The ratchet cover on my Atlas 7B was cracked on the top as some others have experienced. There are no replacements available except for a 3D printed version but the cost is pretty steep at $100 so I decided to try and weld the crack myself. Since mine was cracked and not totally broken off I thought I would have a better chance at the repair being successful.
The product I used to weld the potmetal is called Super Alloy 1. It starts at $60 and you get a few sticks of solder and a small container of flux. Its also a low temp solder (400 degrees) and worked really well especially for someone who sucks at soldering. At first I was only going to fill the crack but Super Alloy 1 can be used as a filler so I decided to build up the solder to give the part more strength. It worked really well and all I used was a heatgun to heat the entire part and a small handheld butane torch to apply the solder. I only used the flux at first but it didnt seem to work to well for me And I think that was because my torch was a little on the small side. After I had built up enough solder I used a right angle die grinder and a combination of abrasive and scotch bright pads to level off and smooth out the material. It is really easy to shape and contour the solder. It reminds me of aluminum but its a little softer.
Here are before and after pics. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions. I could have cleaned up the solder more and made it look as if it was made this way but I didnt see the point. I think it looks good enough. I also did polish most areas that were within reach of a 3” scotch brite pad but didnt feel like getting out the smaller pads for the crooks and crevices. Super Alloy 1 is a great product for potmetal (zamak) repairs since potmetal melts at around 700 degrees.
BEFORE
AFTER
As can be seen in the below photo, I did not build up the material on the left side as much as I would have liked to but I am pretty sure its strong enough. The voids in the solder are not thoughtout, they’re just on the back side where I didnt bother to touchup.
The product I used to weld the potmetal is called Super Alloy 1. It starts at $60 and you get a few sticks of solder and a small container of flux. Its also a low temp solder (400 degrees) and worked really well especially for someone who sucks at soldering. At first I was only going to fill the crack but Super Alloy 1 can be used as a filler so I decided to build up the solder to give the part more strength. It worked really well and all I used was a heatgun to heat the entire part and a small handheld butane torch to apply the solder. I only used the flux at first but it didnt seem to work to well for me And I think that was because my torch was a little on the small side. After I had built up enough solder I used a right angle die grinder and a combination of abrasive and scotch bright pads to level off and smooth out the material. It is really easy to shape and contour the solder. It reminds me of aluminum but its a little softer.
Here are before and after pics. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions. I could have cleaned up the solder more and made it look as if it was made this way but I didnt see the point. I think it looks good enough. I also did polish most areas that were within reach of a 3” scotch brite pad but didnt feel like getting out the smaller pads for the crooks and crevices. Super Alloy 1 is a great product for potmetal (zamak) repairs since potmetal melts at around 700 degrees.
BEFORE
AFTER
As can be seen in the below photo, I did not build up the material on the left side as much as I would have liked to but I am pretty sure its strong enough. The voids in the solder are not thoughtout, they’re just on the back side where I didnt bother to touchup.
