I am trying to get as much information on this as possible. I have found that if I use Ultra High purity helium as a sheilding gas, I can effectively weld aluminum with DC. I'm just wondering if anyone has anymore information on this? I'm kinda wondering exactly what gas I would need to buy, and how much it should cost for say a 40cf cyl. My maxstar STH also has adjustable pulsing capabilities, which should help.

I would be welding .125" thick aluminum. If it doesn't work, thats ok but I would like to try this out if it is at all possible.

Thanks for any info!!!
Bryson

 

Welding .125 aluminum with DC and UHP helium is overkill. Typically thick sections of aluminum are welded on DC. (>1") I'm not saying it can't be done, but it will be tough to get it to work right. Helium costs here are about triple the cost of argon, and you have to have you CFH about three times higher to maintain proper coverage since helium is lighter than air and tends to float away.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Welding .125 aluminum with DC and UHP helium is overkill. Typically thick sections of aluminum are welded on DC. (&gt;1") I'm not saying it can't be done, but it will be tough to get it to work right. Helium costs here are about triple the cost of argon, and you have to have you CFH about three times higher to maintain proper coverage since helium is lighter than air and tends to float away.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, from what I've looked into so far, it seems like I might be better off if I just rent an AC/DC machine, if thats even possible. If not, I will just have to use steel for my project.

 

out of curiousity, do you do DCEP or DCEN - I've tried DCEN and it just smokes black ash (like when you mig AL), but have always wanted to try DCEP. Any pics?

 

DCEN.