Home Handyman Aluminium Repair

Have you ever had an aluminum repair or 'thing" you wanted to make, but thought you had to use a TIG welder, which you don't have, and end up taking it to someone who has?
Then try this product; HTS2000


Other products (rods) that do a similar job are Durafix and Alladdin 3 in 1. Shop around with the products to get the best price. I've heard of prices from $5 to $60 per pound for very similar products

All of these rods are aluminum brazing rods and they are made basically from aluminum and zinc
You can use propane, oxy/propane, oxy/ acet. The smaller and thinner the pieces, the better it is to stay away from the O/A and use the mapp (preferred) or propane unless you have the correct size tips as the O/A can get to the melt temp really quickly. Use a very fine tip (00 or 0) when working with 1/8" or thinner material with O/A.

If you can braze then you can use this product.

Don't use this product on high temperature items. Even though it says you can do cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds, I wouldn't. Use a TIG instead.

And then of course there is stainless steel brazing rod, of which there are a few varieties. Most all contain silver as one of the alloys. You can do the search to find out what's out there.

These items lend themselves to emergency repairs on a boat, or a DIY project that doesn't need the expense of a TIG welder. You would have to make a decision as to whether a TIG is required or brazing will do. Keep in mind that if the brazing doesn't work, and you have to use TIG, all the brazing work will need to be ground out, before you can use the TIG. 

My intention for my next cruising season, is to carry a propane torch that will run off the BBQ gas tank, and some of these rods for emergency repair. Any comments?

Cruising with LPG / Propane

Here is sv Valhalla's solution to the LPG problem that so many cruisers find around the world. LPG is dangerous and you shouldn't undertake this if you have any doubts as to safety. Please read carefully and consult with others who have done this before, before undertaking the LPG transfer.

One of the problems cruising in different parts of the world is the difference in fittings for liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in either propane or butane tanks.
In the USA the standard fitting is POL (reverse thread).
In Europe and Asia there are different connectors and fittings.
On VALHALLA we find it necessary to decant the compressed liquid (propane or butane) from a 'local' tank into our vessel tanks which will fit in the custom spaces for use and storage. 
In Micronesia we found compatible fittings but only large local tanks so decanting was necessary there as well.  Prior to leaving Hawaii I had a POL to POL transfer hose fabricated at a propane supply store.
In Asia we again find large tanks (50kg) with the POL fitting ... much too large for use on the boat.  The smaller (12-14kg) tanks use a snap-on fitting, either separate or combined with a tank regulator. For these tanks a transfer hose has been fabricated as shown.  The local tank fitting (without a regulator) and shut off valve are normally available at hardware or stove stores along with reinforced hose.  I originally used clear reinforced plastic hose, as shown in the photo, but found that the gas caused the hose to become brittle.  I now use rubber hose designed for auto air conditioning.  The shut off valve is handy since as soon as the local fitting is attached to the tank the gas begins to flow.  The male POL fitting was fabricated at a machine shop using my POL-POL transfer hose fitting as a sample.
The method of transfer is to invert and elevate the local tank and have it warmed by the sun.  The vessel tank is kept in the shade and covered with a wet towel (not shown for clarity).  The temperature differential creates a pressure differential which assists the liquid transfer.
The vessel tank is hung from a hand scale to measure the weight as it is being filled.  I weighed a tank that was filled at a commercial plant and use that as the target weight.  It is important to NOT OVERFILL the tank.  The correct amount is 80% of the volume of the tank to account for expansion from a cold to hot tank.
As the tank is being filled I open the relief valve to reduce the pressure in the vessel tank and further assist in filling.  A clear vapor will be exhausted.  I do this periodically during filling and, as the tank weight approaches the target weight I look for it to 'spit' a stream of white liquid.  At this point I consider the tank to be full and close all valves.
A safety consideration in this operation is the fact that butane and propane are heavier than air and will flow 'downhill'.  Close all openings into the interior of the boat (port lights, ventilators, hatches, companionway boards, etc.) and ensure your gas detector is functioning.

Propane Tee Fitting

One thing lead to another with these boat projects. This blog is about linking three boat projects, and each one is worthy of it's own post. But for now, I'll give a precise of the  events.
Firstly, in the shower cubicle of the boat, I had a cupboard with a large 12 gallon hot water tank that I wanted to replace with a washing machine. So I set about removing the HW tank and then installing the washing machine. Because the doors were only 18 inches wide, the WM had to be disassembled to get through the door and then reassembled in-situ. This may become another blog at some time.
Now, because I had removed the HW tank and our only method of heating water, I then set about installing a califont, or probably better known as a "heat as you go, propane water heating unit". This was a unit sold in New Zealand, but I have seen similar units sold in Camping World in the USA. The igniter is powered by two "D" size batteries, and is small enough to install in boats and RV's.

I installed the unit under the aft vanity unit on a bulkhead. I have a means of varying the temperature output and have placed some blue masking tape for the shower temperature so that we don't need to use the mixer tap to get the temperature right. The ducting is 4 feet in length and vents to the bilge. Heat at the end of the 4 foot ducting is almost nil, and one can hold your hand over it easily. I saw many units installed on other boats with out the ducting to outside, and as others have said, "it's no worse than running the stove". Propane and co2 monitors are a safety measure. Now we have hot water on tap with no need to run the generator to supply power to the old HW tank.
Finally, when installing the propane califont, I had to install a propane hose to the unit. Initially, I "Teed" into the existing propane line with the one propane cut off switch to be used to supply both the califont and the stove. This however proved to be less than satisfactory, because the califont would remove some of the gas from the stove line while it was in use. This then made igniting the stove burners, a little more time consuming as we had to wait for the gas to flow back through the line to the stove.

New Brass T to Propane Tank

The solution was to use another solenoid and regulator for the new califont and "Tee" in both solenoid/regulators to that "Tee". Each solenoid has it's own on/off switch.
We also plumbed a hot water line to the aft of the boat so that we can have hot showers on the aft deck. We also think we will use less propane, than heating a kettle of hot water on the stove to do the dishes. I'll comment on that as data comes to hand.
The "T" also allows us to carry a spare propane tank to swap to when running out on the tank in use.