Like I said:
Originally Posted by
unterhausen
I bet if you cut that tube out you could see a flaw in the tube.
I think if you welded it, you would end up with two cracks, because it's likely that the flaw extends to the ends of the tube . There is no point in stop drilling if you are going to weld the cracks, but in either case you have to make sure to pick up the ends of the cracks.