aluminum stick welding

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anyone done much aluminum stick welding with 1/8 electrodes on 4043 aluminum.  just curious i did a xouple years ago and had some goooood difficulty lol to say the least.  much prefer the push/pull guns. but wondering if anyone has done much. heat settings rod angle etc?
Reply:Check out this threadhttp://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=45197Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:F'gettaboutit! City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Back when I was 15 and green to welding (I'd welded for about 2 years with my old Marquette cracker box at the time) my dad wanted me to weld the water heater out of our old camper trailer. We'd bought the trailer from the owner of the local machine shop (a friend of the family and where I later worked). He'd repaired it before we bought the trailer. He was gone on vacation at the time and none of the employee's knew anything about welding aluminum. But they knew where the rods where. So we go up to the machine shop for me to weld this thin tank. I knew nothing about welding aluminum at the time except that it was hard. I knew nothing about where to set the old Lincoln Ideal Arc welder they had either. I did know that the first mistake was going to make a big hole in the tank. I was nervous as I could get.   I finally muster up the courage to make a bead. I knew from experience of welding thin stuff that I was going to need to go fast so that's what I did. I make a quick pass with the rod. What do you know the bead actually looked good. It melted in just right. I gain a little courage from that fact and make several passes across the area with no problems. When the owner came home from vacation he couldn't believe that I'd arc welded the tank. He said it wasn't possible. He'd always used those rods with torch to weld the tank.   The moral of the story is that sometimes it's just dumb luck that gets you there or ignorance is bliss.   I tried stick welding aluminum a few times after that but I've never had that kind of luck again. I decided a long time ago that it was only for thick aluminum.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:thanksrick v. exactlynwhat i was lookin for.  so what kinda temp u guess for 3/16 aluminum but no preheat. or is preheating really the onlynway to go
Reply:Hey corbzy,Well what I reported in that thread was...So, roughly it looks like reasonable results can be had as follows:1/8 inch: Use 70 amps with 180 degree F preheat1/4 inch: Use 90 amps with 180 degree F preheat1/2 inch: Use 120 amps with 180 degree F preheatI had better luck with a preheat of about 180 degrees F than with no preheat.Your 3/16 aluminum would fall between my 1/4 inch at 90 amps and my 1/2 inch at 120 amps, so maybe 105 amps.Of course, that's using the Hobart 1/8 inch 4043 rods.I have liitle idea what settings would be for diiferent size (e.g. 3/32 inch) rods or rods from different manufacturers - and there are several: Harris 26, Air Liquide Blueshield MNR Aluminun Lite, Sodel 118, Zena ZR.ALA.1,8, Aufhauser AL-43, Weldrods 3100, Welding Depot Aluminum Electrode E4043 190, etc.Personally, I'd like to find a smooth running 3/32 inch diameter rod.Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Aluminum stick welding is kinda taboo these days for some reason.It's not done very often anymore.But just do it! Master it and take pride in having the experience.Measure twice, cut once.Millermatic 211Millermatic 251Miller Dynasty 200DXESAB O/A Set-up
Reply:Just wondering how much of a difference using a different/ better power source.  I have some old aluminum electrodes that came with a dialarc i bought.  Not sure if they are any good now.  can they benefit from being in a rod oven?  I got one that a friend picked up from auction for me.  will get it next week. .   can try with my Airco then.  looks like being able to set  a higher starting amperage on my machine may help with aluminum welding.  anyone know if the old rods would still be good?Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Ok i did a quick  10 minute test using these antique aluminum electrode I have. 1/8th diameter.   used  DCEN Thought that is what Rick V used and just read his post and saw its DCEP..  ill go try some more that way.  DCEP the metal seemed to glob up and drop off the rod before getting to the weld.   as My machine has only % of the range whichis 16-200 amps, I am estimating the current.  tried a range from about 30 to 60% with arc start set around 70%.  I would say aluminum rod likes to run hot and fast.  in the 50 to 30 % range I was getting a high and somewhat narrow bead which went along with what others said about the Rick-V's pics that they all seemed too cold.   trying to slow down travel speed on lower amp settings caused burn through or the puddle just washed out all over the place...   best results seemed to be on the right side of the plate around 56-58% max amps.   backhand welding technique. one wider one I tried a quick weave.  also cleaned metal with the wire wheel on my grinder. no stainless brush or chemical clean to be had.....This is the first time I have ever tried to aluminum stick weld.   didn't seem too difficult though with some practice and maybe rods that are not like 30 years oldEDIT:   ok here I ran some more beads on DCEP.  Seems to like it a bit colder around 52% for the long bead down the middle of the plate.  slower and more control on DCEP.   the package says its for any of the 3 polarities so who knows.   Let  me know what the experts think of these beads.  oh its 1/4 plate tooLast edited by soutthpaw; 06-02-2011 at 10:34 PM.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:corbzy   -  The last time I used aluminum electrodes was in the Congo in 1974 [I'm welding split compressor heads] it's 9000 miles for parts.  Electrodes are generally used as a last resort when better alternatives are not available.  There is an inherent paradox: for electrodes to work you have to have the most sanitary patent metal; to have clean metal you are have controlled conditions, in the field you don't have controlled conditions, that's why why you are using electrodes.  My point is that there is a built in failure factor.  Other than curiosity, go with modernalternatives.       Opus
Reply:Hey soutthpaw thanks for posting your results.As it turns out that those 30 year old Bowmaweld 25364 electrodes of yours are still made by Bowmaweld.Technical SpecificationsPart No.....Dia. (inch).....Rec. Amp Range....Approx. Rods/Lb....Unit25363.......3⁄32.....................50-80....................12...................5 lbs.25364........1⁄8.......................70-110...................16...................5 lbs.Here is the 'current' Bownaweld packaging (Hexagonal Tube) and labelling.It ressembles the pictures of aluminum stick rod on the site of the Weldingdepot.Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:double post sorryLast edited by soutthpaw; 06-03-2011 at 06:46 PM.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Wow! dang they are expensive.. I got them with a Dialarc I bought from an old timer up the street who couldn't even remember the last time he used the machine let alone the rods.  he was running a lincoln 175 plus ( same machine I used to own) cuz it was easier to move around.   I got an almost full box of both 1/8 and 5/32's of that rod.  Ill save it for if I have to do some heavy/non-critical welds someday...  what do you think of the weld beads though with those rods...  with proper cleaning I an confident I would have a nice strong weld...  Ah went to welding depot site, says DC Reverse.   ill have to take another stab at it now I have the right current ranges and polarityLast edited by soutthpaw; 06-03-2011 at 06:49 PM.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:oh for the cost of mailing, I would be happy to send you several of each rod to experiment with..PM me if interested..  would love to see if you get better results with these rods over the ones you tried beforeTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Originally Posted by soutthpawoh for the cost of mailing, I would be happy to send you several of each rod to experiment with..PM me if interested..  would love to see if you get better results with these rods over the ones you tried before