pushing 3/64 AL thru a 15ft gun???

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Guys have any of you had much success with welding Aluminum with the 3/64 wire and the feeding kits to push it thru the 12-15ft guns?  I have an aluminum tank job that came in this morning, and I need to be running two two machines on it, and this is the cheapest quickest option I can up with for a second machine.  I just order the kit for my powermig 255, but I also don't need to be spending all day with a birdnested feeder either. I also need something that can produce a weld quality that is going to be sound, and not leak.  I would appreciate all of your comments from those who have experience with this set up. thanks  ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:I always remember a hobart saleman laughing and saying how he loves selling long gun leads to cutomers...  They keep coming back for liners and parts all the time.  What he meant was that the shorter the lead you can use the better.  That goes for aluminum and steel.  You are not going to push any aluminum fifteen feet with any reliability.  Have you thought of using a eight foot lead and hanging the feeder on the crane hook or put an insulated bottom (plywood) on it and drag it around???  The other way is to buy a push pull gun... big bucks!
Reply:I have experience here. I started out trying to push aluminum wire. No luck. Bought the right liner and all. Cut my lead down to 6'. Worked better but like lotechman said the key word is no reliability what so ever. I could keep the lead perfectly straight and I still never knew when it was going to wad up in the lead. I quickly had to go to the spool gun to get any work done.Yes I can tack it for you.    I know that won't hold but that is what you asked me to do.  Millermatic 350P XR Aluma-Pro push/pullMillermatic 185/spool gunMiller Dialarc 250 HF Water cooledThermal Dynamics Plasma
Reply:I appreciate your replies. That's kind of what I was thinking.  I was doing a little wishful thinking, This tank is roughly 14ft in diatmeter, and I am having to replate the entire bottom of it.  Going to amount to 60  plus foot of weld.  not to mention its on its side so I have to have a good length lead to get to the top of it.  I have the Powermig 255 so it doesn't have a separate feeder.  Looks Like I am gonna go ahead and bite the bullet on the spool gun.  Thanks for your opinions.   ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:we have nothing but problems pushing 3/64 alum wire. The plant where I work has gone to 1/16 wire its a lot more rigid and feeds ok. My opinion when it comes to aluminum would be to get a profax spool gun. the spool gun feeds 3/64 and even .023 great! The reason is that the wire does not feed thru the lead it only feeds about 2" from the spool to the tip of the gun. You can tie you lead in a knot and it will feed the same! Profax makes the best bar none. Any one deciding to go with a spoolgun do not get conned into a miller they are junk. I made my boss buy one for the factory just for me to use. one draw back is that in a production type job the 2 lb. spools run out kinda fast this is why the boss wont go all spool guns. But the weld quality would double if he did. The one i use at the factory has 50' lead and I am tooling out our new repair building in the next two weeks and we will have 75' leads. I hate moving my machine check out this sitehttp://www.weldmart.com/AEC%20SPOOL%20GUN%20MASTER.htmLast edited by Robby T.; 08-24-2005 at 03:17 AM.
Reply:The spool gun is the best option for you for productivity reasons.  I have used an old airco spool gun and even that old gun with worn parts works better than my setup.  I use a hobart feeder with a teflon liner that is oversized in a 8-9 foot gun puching 3/64 wire.  It works ok.  The welds are resonably good.  Reliability is not horrible (but not great...maybe 5 minutes trouble out of 30 minutes welding).  My setup requires quick reaction time to limit down time.  The only thing I lack is the U-shaped rollers to have all the optimal components for an aluminum feeder, and it still will not touch a spool gun on a bad day.  If you have the millermatic, add a gun (maybe profax like suggested above).  You wont be sorry.Last edited by smithboy; 08-25-2005 at 10:35 AM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.