Split seams on 1203 horn

[dhook17322]

Apparently the horn was dropped in shipment and several soldered seams split near the mouths. Anyone have any ideas on the best procedure to resolder the seams without making things worse? Any help would be very welcome. Thanks.

[Old Guy]

Honestly- with my nerves and attention span, I'd seek a professional tinsmith..they still exist.

If nothing else, give him a couple bucks for his advice.

Maybe Google "tinsmithing repair work myplace"

[bfish]

35 years ago I had the knack, but my HVAC instructor didn't dwell on it, because he said we'd never need it. He was right. A shop that does standing seam copper roofs might have someone that would tackle it.

The paint/aquaplas (prey no tar) is gonna be the kicker.

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

Originally posted by bfish:
[QB]35 years ago I had the knack, but my HVAC instructor didn't dwell on it, because he said we'd never need it. He was right.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Really? My dad is a pipefitter and HVAC falls into his realm of knowledge/duties. He had to silver solder my AC when I bought a new condensor/compressor. I would have thought it a necessary skill.

[bfish]

I didn't mean soldering/brazing in general, just the tinsmith type used on sheet metal. You have to first pickle or etch the metal with acid. Then you have two or three heavy irons in the fire (that's where the saying came from) that you keep rotating for the proper heat. A torch won't work, and neither will any electric iron I ever saw. It's a whole different skill that was pretty much replaced by spot welders and seamers long ago.

[bfish]

Note the extra iron heating on the bench, the bar solder, the fume hood to keep from croaking the smith, etc.

Added;
This picture was obviously posed. There ain't no smoke, and the iron oven's on the wrong side of the work for the right-hander pictured.

Added later;
Musta been pre-OSHA too.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ April 27, 2008 10:58 PM: Message edited by: bfish ]</font>

[bfish]

Dave, since the surfaces are already tinned, you Might (capital M) successfully reflow them after a good cleaning with denatured alcohol. It would be fairly risky, even for someone with experience. If mine, I'd probably break out some JBWeld and call it good.

[bfish]

If the seams are actually torn rather than merely cracked, it suggests that there may be retained stress that could further open and separate the seam as soon as the solder melts. Tricky.

Not knowing the exact solder composition complicates it further. With the lead-free craze so far behind us, an unwitting attempt by a youngster with modern solders could be a disaster.

Bottom line, find an old-timer with some old-time (lots of lead) solder. Good Luck!

[dhook17322]

There are several seams on one horn that were torn by some sort of impact (being dropped probably) along the solder seam for a few inches and left a bright joint exposed.
I still have some real lead solder, but the new stuff might just make a mess if it's not compatible - real good point! Guess I'll have to look around for the right place.
Multicells don't ship well or I'd get them back to GPA. The mouths on them are very fragile.

[bfish]

You've got it. Ideally, the repair solder should have a melt point a few degrees shy of the original. I'd guess that the original was at least 50% lead, maybe more.

Fixing a bad/broken joint is many times harder than doing a new one from scratch. If your chosen repairman is less than 100% confident, walk away.

With a clean surface, JB Weld WILL bond, and would be a real close color match to boot.