What to do before welding.

[benji]

Finally going to get this rear bar on, it's only been a year...

There are two plates to be welded to the chassis, and im wondering what others have done in terms of ecus etc.

The guy who's doing it says he just dissconnects the battery, but rave says to disconnect all the ecus.

Not quite sure.

[Keithy P38]

Just disconnect both battery terminals and you'll be fine.

[justinc]

Step 1; remove drivers seat, step 2; remove BECM, step 3; drive to nearby town and store said BECM in airtight lightning proof container, in back shed, away from powerlines. Step 4; return to vehicle and carry out welding task. Reassembly is a reversal of removal...

:D

JC

[RR P38]

Mmm, use bolts.

Keep the earth as close to the welding site as possible.

Pretty sure I would follow Keithys suggestion here and disconnect the ecu`s

[benji]

Thanks again guys.

Was thinking the same thing. Essesentially a closed dc circuit, but lr went overboard .

Shouldn't laugh about the power lines though, was talking to a guy once who had a merc that would stop in the same place every single time, turned out to be the electrical interference from the high tension wires stuffing with the electrics on the car.

[rc42]

Generally bolting is recommended rather than welding and there may be some legal issues too. Other information I've seen suggests that its only the structural parts of the chassis around the springs and steering that this applies too but I haven't seen any authoritative information for that.


http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/pdf/Street_COP_sec_2.pdf



"2.2 WELDING
2.2.1 A novice must not carry out the construction or modification of a chassis.
Numerous effects such as twisting and loss of strength can be caused by incorrect
penetration, preparation, or timing of weld deposits. Inspection of all welds and
the requirement for rework will be at the discretion of the Examiners. Structural
chassis welding is recommended to be carried out with the chassis fixed in a jig.
An example of a chassis jig is shown in diagram 2 (a) on the next page."

[clubagreenie]

Step 1; remove drivers seat, step 2; remove BECM, step 3; drive to nearby town and store said BECM in airtight lightning proof container, in back shed, away from powerlines. Step 4; return to vehicle and carry out welding task. Reassembly is a reversal of removal...

:D

JC

You forgot step 1a. Build alfoil hat

[goingbush]

just don't put the earth lead at the front of the car to weld on the back.

if you earth clamp as close as possible to the work you wont have any issues.

x2 alfoil hat always works for me

[DoubleChevron]

just don't put the earth lead at the front of the car to weld on the back.

if you earth clamp as close as possible to the work you wont have any issues.

x2 alfoil hat always works for me

Don't unplug stuff .... This one is the simplest thing ever. If your worried about blowing anything up, pull *BOTH* bettery terminals off the battery and join them together with something like a jumperlead. The entire car is now "one circuit" and joined to earth.

You owuld have to be incredibly unlucky to damage anything either way. The cars electronics are quite well protected from power spikes etc... eg: have you ever seen an exhaust place bother to use any sort of spike protection before welding up your exhaust ?

seeya,
Shane L.

[snowbound]

I have heard that if you have your headlights on it will absorb the excess current while welding because they draw a lot of power anyway? Makes sense but I personally wouldn't risk it!

[goingbush]

I have heard that if you have your headlights on it will absorb the excess current while welding because they draw a lot of power anyway? Makes sense but I personally wouldn't risk it!

good one :Rolling: :Rolling:

[TheTree]

I have heard that if you have your headlights on it will absorb the excess current while welding because they draw a lot of power anyway? Makes sense but I personally wouldn't risk it!

Hi

Given that a small arc welder will push 140 amps you would need some industrial strength lights to cope with that :eek:

Plus the fact the lighting circuit is not connected to the Arc welding circuit in any way it defies logic that this would help in any way :angel:

Steve

[justinc]

just don't put the earth lead at the front of the car to weld on the back.

if you earth clamp as close as possible to the work you wont have any issues.

x2 alfoil hat always works for me

The tinfoil hat also stops Aliens from reading your thoughts I find....:p

JC

[clubagreenie]

Incorrect. Right now you're thinking how has this thread turned from welding into alien thought sucking protection measures.

[goingbush]

wrapping the car in Tinfoil might help, creates a faraday cage & stops ECU burning out

http://cache.wists.com/thumbnails/8/53/853f91fd446557f8e2d788ef2c79413d-orig

[benji]

So if I warn the aliens by leaving my lights on that im protected by a bonafid coverall faraday cage they'll leave my thoughts alone and my ecus wont be harmed? I may deduce from this that its my thoughts harming the ecus and not the welding which really means I should book myself into a "special place" and for the ecus sake ride a bike there.

Ps, no ecus were harmed in the making on this thread.

[justinc]

These are a fantastic buy, on special from Amazon :)

Amazon.com: Tin Foil Hat Kit.: Toys & Games (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CODZ132)


:p

JC

[TheTree]

too funny :Rolling:

[finallyrangie]

Hello,

Disconnect the battery and try to keep the earth lead as close to the site of the weld as possible, that will be fine.

Been metal working for a living for 25+years, currently earn a crust building fire trucks amongst other things, and we only disconnect the battery before welding on the brand new stuff, never even heard of someone killing one, so that's plenty safe enough

[goingbush]

Here is a cut & paste from the Iveco Daily 4x4 body builder guidelines



Precautions to be taken with the installed electronic control units
To avoid carrying out wrong operations that may somehow permanently damage or deteriorate the operation of the control units fitted to the vehicle, the following instructions should be observed.
- In case of actions to the taken on the chassis, which require electric arc welding, the following shall be done: disconnect the cable from the positive terminal of the battery and connect the same to the chassis ground; remove the connector form the control units; remove the control unit form the chassis (in case of welds made quite near the control unit); make the welds by using direct current; ground the welding machine as near the welding point as possible; do not lay the battery cables parallel to the vehicle’s electric cables.
- Do not remove and/or connect the connectors from the control units when the engine is running or the control units are powered.
- Remove the electronic control units if temperatures higher than 80 °C are reached when carrying out special operations.
- Make sure, after carrying out any maintenance operation requiring battery disconnection, that the terminals are properly
connected to the poles when the battery is connected again.
- Do not disconnect the battery when the engine is running.
- Do not use a battery charger to start the engine.
- Disconnect the battery from the vehicle’s on-board network if the battery needs charging.
- The batteries contain very harmful substances to the environment. To replace the batteries, it is recommended that you contact the IVECO dealer service, which will dispose of used batteries in compliance with the law regulations and the environment protection standards.
- Wrong assembly of electric accessories may affect the occupant’s safety and also cause serious damage to the vehicle. In case of doubt, contact IVECO.
- The fluid contained in the batteries is poisonous and corrosive. Avoid contact with the skin and eyes. The operations shall be carried out in a well-ventilated place, far from naked flames o possible spark sources (e.g. cigarettes) - Danger of explosion and fire!
- Any battery kept at a charge state of less than 50% will be damaged due to sulphating. It also affects the vehicle starting capability and suitability and is more liable to possible freezing (which, in such case, may occur as low as -10 °C).
- To avoid damaging the vehicle’s electric system, carefully follow the cable manufacturer’s instructions. (The cable section and route shall be adequate to the type of load and the positioning of the same on the vehicle.)
- Do NOT use a quick battery charger for emergency vehicle starting. Otherwise, the electronic systems - in particular, the control units that perform the lighting and power supplying functions - may be damaged.

[parasnoop67]

J C your holiday must have been too log I reckon. lol:)

[justinc]

J C your holiday must have been too log I reckon. lol:)

:( not long enough john....in fact it evaporated the first day back:o.

ps thanks for helping stuart with the trans etc, all in and good :)

jc

[parasnoop67]

No worries Justin, glad to be able to help. Hope neither of ours stuff up now.:p

John