Ran Aluminum for the first time with my Spool Gun HH210/ 3035

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I also posted this on the Hobart forum. Figured I would share this here as well.I dont see many post on Spool Guns and Mig welding aluminum. I haven't posted in a while so I figured I would throw one out there. Part of me was actually afraid to give it a shot thinking it would come out looking like crap. I bought the spool gun to make repairs rather than fab something up. This kinda changed my mind. I nice tig machine is on my list of next to buys. Still saving. Also waiting for inverter prices to fall and amp to go up. Im thinking they will have to with all the competition out there. I have had my welder for a couple years now and I am just getting decent (on the good days) welding steel. I have worked through every operator error you can think of. I guess that's what happens when you are self taught. You learn by getting wrong a bunch of times.I bought a spool gun when I got my Hobart Handler 210. Its a 3035-20 and I have never used it before today. Figured I would take it out of the box and give it a go for a few minutes tonight with a couple pieces of scrap my buddy gave me. I like it so much I might build a camping box for the back of my trailer with it. I have been putting that project off until I save up for a tig. I do need a lot more practice but it does aluminum pretty well.Cleaned it with a SS brush and some acetone before welding (not sure if you are suppose to clean it with acetone before or after the brush so I did it both. I know its one of the easier welds to make but I was impressed. I have to get some more scrap to practice with. I screwed up my second piece. I came inside to try to take a better pic. When I went back out, everything went to ****. It was like I didn't have any gas. Yep, I turned it off when I went in the house and never turned it back on. See, At least now I know what to look for (LOL).. That's my version of learning from my mistakes ...100% Argon.035 ER4043 valley welding store brand wire11g material5 / 52 settings per inside coverPush Method with a forward and back motion.Note: Black soot cleaned before pic was takenWhat I noticed: She burns fast and really likes clean material. Basically what you aluminum guys have been saying for years. You have to move pretty fast. I could have moved a little faster. Notice my flattened puddle. I also was hot at the end. Travel was right to left in the pic.Likes: 1 - Love the long reach. Wish my mig gun was 20' long. Got it when the short ones first came out. They either sent me the long one by mistake or out of stock on the short ones (they were out of stock the day after I ordered mine). 2. Welds real nice (when you have the argon tank turned on). 3. Like the added consumables it came with.4. Price - These spool guns are affordable now. I remember when the one I have first came out, it was like 3-4 hundred bucks.Dislikes:1. Fumes - Aluminum bothers me a little bit. Going to start wearing a mask. I am real sensitive to smells and fumes. I had the back door open but it didn't seem to help much. A lot of it came on the second piece when I had the gas turned off. Any advice on the mask type would be great. I have have HF self darkening hood so it would have to fit under it.2. Loading the spool is a complete joke. I think someone was messing with us when it was designed. I had to put it down for a sec and regroup because I thought I must have been doing something wrong. Actually read the instructions and nope, I was doing what it said. Finally got it to feed in there.3. Like all welders in this class, you have to take off the mig gun to use the Spool gun. Would it have killed the designers to put a separate Plug in so you could just flip a switch and go. I for one would pay extra for this. Much more useful than Multi Volt on a machine that will break your back getting to the truck. I have a rule. I will weld it up for you but you have to bring it over to me. 4. Wish it took the standard tips. I'm guessing there is a reason for the tapered ends. I will be practicing more and will post more pics. I was pleasantly surprised on how it went. ts funny, I was expecting it to be a total mess. I have seen service carts at Sam's, Walmart, and Target that looked Mig welded and were awful looking. I don't know about you guys but I am always judging or admiring other peoples welds.Any advice or tips would be appreciated.Last edited by mikeb9550; 11-27-2011 at 10:23 AM.
Reply:This was with a Hobart 210 machine?I am in the market for a MIG and would like to be able to weld aluminum with it as well. I am looking at the blue or red machines though.Your weld looks good for first starting out! I have heard aluminum mig is tricky.*edit, I as well always check out welds when I see them. I have noticed it is actually quite rare to see nice welds on anything that isn't a one off.Last edited by VPT; 11-27-2011 at 09:33 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by mikeb9550Likes: 1 - Love the long reach. Wish my mig gun was 20' long. Got it when the short ones first came out. They either sent me the long one by mistake or out of stock on the short ones (they were out of stock the day after I ordered mine). Dislikes:1. Fumes - Aluminum bothers me a little bit. Going to start wearing a mask. I am real sensitive to smells and fumes. I had the back door open but it didn't seem to help much. A lot of it came on the second piece when I had the gas turned off. Any advice on the mask type would be great. I have have HF self darkening hood so it would have to fit under it.2. Loading the spool is a complete joke. I think someone was messing with us when it was designed. I had to put it down for a sec and regroup because I thought I must have been doing something wrong. Actually read the instructions and nope, I was doing what it said. Finally got it to feed in there.3. Like all welders in this class, you have to take off the mig gun to use the Spool gun. Would it have killed the designers to put a separate Plug in so you could just flip a switch and go. I for one would pay extra for this. Much more useful than Multi Volt on a machine that will break your back getting to the truck. I have a rule. I will weld it up for you but you have to bring it over to me. 4. Wish it took the standard tips. I'm guessing there is a reason for the tapered ends..
Reply:VPT -Yes Its a Hobart Handler 210. Good machine for the money. DSW - Do you have any pics of the conversion? Did you make an adapter for the power lead of the spool gun? Looks like our are pretty similar. I will check into the 3m mask. I have a project in mind that the 20ft reach will come in handy for. Thinking about building a metal RV Port for my camper. Have to price out the materials to see if its worth it to me first. The different tips isnt that big of a deal. Not worth doing a conversion. I see they sell on ebay for like a buck each. I will pick up 10 or so each. Hobart gives you 3 of each to start.
Reply:Save up and buy a Lincoln Power Mig 300....it has all of the connections....wire, pushpull gun, tig, stick all one unit, flip a switch and change gas..done..Pulse and even pulse-pulse mig. Awesome unit...not cheap though.A young green pipe welder asked an old salt one day...How can I make the weld on the bottom of the pipe look like the top.......The old salt replied....Screw up the top......
Reply:Originally Posted by mikeb9550 I don't know about you guys but I am always judging or admiring other peoples welds.
Reply:I dug out the machine after lunch and took a few picts. As far as the power lead, all I do is put the ring terminal of the SG on top of the ring terminal for the normal feeder and put the nut back on. I dug out the spoolgun so you could see where it hooks up normally. I don't keep it hooked up FT so it doesn't get knocked off and busted if I'm not using it on a regular basis.Picts should be self explanatory. I do have a few more picts if these don't show quite what you are looking for from a few other angles. I could not lay my hands on the little plastic T valve right now. I know it's here some where, I saw it earlier this year when digging for something else. I've got a small chunk of 1/4" SS tube that I use as a connector between the hose from the solenoid pointed to in the pict attached to the gun block and the hose for the spoolgun. Right now the machine is set up to run the normal gun. Usually I have the SS tube tied up out of the way when not in use and the spool gun is installed. Attached ImagesLast edited by DSW; 11-27-2011 at 12:45 PM..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:DSW - Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. Did you cut the one off the spool gun? Mine has a post that slides in the machine where the mig gun goes. Maybe I can order the metal part from Hobart and mount it on my welding cart. Then run a lead and gas line through the mig hole (there is enough room). Then just put a T and two valves to switch between the gun and spool gun. Last edited by mikeb9550; 11-27-2011 at 01:34 PM.
Reply:Everything you see is stock, exactly like it came from Miller, except the SS tube..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWEverything you see is stock, exactly like it came from Miller, except the SS tube.
Reply:Originally Posted by AwelderiamSave up and buy a Lincoln Power Mig 300....it has all of the connections....wire, pushpull gun, tig, stick all one unit, flip a switch and change gas..done..Pulse and even pulse-pulse mig. Awesome unit...not cheap though.
Reply:i think it looks good ... great jobLincoln Power Arc 4000 Thermal Arc Fabricator 252 iThermal arc 186Thermal Arc 26 tigTweeko 200 amp spool gunHobart AirForce 400WP-17V-12R
Reply:My biggest concern for you was the switch. Since yours already has that, I don't foresee that much of an issue. If I used mine more, I might install a short lead with a Tweeco disconnect or better yet a panel mount disconnect on the machine an the matching disconnect on the spoolgun. Add a QD air coupling for the gas on the machine on the front panel as well as the male on the Spoolgun to speed things up even more. If you went the QD air chuck route, all you'd need is one valve on the mig gun side of the T. With the spoolgun disconnected, that would keep the gas from moving thru the QD. Plug in the spoolgun gas line and close the ball valve from the T and any gas would automatically go to the spoolgun.One of these days I'll get around to installing the air fittings on both my mig and tig regs as well as the machine hoses. That will let me quickly swap gas cylinders between machines or better yet simply run my spare air line between the stationary argon cylinder and the mig if I need to run alum thru the spoolgun. Probably end up doing the mig stuff this winter at some point. Once I get the Bobcat, I'll start using the VS feeder more and need to take mig cylinder back and forth from the MM185 to the VS feeder and so on. I'll either need to dig out the spare inert gas reg or use the one on the MM185. QD's will simplify this greatly. May also toss the hand tight CGA580 nut and nipple back on the reg as well..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I don't mean to highjack your thread, but this is good enough place as any to ask. I too just bought a spool gun, last time I ran one was about 30 + years ago. So I can't remember a thing about them. My Lincoln SG spool gun was trouble right out of the box. The spool rotates the same direction as the tensioning nut tightens down, so as the spool rotates the tensioning nut gets tighter, and stops the spool. Well I rebuilt that, and is no longer a problem, but it sure seems to me that there is a lot of noise coming out of the spool area, is this normal? Or is it because it is right next to my ear, and I'm not use to it? Here is my first weld with the new Invertec and SG spool gun. .035 5356 on 10-GA who knows what kind of aluminum that is. Still trying to figure out which pulse setting I like best. Attached ImagesDon’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:I had to put shims under the tension screw to keep it from over tighteningReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:I put a longer bolt in it, and used a star lock nut as a jam nut. Get the tension just right, run the jam nut down on the tensioning nut, then back turn the tensioning nut into the jam nut. Had to add a thin shim washer under the plastic cover nut, so the plastic cover would stay tight. Works fine, but I just love having to rebuild a brand new tool!Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:Originally Posted by CEPI put a longer bolt in it, and used a star lock nut as a jam nut. Get the tension just right, run the jam nut down on the tensioning nut, then back turn the tensioning nut into the jam nut. Had to add a thin shim washer under the plastic cover nut, so the plastic cover would stay tight. Works fine, but I just love having to rebuild a brand new tool!