problem with welding on garrett turbos(compressor cover)

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I'm having a hard time with welding a flange on a garrett turbo. I never have this kind of problem welding aluminum except on these garrett turbo compressor covers. I just don't get it. Is it the casting thats very poor quality? I machined the front, made sure I cleaned the flange with wirewheel, then stainless brush, then acetone. I did both the flange and housing this way and it doesn't weld right...I don't know what to do....I've welded other cast aluminum parts and have never had this problem. The welds are dull and not shiny. I've welded other turbo covers and they never seem to be this big of a problem...Welder is a syncrowave 180SD. 3/32 red  160AAny advice would be appreciated.Miller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:It's just not hot enough..Welds look REALLY cold....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Ditto what Zap said. Warm it up a bit before welding it....Mike
Reply:the other flange welded onto the outlet welded ok and I didn't heat it up. I heated it up for the inlet side and it still never welded right...just weird. Thanks for the help though. Anyone know why its so dull and not shiny?Miller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:the outlet side has much less mass of alum. so its not as bigga heat sink, the intake area is a huge heat sink with lotsa mass and is soaking up amps like a sponge. try putting whole unit into oven and bring up to 400+ and try againOf all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:just a note on welding compressor housings.I had a guy take a turbo and put to much heat into the housing and take it out of round. Installed the turbo and when it got hot again the compressor wheel was rubbing against the housing, causing the shaft misalignment, leaking and eventually destroyed the turbo in short time.
Reply:you need more heat. looks like you are just melting filler on top oft the joint. You can try some pre heat and helium to get a little more out of your machine. I sent a guy out to a steel job the other day and they wanted him to weld some aluminum angles together before he left- we have a dynasty 200 on the truck-  so he got all set up running the dynasty off of a 50amp circuit, and could not get a puddle flowing to save his life. He called me saying the machine was messed up and wouldnt weld. He then told me it was 4x4x1/2 angle- not gonna happen with 200 amps. He got the spoolgun out and had it done in 5 minutes.
Reply:definately too cold. turn the machine up but try to travel at a decent pace, too slow and you'll put too much heat into the housing and warp it.It also looks like your AC frequency it pretty high, lots of cleaning action going on there. not necessarily a bad thing, just has a lot of "fuzz" around the weld....definately need more amperage though.
Reply:I woul;dn't preheat anywhere near 400 degrees. Aluminum cylinder heads warp at like 260degrees. I'd stay below that, that's all you need anywayThe welds aren't shiney because the etched zone is huge for whatever reason. Get welding on the housing then go directly to a piece of non-cast aluminum and see if the weld looks the same or not. Try  adjusting your wave balance for less cleaning (more electrode negative).Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:More heat.  I too have a Syncrowave 180SD and I guarantee it would be cranked to the max with the pedal smashed and still struggling with that much material sucking up the amps.How long of an arc are you holding?Consider resizing your photos before loading to prevent cutting off your text.Last edited by duaneb55; 10-16-2012 at 08:47 AM.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:I'm curious to know how many amps you did that with and how many more amps you will go and the results.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:huge cleaning zone was mentioned, as well as cold looking beads.What is AC balance set to?  Narrow that cleaning zone and get more heat all in one.miller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...
Reply:Thanks for everyone's reply. So basically I turned up the heat and it didn't change anything. I've heard the casting isn't very good on these turbos you can see that even when it was machined on the lathe it wasn't smooth like it should've been. It was taking material off in little chunks and not a continuous string like most other housing i've seen or done. To finish it I welded the flange like you see in the 2nd pic and then while it was good and warmed up I went over it again with a second pass and washed the weld out and flattened it out a little bit. Overall, it will work but I'm not too happy with it and even when it was hot the welds didn't change much. It welded a little easier but nothing to drastically. I hate posting pics like this because I'm way anal about how welds look but I didn't have any other choice...Dont judge me!!! I should have used my dynasty I guess it probably would have done better than the syncro. AC balance was set at 6 and amps were maxed at 180. What should it be for something like this?Miller Dynasty 200Millermatic 211Instagram?.... find me @ WELD_MEDIC
Reply:Castings as a rule suck.  You have no idea how many beer cans and other junk might be in it. Heat helps but your 180 is going to be tapped out. 200 would be better the lower the AC balance the better the cleaning action but the less the penetraion..Get rid of your acetone and buy some AlumaClean from your local LWS.  Preheating the a casting is great if you are welding thick castings but it will do nothing for impurities in the metal.
Reply:Dunno since it changes based on the metal, the amp setting, and machie.  On my 250 I think It is set in the same range, but I have used it near 8-9 doing some attempts to fix a cylinder head with broken valve smashed to pieces damage.since you do have such a large cleaning zone, you could try it at a uch higher setting to get more heat into it.. Try it up at 9 or 10 and you might add 40% more heat to the part.  As is, 3 is balanced on my 250, I think it is simlar for you, so 6 is still probably 40% DCEPmiller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...
Reply:thats huge heatsink