Quote:
Originally Posted by miniman82
That's great news!
What's the deal with welding the funnel, is it a heat issue or the type of metal? And you're right, from what I can see there's still a getter there. I take it the leaks are too small to be found by traditional means (like dye inspection)?
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Making a vacuum tight weld is a very tricky and difficult thing to master. On the 21ax it is not so much the heat issue or the material, but making sure that the weld has no porosity. Proper welding takes very accurate temperature control so the heating and cooling of the molten metal is free from porosity. I had a very skilled welder try fixing a 21ax that we leak tested with John Yurkon, and it still leaked after we rewelded it. Originally we thought the material was Kovar, but after we tested it we found no Cobalt, so we now believe it is more likely some sort of nickel stainless. At some point we will probably need to have the metal analyzed so we can obtain the proper filler rod material for the welding processs.
BTW, Waynem your 21ax is in safe keeping :-) I will drag it to ETF next year for you to take home with you.