Magnflux

BillLee/Chandler TX

Senior Member
Is there any way an individual can acquire/use the technology to magnaflux an item?

E.g., I have some left-over A engine parts: blocks heads, etc., that I would like to see if are worth rebuilding. Don't want to worry about any boat anchors.
 
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Is there any way an individual can acquire/use the technology to magnaflux an item?

E.g., I have some left-over A engine parts: clocks heads, etc., that I would like to see if are worth rebuilding. Don't want to worry about any boat anchors.

The problem with doing your own, and taking it to a machine shop works out to be both money!

You can NOT just Mag. a block with out it being super clean. Many have old cracks that are plugged up with old rust, and all kinds of stop leak have been used on them and the cracks don't show with out good cleaning.

You have to have a + and a - for the mag. to pull, and if the crack is filled with cleaning fluid, water, Rust, the crack will not show up.

A New hand held Mag. unit runs about 1000.00, give or take.

I wouldn't even guess about the cleaning Machines.

Herm.
 
Inquire at a nearby small airfield as to where they get aircraft engines rebuilt. That location will most likely have a magnaflux setup and I have found they usually don't charge much for a go/no go check of non-aviation parts.

You will need to make sure the parts are clean. Before I got my own high pressure hot water/steam cleaner I would do a rough cleanup with the garden hose then stop by the car wash on the way and spray them right on the trailer. (drained and air dried by the time I got to the field)
 
I have found that a armature growler can be used for magnaflux, at first I made my own powder from .001 passes machining brake rotors---that worked, but the real powder is much easier to see---the growler doesn't have the same duty cycle as the real tool, but it is long enough to do the deck of a block ---magnaflux should be combined with a good visual inspection along with a pressure test

I remember from when I first started working, one of my first jobs was to put an engine in a car that had a coolant leak into the cylinder, the head had been off 3 times and sent out to check for cracks ---each time it came back--no cracks, aftyer the engine was in I took apart the "leaker"---they were correct, no cracks, but in a port was a hole a finger would fit into
 

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