1946 Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser Fuel Tank's

[Phil]

Hello
I am a welder by trade , used to work as a certified A/C welder for major
company , still do Alum . and 4130 A/C welding , a man brought a wing tank
to me from his Piper PA- 12 Super Cruiser today , he has a small leak around
one of the fittings , the tank has been soldered together , he says it's
Alum. but I am not convinced , the sheet metal is very thin and is non
magnetic , I scraped some of the solder material and it was soft like lead ,
the man called an older fellow A/C restorer and he thinks it's Alum , all
the fuel tanks that I have worked on were made from 5052 of whatever
Alum.and TIG welded , 1946 may pre date the Heli-Arc process , wonder if
someone can shed some light on this wing tank question.
Thanks
Phil
EAA 12873

[R]

Phil wrote:
> Hello
> I am a welder by trade , used to work as a certified A/C welder for major
> company , still do Alum . and 4130 A/C welding , a man brought a wing tank
> to me from his Piper PA- 12 Super Cruiser today , he has a small leak around
> one of the fittings , the tank has been soldered together , he says it's
> Alum. but I am not convinced , the sheet metal is very thin and is non
> magnetic , I scraped some of the solder material and it was soft like lead ,
> the man called an older fellow A/C restorer and he thinks it's Alum , all
> the fuel tanks that I have worked on were made from 5052 of whatever
> Alum.and TIG welded , 1946 may pre date the Heli-Arc process , wonder if
> someone can shed some light on this wing tank question.
> Thanks
> Phil
> EAA 12873
>
>
Ask this question over at www.SuperCub.Org and you probably can get the
definitive answer. Lots of J-5, PA-12, and PA-14 mechanics there.

[Rich S.[_1_]]

"Phil" > wrote in message
...
> Hello
> I am a welder by trade , used to work as a certified A/C welder for
> major company , still do Alum . and 4130 A/C welding , a man brought a
> wing tank to me from his Piper PA- 12 Super Cruiser today , he has a small
> leak around one of the fittings , the tank has been soldered together , he
> says it's Alum. but I am not convinced , the sheet metal is very thin and
> is non magnetic , I scraped some of the solder material and it was soft
> like lead , the man called an older fellow A/C restorer and he thinks it's
> Alum , all the fuel tanks that I have worked on were made from 5052 of
> whatever Alum.and TIG welded , 1946 may pre date the Heli-Arc process ,
> wonder if someone can shed some light on this wing tank question.
> Thanks
> Phil
> EAA 12873

Being no expert, I believe what you have is made from "Ternplate". That's as
far as my poor memory will take me. Perhaps a search for that name will
help, as there are many references available..

Rich S.

[Stealth Pilot[_2_]]

On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:03:42 -0700, "Rich S."
> wrote:

>"Phil" > wrote in message
...
>> Hello
>> I am a welder by trade , used to work as a certified A/C welder for
>> major company , still do Alum . and 4130 A/C welding , a man brought a
>> wing tank to me from his Piper PA- 12 Super Cruiser today , he has a small
>> leak around one of the fittings , the tank has been soldered together , he
>> says it's Alum. but I am not convinced , the sheet metal is very thin and
>> is non magnetic , I scraped some of the solder material and it was soft
>> like lead , the man called an older fellow A/C restorer and he thinks it's
>> Alum , all the fuel tanks that I have worked on were made from 5052 of
>> whatever Alum.and TIG welded , 1946 may pre date the Heli-Arc process ,
>> wonder if someone can shed some light on this wing tank question.
>> Thanks
>> Phil
>> EAA 12873
>
>Being no expert, I believe what you have is made from "Ternplate". That's as
>far as my poor memory will take me. Perhaps a search for that name will
>help, as there are many references available..
>
>Rich S.
>

tern plate was a lead coated mild steel.
I have an auster made in 1951. the tank is soldered tern plate.
you should be able to guess the material from the weight.
the auster tank is quite heavy. soldered up solid rivets in the
construction should be a giveaway.

Stealth Pilot

[Orval Fairbairn[_2_]]

In article >,
"Phil" > wrote:

> Hello
> I am a welder by trade , used to work as a certified A/C welder for major
> company , still do Alum . and 4130 A/C welding , a man brought a wing tank
> to me from his Piper PA- 12 Super Cruiser today , he has a small leak around
> one of the fittings , the tank has been soldered together , he says it's
> Alum. but I am not convinced , the sheet metal is very thin and is non
> magnetic , I scraped some of the solder material and it was soft like lead ,
> the man called an older fellow A/C restorer and he thinks it's Alum , all
> the fuel tanks that I have worked on were made from 5052 of whatever
> Alum.and TIG welded , 1946 may pre date the Heli-Arc process , wonder if
> someone can shed some light on this wing tank question.
> Thanks
> Phil
> EAA 12873

In those days, they welded aluminum with acetylene/oxygen, using a
reducing flame and special blue goggles. In recent years there has been
a resurgence of this technique.

I am not specifically familiar with the tanks on the Super Cruiser,
however.

I did a Google search on "gas welding aluminum" and came up with a lot
of hits.

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

[Bruce A. Frank]

Try  http://www.tinmantech.com/ 

He has a kit for aluminum soldering and recommends it for attaching fittings and bosses to fuel tanks.

Bruce A. Frank

Phil wrote: Hello
   I am a welder by trade , used to work as a certified A/C welder for major
company , still do Alum . and 4130 A/C welding , a man brought a wing tank
to me from his Piper PA- 12 Super Cruiser today , he has a small leak around
one of the fittings , the tank has been soldered together , he says it's
Alum. but I am not convinced , the sheet metal is very thin and is non
magnetic , I scraped some of the solder material and it was soft like lead ,
the man called an older fellow A/C restorer and he thinks it's Alum , all
the fuel tanks that I have worked on were made from 5052 of whatever
Alum.and TIG welded , 1946 may pre date the Heli-Arc process , wonder if
someone can shed some light on this wing tank question.
Thanks
Phil
EAA 12873