if you don't weld it all the way it's likely to leak - you could always use a clamp instead, that's common, especially with replacements - either way will rot in our climate, but neither necessarily lasts longer
"When we tug a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world" ~ John Muir "When we tug a single thing on an old truck, we find it falls off" ~ me Some TF series details & TF heater pics
