226 Frash air exhaust build.

[Gbracer]

Last summer the fumes were quite nasty so decided to make a FAE, I do not like the way some are made by sectioning pipe at various angles to suit so I sourced some food grade stainless elbows and started.
First made a jig the same dimension as my 2 exhaust ports are, spliced the two elbows together and tacked them, cut the "collector hole to 4" and sectioned it so a 4" straight will fit in. Need to get the straight and then make a bracket to the swim grid platform mount so it does not fall off

[Gbracer]

Got the down leg done today just need to drill the hole to secure it to platform bracket and see how it goes.
Might cut another inch off after water test .
Made a cnc cut die to shape the end of the tube put it in a press and shaped it to an elipse.

[Smindustries]

As a hobbyist, I appreciate the attempt. As a trained welder, I'm sorry to tell you that you've made some scrap. The dull grey of the weld is a telltale indicator of too much heat. That's a common problem. To prevent blowing a hole, I suspect you went too slowly and with too few amps, with too big a rod. Exhaust-gauge tubing needs no more than 0.030 filler. MIG wire is a cheap source. It sounds counterintuitive, but hotter and faster is the way to go. If one goes too slowly, the piece will heat soak, and the weld bead will grow, you'll lose the bead appearance, and wind up stacking more and more filler.

Another important way to control the heat in stainless welding is backpurging. Chromium is what makes stainless stain less. The grey weldment means there's no more chromium in your stainless. That's going to rust. Big time.

Fitup is key. The fitup is way off in the photos shown. Big gaps mean a whole lot of argon is lost when backpurging. You can even get away with Solarflux instead of backpurging if your fitup is money.

[scottb7]

"As a trained welder, I'm sorry to tell you that you've made some scrap."

Does form follow function, or function follow form? My question: Is the boat quieter?

That being said, I wish I knew how to weld. I should take a class one day. It would be so fun.

[Gbracer]

Ouch.
Yes I know the weld is not art like some people do I tig once a year at best and have really no clue what im doing besides gluing the pieces together, i had a guy lined up to weld it and after a few weeks of dicking me around did it myself,
Have not had the boat out yet to see the results,
The material is 316 .100 wall stainless, from dairy and brewery industry.
I might sand the welds anf powdercoat the whole thing to match the hull color, (winter)
I have a week trip planned so I needed it done .

[Smindustries]

Ouch.
Yes I know the weld is not art like some people do I tig once a year at best and have really no clue what im doing besides gluing the pieces together, i had a guy lined up to weld it and after a few weeks of dicking me around did it myself,
Have not had the boat out yet to see the results,
The material is 316 .100 wall stainless, from dairy and brewery industry.
I might sand the welds anf powdercoat the whole thing to match the hull color, (winter)
I have a week trip planned so I needed it done .

I totally feel your struggle. I got tired of people flaking out or charging too much for bad work, so I went to school for it as an adult and the school wound up hiring me as a tutor. It's really more science than art. The stuff looks nice if the science is right.

Judging by the background in your images, you have a fair amount of tools. If you have a belt grinder, use it to square the edges. That'll help fitup tremendously.

The rule of thumb is an amp a thou, i.e. 100 amps is where you should have your machine set. That's not to say that you need 100 amps the whole time. You're using some really thick stuff, so you shouldn't have much trouble with burning a hole. The idea is to romp on the pedal to get the puddle, then back off and continue to back off as you make the weld. You can read the heat coloring (heat-affected zone, or 'HAZ') on either side of the weldment to tell if you've got that under control. You want the HAZ to be parallel, not skew.

Another option is to use silicon bronze rod. With that stuff you're brazing and not melting the base metals. Think super glue. The arc is started on the filler and kept on the filler. You don't need any back purging and the chromium won't vaporize.

You're doing pretty well for once a year. The only way to get better is weld up scrap.

[Gbracer]

Redemption!!!
Did a little sanding and polishing came up pretty nice I will go over it again after the season is done and clean it up a bit more.