Carburetor welding - repairing cracks and wear
Cracks or material wear in a carburetor can be easily repaired using Lampert welding technology. Material is welded onto the defective areas to restore the original shape. The concentrated heat input only at the welding point prevents distortion and restores the tightness and perfect functioning of the carburetor. Repairing instead of replacing – Lampert welding equipment makes it possible.
In this case, the carburetor has two defects: A crack in the float chamber and a leak in the housing (upper case). Both are repaired by applying material with a suitable welding wire.
Grinding out the crack in the float chamber
To repair fine cracks, it is essential to grind them out deep enough so that the material application can later restore the seal. To do this, a 90° notch is ground into the float chamber, in which the missing material can then be added in layers.
Welding the crack - filling the notch with lead wire
The exact alloy of the cast part is often unknown – we have therefore used a 0.4 mm GSAlMg4 magnet wire. Alternatively, a GSAlSi12 school wire of the same thickness would also be possible. At Micro Arc Welder we selected the aluminum welding curve and the geometry setting for lead wire with the preset parameters. This neatly filled the missing material in the notch.
A slightly higher welding frequency is recommended to prevent the aluminum from cooling down during welding.
Grinding the weld seam and reapplying material
Once the first layer of material has been applied, it is sanded down and any imperfections are evened out with another layer by adding wire. Depending on the depth of the crack, this creates a perfect, homogeneous material structure with 1-3 layer applications, which can then be ground and polished.
The repair is barely visible if it is carried out cleanly. The added material is homogeneously and permanently bonded to the cast aluminum. Stresses and hot cracks caused by excessive heat input are virtually eliminated due to the properties of the Lampert welding process.
Repair of wear and tear on the housing
Wear can be removed from the sealing edge of the housing using exactly the same procedure as for the float chamber. It is not necessary to weld a notch in the repair area, but the welding area must be finely ground or chemically cleaned to reliably remove the aluminum oxide on the surface before welding.
Perfect result
The result speaks for itself and the carburetor parts are ready for many more years of use. With only a short repair time, the complete replacement of the carburetor is thus avoided. This is not only the most sensible approach when spare parts are difficult to obtain, but is also generally recommended for reasons of sustainability.
