MiG welding Aluminum??

[lennyzx11]

Looking for tips and comments.


I bought a Dixie Chopper last week with a bagger.
The piece (chute) that mounts to the deck for the bagger hose appears to be cast aluminum. It has a chunk knocked out of it that I’d like to patch. About 8” at its longest width of the damage.

I haven’t welded aluminum yet and asking if this will be possible.

I have a Hobart 210MVP. I just ordered a Spoolrunner 100 spoolgun and a roll of Hobart 4043 .030 wire.

I have a Hypertherm 30AIR Plasma cutter to trim and clean up the edges and patch as necessary.

 

[sd455dan]

Sounds like you are an the right track, do you have a tank of pure Argon for the mig?

 

[lennyzx11]

Sounds like you are an the right track, do you have a tank of pure Argon for the mig?

Oops. That was one of the questions I meant to post. I have a bottle of 75/25 but read that pure argon is needed. Do I have to purchase another bottle of pure argon to do this right?

 

[yomax4]

Looking for tips and comments.


I bought a Dixie Chopper last week with a bagger.
The piece (chute) that mounts to the deck for the bagger hose appears to be cast aluminum. It has a chunk knocked out of it that I’d like to patch. About 8” at its longest width of the damage.

I haven’t welded aluminum yet and asking if this will be possible.

I have a Hobart 210MVP. I just ordered a Spoolrunner 100 spoolgun and a roll of Hobart 4043 .030 wire.

I have a Hypertherm 30AIR Plasma cutter to trim and clean up the edges and patch as necessary.

Not sure how thick the piece is but sometimes with thiner material and spoolgun you need to make a series of spot welds and then lay a bead over the top which will look pretty good when youre done. Stinless wire brush the part before you weld. .030 Aluminum will be difficult to work with. Good Luck !!

 

[RNeumann]

YouTube is your friend! A guy called “weldingtipsandtricks” is where I’d start. All good info above. It will need to be very clean and it doesn’t take heat like steel. Totally different beast. Do a bunch of practice before you do anything you care about. Can of worms opened.........enjoy!

 

[sd455dan]

Oops. That was one of the questions I meant to post. I have a bottle of 75/25 but read that pure argon is needed. Do I have to purchase another bottle of pure argon to do this right?

Yes you do, but it will be handy for Tig if you should decide to get into it.

 

[Motorboatin]

We weld nothing but aluminum in our shop and all guns run 3/64 wire (.045)

On thinner material it's easier to control the puddle with the thicker wire. New guys always go looking for .035 wire when thin material lands on their table but they learn pretty quick that it's not the same as steel

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

We weld nothing but aluminum in our shop and all guns run 3/64 wire (.045)

On thinner material it's easier to control the puddle with the thicker wire. New guys always go looking for .035 wire when thin material lands on their table but they learn pretty quick that it's not the same as steel

This. Yep. People get upset that our small 140 mig doesn't support .025" aluminum wire and .030" is borderline. .035 is better for smaller migs. .045" isn't too shabby either.

 

[lennyzx11]

Based on your tips, I’ll pick up a roll of .035 wire also.
I don’t know if that spool gun will run any larger like the .045 mentioned.
And a bottle of pure argon.

 

[Cord]

Get yourself some practice metal. Welding aluminum is totally different from steel. Took me a bit before I could lay an acceptable bead.

 

[metalbender]

I totally agree on a little practice. First time I hit some aluminum it was " holy crap" feeds wire like it's on steroids. Lots of smoke and suds and a glob of metal. Can't pull, only push the weld.

 

[lennyzx11]

Well guys. Try 1 looks bad.
Here’s some pictures and if you can give me any tips, I’ll try again.

I was pushing with about a 15 degree slant.
I did preheat the cast with a propane torch after I sanded the paint off with flap disk.



Here’s the settings I was using with .035 wire and 110v with the Spoolrunner 100. I did swap the polarity as instructed to positive.

Then I thought that maybe it was the deck being cast may be the problem and without changing anything this is what happened when I tried to weld the sheet metal or even lay a bead on the surface.
Couldn’t control the speed before going right through the metal.


Under the two pieces of 16 gauge I attempted.


From one of the photos I ground down one of the blobs to see if it was cold and cut into the next one with a cutoff disk below the surface of the cast piece and it appears to have melded together. Just looks like terrible.

 

[WranglerX]

Almost everything I have read or seen discussed is that a 120V machine is just too small to be really successful with aluminum...


Dale

 

[yomax4]

So did you get the Argon? If so did you get the spoolgun? If so does it have wire speed control or is it to be set on your panel? 1st thing you want to do is get a piece of 1/8" thick practice material and lay some beads. 16ga is going to be difficult for a beginner with a spoolgun. Your welds look like way too much wire.

 

[lennyzx11]

Almost everything I have read or seen discussed is that a 120V machine is just too small to be really successful with aluminum...


Dale

I have the Hobart 210MVP which is dual voltage. According to the chart, 220 wouldn’t go low enough for 16 gauge so I used 110 which was on the chart for that.

Think if I switch to 220 on the lowest setting may be better?

 

[lennyzx11]

So did you get the Argon? If so did you get the spoolgun? If so does it have wire speed control or is it to be set on your panel? 1st thing you want to do is get a piece of 1/8" thick practice material and lay some beads. 16ga is going to be difficult for a beginner with a spoolgun. Your welds look like way too much wire.

Yes, I did get the spoolgun and the argon. It is set on the panel.

I will try to slow the wire speed today.
Also. I think I’ll pick a hidden place out inside the piece which is 1/4” thick and try some practice beads then try adding the 16 gauge sheet metal to it.

This is my first time with aluminum. I can (and have) laid decent welds on steel with a tombstone, brazing, and the mig on fluxcore.
Just got the gas bottles to start with this year per recommendations on here to learn.

 

[yomax4]

Yes, I did get the spoolgun and the argon. It is set on the panel.

I will try to slow the wire speed today.
Also. I think I’ll pick a hidden place out inside the piece which is 1/4” thick and try some practice beads then try adding the 16 gauge sheet metal to it.

This is my first time with aluminum. I can (and have) laid decent welds on steel with a tombstone, brazing, and the mig on fluxcore.
Just got the gas bottles to start with this year per recommendations on here to learn.

Keep the faith, You'll get it. Spoolgun Aluminum starts cold and finishes hot. Tough chore on thin material. That's why I mentioned earlier that sometimes you'll need to do a series of spots and then connect them then grind it down. Good Luck !!

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

You are trying to lay too much in a single pass. It is a very fast process on aluminum. Back off the wire speed by 40% and see what happens.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Also make sure you are only 1/2" off the metal.

 

[Jaylegger]

I'm no expert but your wire speed looks to be too fast, you're not close enough to the material and from the soot I'd guess your argon flow is way too low as well. Reduce wire speed and double the argon flow and see what happens.