by Tow Itch Mon 23 Jul 2012, 2:45 am
Caz said
I noticed that my bed frame was twisted and need to fix but have noticed that there is welds on it already ..my question is how many times can you weld the same spot ???firstly I know I must check that the top bar is not twisted rather than me thinking that the weld on one side has given ???
Read what you have asked then read Phoenix's comment:
Phoenix wrote:
We thought we had better start getting our new Dandy 6 ready to rock and roll so we have started to do a few repairs.
When we bought it we noticed the bed ends needed a bit of sorting out, the frame work was broken and repaired with an angle brace and rivets on one and the other was broken and not repaired. We also noticed the ply had got damp and de-laminated on the bed ends in places and one had been damaged at some point. One of the bed bases had also gone a bit wavy so as Mrs P likes a firm bed we decided to replace that as well.
Phoenix was talking about the bed ends that are made in steel. Now a secure bed end will provide a square frame to help prevent the end of the bed from twisting.
You are talking about the bed frame being twisted and asking about the welds on that. Now if the welds are intact I'd look at why things are twisting. If the hinges are secure and the bed ends are solid what is allowing the twist?
Phoenix has welded up a broken bed end. that is made in steel. Steel is relatively easy to weld up. Even a numpty like me can do it. The weapon of choice with steel of this section is a MIG welder. Everyone, his best mate and his ugly friend has one. The bed frame is made out of aluminium. Now welding up aluminium is adifferent thing all together. The tool for this is an AC TIG welder, this is oh so much more expensive. Now a weld can be achieved with a MIG welder with specialist wire but I've never tried this. The quality of aluminium MIG welding is something someone more knowledgeable than me would have to asses.
So my answer is in two parts: Why is your frame warping is it lacking support from one of the ends, or is it a lack of regidity in the frame itself. A broken or weak weld? If the frame itself needs fixing then you need the assistance of someone who can weld aluminium a significantly more specialist job (or requiring more specialist equipment) than welding steel. If wondering about grinding out a weld and making a decent job of it; on steel no problem, on aluminium the only problem is finding someone with suitable kit to make up the weld. You might even have to pay for this.