MIG Aluminum
 

Aight, I have a Lincoln HD3200 weld pak and bought its aluminum welding kit plus a gas tank. I looked around for a suitable gas and the verdict was 100% Argon. I plan to weld aluminum charge pipes and a custom intake manifold. I have been pretty good with fluxcore. Any tips on how to weld aluminum using MIG?

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

Being honest spool guns aren't really the best way to weld aluminum. A TIG is the best bet.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

Lots of Heat, Lots of Wire, Lots of Speed!

Migging alum. is a pain in the ass. I wouldn't hop on you project right away. Practice alot. I will look like birdshit if you don't. There is no comarison to fluxcore buddy!!

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

im gonna be tryin this soon too. im finally due to refill my tank so this time all argon. read the links on lincons website, they have a bunch of guides on how to mig aluminum.

aslo i dont know why everyone says you NEED to tig alimunum. i mean do you honestly know this from personall experiance? the welder were i work was building an aluminum frame and started with tig but switched to mig cause tig was just so slow and it was just easier to mig it...

i know tig LOOKS better but necissary?

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

I have a little lincoln similar to yours, and I have tried using it for aluminum and gave up. I can't rememberr but I tried two differnt grades of aluminum wire and both where a pain. I could get it to run a bead for a couple inches if I kept the wire straight by keeping the welder as far away from me as possible. And even then it would ball up behind the rollers all the time.
A spool gun is pretty much the only way to mig aluminum without getting lots of headache, but please post how it turns out for you.

Later
Randy

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

get a torch and heat up the aluminum before hand. it will help a bit, but still need lots of practice.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

No tig does not only look better, but on thinner alumunum like charge pipes, end tanks and so on (basically anything less then 3/16 to 1/4) you almsot have to use a pool welding method were you pull the trigger, stop, start, stop, making little pools. In order to make this seal it is hard.

YES I know this from experience. I currently work for a Big Manufuacturer doing design were we use 99% Mig. I also before that worked at another were I did welding, and tried 3 times to do end tanks, and had one of the Experienced welder try too, Not 1 of those intercoolers seal properly becuase the pool method had to be used. The material is thin and easy to blow through.

But you are only going to learn one way. You just asked for an opinion at thats my veiw on it.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

dont take my post the wrong way ive never done aluminum berfore and i wanted to know. i wasnt questioning anyones skill just to see if they had actually done it before. the welder i was reffering to did use a spool gun as far as i know but again he was doing structural welds not trying to seal anything.

and no matter what anyone says i am still going to try it myself cause thats how i learn. its not going to cost me any more than 10 bux for a spool of .035 4043 so wtf why not try. ill take pics and ill let you guys know how it comes out. im refilling my tank and buying the wire friday.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

Yeah, I'll post pics too when I'm done probably around next week.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

Ya, My experience were I can actually lay good weld down is on thicker plates and extrusions on the trailers I designed and built.

I used a push/pull gun. Basically a spool gun without the bulky spool sitting on it.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

what comes with this kit you got, is it a different liner for the lead or is it a spool gun. if its not a spool gun, its not gonna be easy

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

Definitely not. Next time you're on the interstate and pass a big gasoline tanker truck (like a Pilot or Exxon Truck), look at the welds on them....they're all or nearly all MIG. The deposition rate (rate at which you deposit metal into the puddle) can be MUCH higher with MIG. Therefore, if you're making a big weld, MIG is hard to beat. I worked at the Heil trailer plant for a while, and the guys there would regularly run their mig machine at 600+ inches of wire per minute.
Yes, as you probably learned, that's just due to high friction in the lead from the machine to the gun. It's like trying to push a wet noodle through a piece of bread. It just doesn't work well.
I'd only reccomend this if you're having to run your machine as hot as it will go, and still not able to get a hot enough puddle to weld smoothly. So, if you have thin wall pipe, preheating it may make it such that it's even harder to keep from burning holes in it.
I know you know since you've seen and used one, but for those that don't, I'll explain a bit more. Your average mig machine has drive rollers in the machine, right up near the spool. These are "push" machines. A spool gun is when you have a little spool of wire that's inside or attached to the actual gun. The "push-pull" machines have the spool at the machine, rollers at the machine that push the wire, and rollers up in the gun that pull the wire. This greatly reduces problems with wire kinking up in the liner or before it. In other words, consider trying to push the noodle through the bread (assuming you had a hole in it already. It will kink up and be difficult. Then imagine having it fed through already and pulling it from the backside. It will pull through a lot better than it will push from the other side.

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

yeah, its (not sure) plstic liner with a different guide roller so that the alum. wire will roll out w/o resistance

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

make sure you set the rollers and tesion on the spool well or you'll get nasty birds nests

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

k i got a tank of full argon now and some 4043 .035 weld wire so lets see how i do....

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

well for the bird poop welds theres this neat lil invention called a 90 grinder it works pretty well maybe invest in one of those and tig it if its the only one your doing it will look much more professional

easy way to learn also after you get 2 peices butt welded bend them back and forth until one breaks if it breaks at the weld your not doin it right

Re: MIG Aluminum
 

well i tried it, let me say what a PITA. after finally being able to set up the machine to do some "ok" welds the fucker jammed twice. i DONT have a spool gun but will before i try aluminum wire again. i was using .035" 4043. 5053 might have been stiffer but i dunno, i didnt try that. imma gonna stick with SS