so ive spent most of my welding time on a sync 250 here at VT which has probably spoiled me because AC on it has a cleaning pass feature which my at-home 200 doesnt.

i tried welding some cast aluminum the other day, cleaned with acetone and ss brush and i couldnt get a whole bead to come out without inclusions. the 250 always welds really clean even when i dont clean Al as well.

i didnt mess with the settings on my 200 and i couldnt find my owners manual to do so.

so does anyone have any tips on how to keep it clean?

-derek

 

haven't welded cast but tried to polish it - you have to grind down deep because the pores trap a lot of crap - I had to go down ~3/32" to find non-porous clean metal on an im

 

I would like to know also.

 

I welded a trany the other day and the first pass was a bit dirty. But as soon as the aluminum got got, the next pass was working verry well.

I had the amps about 180, the gas at about 18 cfm's and used the green tungsten.

 

anyone?

 

not sure on the setting but if you go to the miller site that should have the manual for your machine. i also have a 200 so if its something you need me to look for in the manual just pm me

 

yeah i lost my manual somehow

im jsut curious on others' methods for welding cast with this machine.

 

u generally have to keep the puddle molten for longer periods of time in order to let the slag bubble up and out of porous cast al. circle around for a while with a little less heat input and see if it cleans up. if you cant do it in one pass, try a first pass of torch only and a second pass of filler material.

 

ill try that. thanks.

-derek

 

its also preferred that you heat the cast aluminum prior to welding in order to "properly" weld it...you can do it without pre-heating it, but it is likely to get stress cracks

 

assuming it is a stressed part.