I have a question for my husband

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My husband just bought a Lincoln 3200 wire welder. He wanted it to weld alumnium. We got the guages and the liner and the gas. They tried to weld on a scrap piece to see if they can get it right. All they can do is burn through and make brittle welds. We tried looking at all the books and set the welder to the different settings and still nothing. I am sure it is them not the welder that is messing up cause they have never welded alumnium before. They are using 30 or 35 wire. My point is could any one tell me what everything is suppose to be set on?
Reply:First thought that jumps to mind, what gas are you using?You need 100% Argon, no mix of Oxygen or CO2.
Reply:It is Argon.
Reply:I'll add my $.02, but only after mentioning that I'm not a pro welder, just a hobbiest.     When I first attempted aluminum (with a Weld-Pak 155 converted to gas), the biggest problem was forgetting what I learned about welding steel and starting from scratch with aluminum.  I found.The ESO, (electrode stick out) for aluminum was about 1" versus .375" for steel.Look at the puddle behind the weld, not at the arc.    If you can see a puddle forming, get moving or the base metal will melt away quickly.The travel speed for the torch welding aluminum was about double that for steel.I set my voltage on one of the two highest settings and turned my wire speed up to between 7 & 9 depending on material thickness.  (wire speed for steel is much lower).Keep the torch cable as straight as possible.  I actually zip tie my torch cable to a length of plastic conduit to keep it straight.I'd recommend turning up the volts and the wire speed and practice.  Try lowering the volts and wire speed a little at a time until you get the results your looking for.     Welding aluminum with a small mig without a spool gun can be done, it just takes patience and practice.There are no small projects
Reply:I'll add my $.02, but only after mentioning that I'm not a pro welder, just a hobbiest.     When I first attempted aluminum (with a Weld-Pak 155 converted to gas), the biggest problem was forgetting what I learned about welding steel and starting from scratch with aluminum.  I found.The ESO, (electrode stick out) for aluminum was about 1" versus .375" for steel.Look at the puddle behind the weld, not at the arc.    If you can see a puddle forming, get moving or the base metal will melt away quickly.The travel speed for the torch welding aluminum was about double that for steel.I set my voltage on one of the two highest settings and turned my wire speed up to between 7 & 9 depending on material thickness.  (wire speed for steel is much lower).Keep the torch cable as straight as possible.  I actually zip tie my torch cable to a length of plastic conduit to keep it straight.I'd recommend turning up the volts and the wire speed and practice.  Try lowering the volts and wire speed a little at a time until you get the results your looking for.     Welding aluminum with a small mig without a spool gun can be done, it just takes patience and practice.There are no small projects
Reply:You need to clean the aluminum with a stainless steel brush to remove the (nearly invisible) oxides.  Brush the entire area to be welded until it is bright.  If you are removing the oxides, you will see a greyish powder coming off the metal.  Turn the welder all the way up.  Necessary wire speed depends on the wire thickness (.030 to .035 is a big difference on that machine), so experiment a bit there.Additionally, you dont mention how thick a piece you are trying to weld.  You cant weld as thick a piece of AL as you can steel...not by a long shot.  You just dont have enought juice to tackle too much...preheat helps, but it doesnt solve the power problem.Because aluminum eats the power up, you will have to watch the duty cycle.  It will be a factor if you are welding more than just a few beads.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:no one mentioned it , but make  sure you are pushing the gun not pulling it .BTS Welding
Reply:Thank all of you for your help. They will try it out this weekend.