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Will TIG welding engine mount affect avionics

N605RV

Member
Hello,
Question to any of you that have welded a cracked engine mount in place. My engine is removed from the mount but the mount is still attached to the airframe. Question is, can the crack be TIG welded without frying my avionics?
thank you.
Mike in Boulder
 
Hello,
Question to any of you that have welded a cracked engine mount in place. My engine is removed from the mount but the mount is still attached to the airframe. Question is, can the crack be TIG welded without frying my avionics?
thank you.
Mike in Boulder

Mike,

You should be fine as long as you disconnect the battery cables and connect the grounding clamp for the welder to the engine mount close to the area which will be welded.

Since your G5 units are easy to remove, I would do that as well, but it isn't necessary.

I wouldn't want to weld anywhere near the magnetometer, but your GMU 11 is probably a good distance from the engine mount anyway, so shouldn't be a problem.

My Kenworth truck has a sticker on the frame warning about disconnecting the batteries before welding to prevent damage to the computers in the truck. I have done a lot of TIG and stick welding on the truck with just the ground wire on the battery disconnected and have never seen any problems from doing that.

Steve
 
I have welded (stick, mig, tig) on several modern cars with solid state computers with no issues. The key is good quality grounds in locations that keep the electrical flow contained within the steel parts you are welding. That electricity won't want to flow out of the frame through the aircraft ground into avionics and back out of avionics (if electricicty goes into avionics via ground, it must come back out on the positiive side and find another patch back to frame ground) and back to the frame unless it can't get there more easily through the frame itself.

If the current put in via the electrode can't easily get back to the ground cable (which really isn't a ground with TIG - DCEN), You can expect it will start flowing other places that might get it back to the machine. For example, start all tack welds on the side of the frame that has the ground cable attached. After the first tack weld, all is good. This will mean taking off paint in another area of the frame in some cases.

I am no expert, so don;t consider this advice, just someones experience.

Larry
 
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