Aluminum Weld Appearance

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jfaisten

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Joined
May 2, 2018
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Location
Grosse Ile, Michigan
Greetings
I bought a Ranger RP190 all welded boat. You can see distortions on the exterior of the hull that appear to be caused by welding the interior stringers. The distortions march along the hull near the top, are about 3" long and 7 or 8" apart. You can see them and they feel like a slight lump in the exterior hull. They all run parallel to the ground. They appear on the bottom of the boat as well. I took the boat to a couple local guys who weld aluminum and both indicated that this was normal. Can't be avoided due the thin aluminum and the heat required for a "good weld". One of them indicated that if the distortions weren't there he'd be more concerned. Never owned an all welded boat and this appearance doesn't look right to me.
This is my first post on this site. I did a search for this information and couldn't find a question like this.
Is this normal?
Thanks
 
Your weldor friends are correct, the local distortion is a sign of a good weld.

Th physics of this are that aluminum expands greatly when heated, & during welding it gets heated to about 1500 degrees - but just a zone about 1/4 inch wide. So that zone expands more than the surrounding material. Something has to move! Add to that the extra rigidity of the member being attached. That will pull in a different way when this is all cooling off.

I had welds (I made) look great & just pop apart due to trying to not let get hot. Doesn't work!
 
Nothing more than proper penetration on a thin material. My boat is .125" and I can find the same in a few areas. Perfectly fine.

Cracks are what you need to worry about. Not if, but when. There's a reason aircraft are riveted instead of welded :p
 
Go into a dealership and see if they'll cut you a deal on a boat with these abnormalities. Should be an interesting conversation. I go into Bass Pro, they sell Tracker boats and you'll see what you're talking about on all there new welded boats.
 
As a welder and hot rodder I can't help but think a fully tig welded boat would look sweet. Well, to me anyways. Most people would probably never even notice a stack of dimes.
 
Once I have the pic uploaded I'll share what some extremely rough water and throttle did to my boat last weekend. I have a lot of welding to do!
 

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