan |
 Wow. I used to fiddle around in a friends metal fab shop, welding pieces of scrap together. My welds after an hr of self teaching looked better than that. Sad. | ||
| New12r |
I would not accept anything but a new header on his dime. Never have I seen someone get charges for such a crappy weld.... | ||
| Gschuette |
Wow! Sorry about that. I hope they make it right. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
It looks to me like you got fukt. It can be fixed. The problem with tig welding a pipe is contamination from the inside of the pipe will get in the weld. Even if it was a brand new clean pipe, you would still have to purge it with an inert gas first or ruin the inside of the weld. It would be near impossible to clean a used pipe well enough to get a good tig weld on it. A proper fit of the parts would make a large difference too. Maybe a weldolet fitting to begin with... What the heck did they spray on it to keep it from rusting? If you want to send that out to oregon, I can get it repaired free but it will never be new again. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thanks for the detail Ima! I'll have to get some scrap stainless and play with it (in a well ventilated area!) | ||
| Iamarchangel |
One other thing, your profile says you're in Austin, Tx. Buell shows three dealers there and some nearby. If I was an Austin dealer, I'd want to make sure that nobody thought this came from my shop. Don't know how this forum works on naming shops but if I was a shop owner, I'd get my name cleared. Like I said earlier, my bike needed welding for safety (law here) and I was really impressed with the weld quality. It looked like a factory weld which is what it should look like. | ||
| Joesbuell |
I've done better looking shits than that weld! I'd demand them replace the header! |
