Howdy folks! Long time reading of the wealth of knowledge here, first post though. Normally I'm not the type to ask for help, but I recognize when I need some outside knowledge.
Long story short, my wood boiler has a 304SS firebox. It's only 2 years old but the compmany is no longer in business so I'm my own warranty at this point sadly. A poorly finished mig weld with a large crater at the end acted as a propagation point for a crack to form early this winter. Before it got silly colt out, I let the boiler burn down and made a repair. Material is 10ga 304SS. Took a 1/16" drill bit and drilled the ends of the crack, used a small burr to v groove out the crack, then GTAW welded it with 308L rod. All was well the rest of the winter. Last week I started noticing moisture in the lower burn chamber again. I let it burn out and cool down for the season over the weekend. Today I went to town with a wire brush and found the my weld cracked down the middle. To my knowledge I did everything correct, but I'm happy to learn I missed a step specific to boiler work. I weld sanitary SS tubing for a living so boiler repair isn't a familiarity.
Here's the initial crack
After my first weld. Please don't judge the weld too harshly, it's about as awkward of a welding position as it gets to reach this area waist deep in the loading door of the boiler haha.
And here's what I found today .
Did I do something wrong or skip a step? Thank you in advance for any help!
Long story short, my wood boiler has a 304SS firebox. It's only 2 years old but the compmany is no longer in business so I'm my own warranty at this point sadly. A poorly finished mig weld with a large crater at the end acted as a propagation point for a crack to form early this winter. Before it got silly colt out, I let the boiler burn down and made a repair. Material is 10ga 304SS. Took a 1/16" drill bit and drilled the ends of the crack, used a small burr to v groove out the crack, then GTAW welded it with 308L rod. All was well the rest of the winter. Last week I started noticing moisture in the lower burn chamber again. I let it burn out and cool down for the season over the weekend. Today I went to town with a wire brush and found the my weld cracked down the middle. To my knowledge I did everything correct, but I'm happy to learn I missed a step specific to boiler work. I weld sanitary SS tubing for a living so boiler repair isn't a familiarity.
Here's the initial crack
After my first weld. Please don't judge the weld too harshly, it's about as awkward of a welding position as it gets to reach this area waist deep in the loading door of the boiler haha.
And here's what I found today .
Did I do something wrong or skip a step? Thank you in advance for any help!
Last edited: