Mig welding 8274 bung

[thebigredrocker]

I am wondering if anyone has welded their own drain/fill bungs using a Mig? On a Warn 8274. If so, any advice on wire settings, wire size, gas, would be appreciated. Any first hand experiences bad or good would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[PAToyota]

Drain/fill bungs on a winch? I think I’m missing something here…

 

[thebigredrocker]

Yes, so one can drain the gear oil and add fresh oil from the top. On tear down of this used 8274, I learned the gear housing was full of water. So, I also would like the ability to check for or remove water.

@Awl_TEQ Am I nuts to try this with a MIG and without any experience?

 

[1911]

Drain/fill bungs on a winch? I think I’m missing something here…

The venerable 8274 is a spur gear winch, with real straight-cut gears running in an oil bath. Your modern planetary gear winch depends on some grease from the factory more or less staying put for the life of the winch...

 

[roadstr6]

I just drilled and tapped the housing for small set screws that are my drain and fill plugs. No welding required.

Draining and filling through a 3/8" hole is not a speedy process but it works fine for me just filling with an extra small funnel. There isn't much oil in there. Less than a quart of 30 weight.

These housings are cast aluminum and you will not be able to weld them with a MIG welder unless you have a spool gun and the proper gas setup.

 

[roadstr6]

On my 8274 rebuild I also drilled two 1/16" holes in the the drum end plate that connect to the existing threaded holes and added zerks so I could grease the friction end as part of my maintenance procedure.

Oh yeah, and as you can see I overtightened the zerk and cracked the plastic drum end cover. You might not want to do that!

 

[PAToyota]

I just drilled and tapped the housing for small set screws that are my drain and fill plugs. No welding required.

[snip]

These housings are cast aluminum and you will not be able to weld them with a MIG welder unless you have a spool gun and the proper gas setup.

This is what I was thinking. The winch just isn’t big enough to have a need for welded bungs and that even if you were welding bungs they’d be so small and being on aluminum you’d have to TIG them if anything.

 

[Mudder]

How you ever migged using a spool gun? If not and you really want fill and drain bungs then I'd suggest tigging them

 

[thebigredrocker]

@Mudder
I haven't welded aluminum. I was just pricing a spool gun for my Lincoln 256. For just a few hundred more I could get an entry level Lincoln Tig. Haven't researched any other brands yet. Perhaps I'd be better off getting a Tig welder. Thanks for your input.

 

[Mudder]

Tig will be easier to learn then a spool. With a spool you have to crank the amps up and you move the gun at least 2x faster then you do with a regular mig. Tig will also be easier as you can control the amperage and more have to worry as much about messing up the threads.

 

[PAToyota]

Again, just drill and tap the hole. It’s not like you’re putting a 1” bung and plug fitting on it.

 

[Pin_Head]

If you want the plug to stay put and seal, tap with a tapered pipe thread tap and use a pipe thread plug. Do not over tighten.
Teflon tape is only for sealing pipe threads.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Speaking as someone who's learning TIG...
Aluminum castings like that will be REALLY hard to weld, especially if you have no experience with TIG. The casting needs to be nearly operating room clean (need to remove all grease, dirt and oil, bake it to get rid of anything thats soaked in, hot tank it, file and brush) then you MIGHT get a bird**** weld on it with a bunch of porosity and schmoo in the weld.

If you want fill and drain plugs, get a 1/4" NPT tap and some brass (or stainless) NPT pipe plugs, drill, tap and thread.

 

[cicak]

Yes, so one can drain the gear oil and add fresh oil from the top. On tear down of this used 8274, I learned the gear housing was full of water. So, I also would like the ability to check for or remove water.

@Awl_TEQ Am I nuts to try this with a MIG and without any experience?

Yes it can be done I have added drain plugs to both my 8274's one has a fill plug added in the same manner and the other a filler plug frrom gigglepin for the reasons you have stated above. Mine done for jungle remediation of this problem.

 

[Chris Wilcox]

Tig welded bungs into mine. The castings were a bit difficult due to oil impregnation but nothing more than usual for this type of used cast part. Biggest contributor after having it clean I find is to have a torch and power source large enough. You need amps to weld aluminum.