the directions for my mig welder says that it can weld aluminum, nowi am not that welding versed,

but does it really weld aluminum worth a damn

 

Don't know what welder you're using, but you'll probably need/want a spool gun, aluminum wire and a different gas.

I looked at the price for adding all that to my dad's MM 135 and decided to buy my own Syncrowave 180

 

Look at the big tank trailers you see hauling gas on the interstates...most everything on them is MIG welded. yes, aluminum can be mig welded, and can be made to look really nice...but it does take the right equipment and experience (or practice).

 

Need a spool gun, roll of wire, and a bottle of 100% argon. You can use the same regulator as the 25/75. Machine should have a seperate feed in the back for the regulator hose to feed into for the spool gun.

Aluminum wire is so soft it usually gals up feeding through the liner in your welding lead, reason for the spool gun. Also you would have to change out the liner everytime you swaped over from steel to aluminum and back.

Check with your local welder supplier

 

what is a "spool gun" i dont know what that is??

thanks for all the answers, i was just noticing on the box my welder came in it advertised

"Great for welding stainless and aluminum"

and i was like ummmm are you sure?

 

Sure you can weld aluminum with a MIG. Just not very thick. Use 100% argon, aluminum wire (duh), crank up the wirespeed, and weld really fast to avoid blowing through. I have been able to get good welds on 20 gauge sheet and tube with my 110volt MIG, but any thicker and it gets either globby or splatters everywhere.

 

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc...n.cfm - interesting article I found

 

thanks guys, i just like to mess around with my stuff im definetley not a fabricator

 

As everyone said a spoolgun is your friend. Ive tried it with the regular feed mechanism and it was jam up every 30 seconds. You will need plenty of amperage to burn off the aluminum wire and get any sort of penetration. Ive welded thick cast aluminum elbows with a 110v MIG before. If you plan on welding anything thick, the trick is to pre heat it with a propane torch. MIGing aluminum can be frustrating but it is cheaper than buying a TIG and can certainly get the job done in a pinch.

 

I disagree on the spoolgun. Once I have my ali liner in by Mig guns golden! Never jams, and I can get the speed down to the #1 setting and use it at the lowest amperage.

I always preheat tho, just learned to do it that way since I started.

 

**** NO! long story short... nah man. you gotta change the liner in your gun, if you have a less expensive welder the heat ranges are probably way too course to get a decent setup. not to mention the wire feed is probably a single roller, and not a 4 or 5 roller... so yeah its gonna suck ***** welding aluminium. sure huge tanker trucks might be mig welded, but thats because of the length of the seam!

if you HAVE to glue some alu together itll work.. shittilly. dont forget youll need pure argon and not the mix you use to mig on steel. you can sand hte ugly *** b ead down and itll work ok i guess. but it in no way b eats or comes close to matching tig quality.

 

an alternative to the spoolgun is a push-pull system, though i'm unsure of the cost advantages of either.

I've used more push-pull setups than spool gun setups, a lot of the hazardous materials that are carried on the railroads are carried in aluminum, mig welded, vessels. (i used to work at a railcar repair shop and fixed quite a few aluminum cars)

 

wow thanks guys

where do yo ufind this alternative liner for your mig cable