Looking for welder to repair gopower wheels

[Aaron Friedl]

I’m looking for someone that can weld cracks in magnesium Gopower wheels. I’ve got a bunch of them and would like to save them if possible.

[Terry Bentley]

Anyone with an a/c capable tig welder can repair those. I remember welding up a ton of them back in high school.

[Brad Rose]

Aaron,
 Hopefully someone will respond! I need some aluminum parts worked on.

[ted johnson]

A lot of decent TIG welders can/will do aluminum. Far fewer will tackle magnesium.
Credit here to "Welding Mastermind" website: TJ

"Welding Magnesium is not something many welders I know are willing to attempt, even though it is possible. Magnesium tends to catch fire if heated too much and god help you put out a magnesium fire once it gets started. Magnesium has a flash point of 883 ˚F and burns at a temperature of 4,000 ˚F. This kind of heat turns water and even carbon dioxide into fuel, so not many are willing to try welding magnesium."

[Michael Burke]

In my 50 plus years of doing tig welding I have never met any other competent tig welders that were concerned about welding magnesium. The argon gas shielded zone around the tig torch cup prevents any ignition. Mag rod is expensive and before internet sales became common it wasn't always easy to find a source to buy it except in larger quantities. The last time I bought mag rod it was about $140 a pound. GoPower wheels are cast from material that doesn't weld clean. Every GP wheel that I have seen weld repaired or ones I have done have a small zone of the weld that has porosity in it where the weld zone begins. Once enough new weld material is in place it welds nicely.  The frustrating part of it is that small zone of porosity. That part of the weld isn't as strong as the parent material. Once you machine the wheel that porosity becomes visible and you have to add some type auto body filler or a metal filled epoxy to fill the small holes. I've welded on billet mag parts and never had that porous zone. Mag castings are alloyed so that will cast well. That doesn't always result in an alloy that is weldable. The same problem exists for welding on most cast aluminum kart wheels. I've found that the Azusa Feather Torque wheels and some of the Hands wheels are the only ones I have repaired that result in a porosity free repair. Some Hands mag wheels weld cleanly and others don't. I won't weld mag wheels for customers, but mostly because I can't guarantee a porosity free weld. A shop that does race car chassis work or a shop that does a lot of aircraft welding usually has a welder on staff that is capable of welding kart wheels. None of the welders I know keep mag rod in stock, but they're capable of doing the welding required. A welder that has the skills to weld aluminum properly can also weld mag.

[Gary Wlodarsky]

just had some(8) McCulloch wheels repaired ,,real ones,,,expensive as hell...rod is like 150 a pound, time consuming,,,,and as said above,,,when machined down,,,you can see the repair,,,I suppose if you paint them you could use a small dab of glaze to finish off,,,but mine are bare,,,no paint,,,they will be a very nice 10 foot wheel,,,but not perfect ,,,respectful..but not perfect,,,again these are 60 year old mag wheels,,


gw

[Terry Bentley]

Hey Michael, hope all is good. You saved me the headache of explaining. Thanks. Drop me a line some time.

[Aaron Friedl]

My gopower wheels are cracked in an area that doesn’t show (backside on area axle goes through). I have magnesium rod and plenty of spare wheels if anyone sees this and has tig welded magnesium in the past or has experience welding aluminum.

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[John Wolkiewicz]

My gopower wheels are cracked in an area that doesn’t show (backside on area axle goes through). I have magnesium rod and plenty of spare wheels if anyone sees this and has tig welded magnesium in the past or has experience welding aluminum.

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well now i know why i cant find the wheel i am looking for, you have them all

[Billy Byrne]

terry Ives He repairs them