Mig aluminum!

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Holy cow I had heard that doing mig aluminum was hard but man I love it!!  The bead is so much easier to see and read and vertical up is a dream and I'm not talking a nightmare either.
Reply:Originally Posted by Big65moparHoly cow I had heard that doing mig aluminum was hard but man I love it!!  The bead is so much easier to see and read and vertical up is a dream and I'm not talking a nightmare either.
Reply:CV Power supply DCEP(reverse) and Argon or ARgon/Helium and you are on your way. JGSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:The difficulty and results behind mig aluminum depend highly on the setup.There is a world of difference between:-Mig gun converted to Al with a teflon liner-Spool gun-Push/pull systemI have a cobramatic push/pull that gets fantastic results.CWI, CWE, CST for Miller, Lincoln, Thermadyne, Hypertherm & ESABMillermatic 350PLincoln Invertec 205 AC/DCVictor combo torchESAB PCM 1125
Reply:Using a spool gun, will post what I have done over the weekend but I'm not sure when I will be able to weld again as someone apparently tried to fire bomb my school yesterday causing mostly external damage to the building destroying two heating and cooling units, a gazebo, 20 odd some feet of privacy fence, three tree's, damaging a vacuum system, a back hoe, and getting within a foot of a 1k gallon argon tank and a 250 gallon co2 tank.
Reply:Here's the pics I promised, Fourth bead on the T was a little quick in some spots and I had roll over but placement is good and the beads are straight.  Laps are ok but need to be more complete from start to finish.Second is my vertical up as a stringer which isn't bad but my travel is a bit fast in two or so spots but considering that I have never been able to run a vertical up without a weave of some sorts I am really happy.Last one is more laps, the closest one was bad with some overlap on the bottom side, that one along with some other welds were a mix of practice and fine tuning the machine to get the settings right.  I was surprised at how big a minor change would make with aluminum even with two or so volts or a half speed adjustment. Attached Images
Reply:Wow. nice pics.
Reply:Try a little more heat (volts), you'll reduce the spatter and wet in the toes better.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Thanks for the compliment and the advice, like I said it was my first time working with aluminum and feeling out the settings without a wps or recommended settings.  Most of the spatter did come from an incorrect angle and also a gas flow problem that was corrected at the end.  Tomorrow I will be working with tig for a bit then back to mig to get it down pat.
Reply:A couple of things.First, even without a full WPS, you can still get all sorts of recommendations for settings.  Lincoln has all sorts of recommended settings in their literature, both the machines and the wires.  Miller has their on-line parameter calculator.  etc, etc.Next, your comment about "minor changes" and "two volts" doesn't match.  Two volts is a BIG difference, 0.5 volts is a small difference.  Some wires are 'picky' enough that you have to chase down that 1/2 volt to get them to run nicely, others barely notice a 2 volt change.And besides telling us your were using a spool gun, more details could help folks give you some more and/or better recommendations.  Cause there are just a few different spool guns out there and they can get their power from all sorts of welders.  A little Lincoln SG100 running some 0.030 inch 4043 wire off a PM140 is a different set up than say a big 'industrial' spool gun running off a big 'industrial' welder (say maybe a Miller 30A running some 1/16 inch 5056 wire off a Trailblazer 302).  Usually, running MIG on aluminum means run hot and run fast.  I don't think you were hot enough, and that's why you weren't running so fast.  And that seems to be a bunch of spatter in some pics, usually once you dial in the spatter -should- be less.http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...e-on-Aluminum/Post your settings (wire size and alloy) and approximate settings (volts and amps or WFS or all three) and folks can usually give you some idea if you are close or way off.  You -were- just using straight argon, right?I think you were running too cold from the pictures.  The toes aren't fusing in all that much and with all that spatter I think you may have been in between short-circuit transfer and full spray transfer and in a globular transfer area.  Since aluminum is such a good conductor of heat, short-circuit transfer is iffy and usually not recommended and instead spray transfer is usually needed to get enough heat into the metal to let it all melt together.  Or maybe pulsed spray transfer, to keep the all position capability while still having enough heat in the spray mode.  http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...gmaw-aluminum/(no, you don't always need pulse, but sometimes it -is- the right tool for the job or can make the job faster/easier/better.)RIp or cut some of those practice welds apart and see how the penetration was and if there is internal porosity or not.  Inadequate penetration/fusion and internal porosity would both be indications of running too cold on aluminum.Not instantly horrible, but I think some more practice and some BFH testing is needed.  Last edited by MoonRise; 04-12-2010 at 03:50 PM.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:If it might help, I have just had a go at some ally too.  Only about 2.5mm thick though.What sized plate ally is it?What type of wire are you using? 5356 or 4043 etc?Here are pics etc and link to more.Mig welding aluminumI still have to play with these setting more too. Attached Images
Reply:I'll be back on mi tomorrow and will get all requested info.  Plate size though has been 3/16 and machine is a miller ac box but I don't have the info at hand at the moment.
Reply:I completely forgot, the plates that I used had had some work done on them already and much of the spatter was already there so I was piecing together practice pieces to make my own.  Also where I said "2 volts " it was more of a generalization than a factual statement like saying " my heart was racing a million miles an hour " when it may have went up by 20 beats a minute.
Reply:How are you mig'ing aluminum with an ac buzz box and a spool gun??MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Yeah, where did you buy that rig
Reply:School rig not mine and I never said I was on an ac buzz box, what ever box this is is a mig box that has had a spool gun with line added to it, all I know is that its a miller.  As I have said before either in this or another thread we really aren't taught anything about the machines and have to figure it all out ourselves so none of us know much about them other than turning on and off, changing out consumables, changing settings, and leads when needed.  Buzz box sucks and I won't go back to trying to use that to stick unless I want to show someone what crap looks like.  Soon as I can get back on the machine I'll write down the particulars but for the last couple days I have been trying to tig aluminum and have not been having a good time of it.
Reply:If this is a CV welder, you will no be able to TIG with it.  Tell us what you have and maybe we can help.  JGSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:Ok for mig work I am using a miller matic 212 with a miller spool matic 15A loaded with alcotec ER4043 .035in aluminum wire.  The settings I was working around with the 3/16th plate was V 6, and wire speed 40 with the %100 argon set to 23cf.  This was only one morning of welding and at this point I'm not sure when we will be welding again as it has been two weeks since the metal order was put in and the supplier has not made a delivery.I'm not using this machine for tig work just mig.