Stick Welding Aluminum?

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I need to repair a trans bell housing and the only thing I can use right now is my stick welder.. I have yet to buy a tig, it's on the list but the economy won't let it happen yet.. I have a few electrodes and want to give it a shot. Any suggestions to help out complete this.. Thanks!JasonMiller 252Miller 250Miller Syncrowave 250Esab Plasma Powercut 1250HF Basic oxy/act torches
Reply:look at the secind item in this video.  It is a broken bell housing being repaired.[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StzZh8V1Kiw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StzZh8V1Kiw[/ame]
Reply:im also interested in knowing how to stick weld aluminum.  Dont mean to jack the thread, just thought we both could find something interesting out of it.  How many aluminum rods are there?
Reply:I stick welded a few trans cases years ago and it was fine. Just make sure the alum is clean and grease free. Burn it with a torch and get it real clean. Use DC rev (elec +) for the rods. But the rods aren't cheap...BobBob WrightSalem, Ohio  Birthplace of the Silver & Deming Drillhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/southbend10k/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sawking/1999 Miller MM185 w/ Miller 185 Spoolmate spoolgun
Reply:Yup same as Bob has said... Be ready to play catchup... they burn quite quickly
Reply:It will work. A few years ago, a friend of mine had a GM 400 tranny crack all the way across the top from one side of the pan to the other. It never quit running, but leaked badly. When in reverse that crack would open up over a quarter inch or so, and in forward it would close up. We took the doghouse out and closed it up and tacked it. A few minutes with a die grinder to vee out the crack, and a little heat from the torch to burn out the oil, we were ready to weld. I used those al rods, 1/8" and about 70 amps. He sold that truck a week later, and some guy drove it for a couple of years. It ended up on a local used car lot, and I looked to see if it still had that same tranny, and it did. I never figured it would hold up behind that 450HP 454..............................."Look Good Doing It"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:Is there just one kind of aluminum rod?
Reply:Thanks for the  help you guys!! I'm going to give it a try tomorrow.. I'll try to take some before and after pics and let you know how it turns out!JasonMiller 252Miller 250Miller Syncrowave 250Esab Plasma Powercut 1250HF Basic oxy/act torches
Reply:Where are you Castweld? Seems like castweld would be the perfect one to ask about this....Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:My suggestion for someone that wants to stick weld aluminum is to practice before jumping on something critical. Aluminum stick rods are a lot different than something like a 7018. Amps and travel speed become a lot more important. Maybe more important is a poor choice of words. It is better to say the tolerance of getting them just right is more narrow.
Reply:HTS-2000 is supposed to have three times the elongation strength of the Durafix.  It might be worth taking a look at for this repair.  http://www.aluminumrepair.com/faqs.asp
Reply:It's not the new truck you just bought a while back is it??  Crap!!"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:No Samm, it was for a customer.. It worked out pretty darn good, wans't the best looking thing I have ever done but $hit man it worked great!! Talking about moving kinda fast.. He also tossed out and older oil pan that he needed welded as well and boy I had that stick moving the rod FAST! That oil pan was pretty darn thin!Samm, I sold that whit pick up the other week for $1200.00.. I get my F250 back after it was recovered from the theft and put her to work!! She has a new dually axle under it with some F350 leafs and a flatbed I picked up pretty cheap.. I'll get some pics up soon.. Been pretty darn busy down here south of the border and haven' had much time to spend on the computer..And thanks again to eveyone for he help!JasonMiller 252Miller 250Miller Syncrowave 250Esab Plasma Powercut 1250HF Basic oxy/act torches
Reply:Originally Posted by FluxThisNo Samm, it was for a customer.. It worked out pretty darn good, wans't the best looking thing I have ever done but $hit man it worked great!! Talking about moving kinda fast.. He also tossed out and older oil pan that he needed welded as well and boy I had that stick moving the rod FAST! That oil pan was pretty darn thin!Samm, I sold that whit pick up the other week for $1200.00.. I get my F250 back after it was recovered from the theft and put her to work!! She has a new dually axle under it with some F350 leafs and a flatbed I picked up pretty cheap.. I'll get some pics up soon.. Been pretty darn busy down here south of the border and haven' had much time to spend on the computer..And thanks again to eveyone for he help!Jason