Aluminum brazing -- any good?

[Fish Fry]

14 ft Valco

I recently did a quick fix brazing some angle aluminum onto my cracked transom bracket for extra stoutness -- should give me a couple years. I will eventually want to replace the transom and bracket.

A plumber, I'm no stranger to soldering and brazing, and I found these brazing rods at Home depot, and tested them on some aluminum before using them. The resulting joint was incredibly strong--could not rip it apart with pliers without bending/breaking the aluminum.

My question is, will this supplant welding for a DIY guy like myself if I should choose any other repair/welding projects on a boat, or am I overlooking something?

Also, does anyone know if the material used in these aluminum brazing rods causes any kind of electrolysis/corrosion, or is less corrosion resistant than the aluminum which it binds?

This stuff seems to make aluminum hull repair a snap, with no need of a tig welder.

 

[ricohman]

Re: Aluminum brazing -- any good?

I've tried those rods in the past on transfer cases. I've switched to TIG as the penetration and amount of heat transfer was very poor. And the weld was brittle.
I consider these rods as a field repair only now and in that respect they could work very well. I would not use them on aluminum sheet.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Aluminum brazing -- any good?

I'm just a wanna-be Tinner!! Reason??? Working with and repairing metal scares the heck oughta me. Having said that, having been active on this forum for the past several years, I've been getting intrigued with the notion of owning a tin boat so I have been researching a lot about them and in this research I've found several articles about this aluminum brazing and these rods that you've used. From what I can tell, and it's only from my Googling, they are very good but...only as good as the person doing the brazing. It sounds like you're experienced with the process and have performed an excellent repair. There should be no electrolysis or corrosion issues whatsoever. It would be beneficial to all of us if you could post pics and more details of exactly what you did and how you did it.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Aluminum brazing -- any good?

I've tried those rods in the past on transfer cases. I've switched to TIG as the penetration and amount of heat transfer was very poor. And the weld was brittle.
I consider these rods as a field repair only now and in that respect they could work very well. I would not use them on aluminum sheet.

Same here.. I've used them and found they would have limited applications on a boat.

For a transom that flexes a lot, I think the filler material is going to break away from the parent material after awhile. For a low stress repair they would work fine, but I wouldn't use them in a high stress area.