i bought some generic ebay aluminum tubing off ebay to make a new intake for my car. i have a synchrowave 200 and im trying to figure out how to get these pieces welded together and have it look decent. my problem im having is that its just kind of flowing together and not doing the dime effect. its real thin probably 1/32 or so. ive tried pulsing it together and it doesnt seem to help, ive tried without the pulser and that gets the job done better and ive adjusted balance to each spectrum and havent really got the hang of it.
i got the pieces welded together but my filler ended up on the inside of the piping too in a snot ball in some places.
i have tried my amps anywhere from 40-80 and seem to have better results with the higher amperage.

 

it depends on the quality and finish of the piping, i specifically ask when customers bring me piping (i really bitch about customers bringing me anything cause what they usually bring sucks ***) if it came from ebay. If it did i take a wire wheel to it and clean off 1/4 of an inch all the way around the areas im going to be welding and prep the crap out of them, that shiny stuff sometimes has coatings on it to keep the finish.

I generally have my machine setup on 75-80 amps with no pulser and feather the pedal, green tung.

 

Yeah, SAME deal here. I get guys that want me to fab piping and they bring this ebay crap aluminum piping. It definitely has a coating on it that you have to wirewheel to remove, and clean the inside as well. I can weld the stuff decent, but there's no doubt it's junk.

 

sounds like i wasnt too far off from where i should have been. ill keep trying away but i appreciate the info. i did wire it but i dont have a wire wheel i just used a wire brush.

 

if its got a coating then a brush wont get it all off.
if you want dimes with aluminum then you need to be more definitive with adding the filler, basically stab the filler into the puddle, whereas with steel you can let the puddle melt it by tapping the filler in.

 

i actually went back over the weld and practiced a little more. i started to get dimes but then lost it. not sure what i did, might have overheated the area which allowed the filler to just mix into the pool. it looks like crap but it will serve my purpose once i grind out the excess buildup inside. ill get some good aluminum and try it again in the future.

 

if you are consistant and solid on an amperage like 80 amps you will need to start backing off the pedal and "cooling" the material as you go. Aluminum absorbs heat very very well and you will quickly find yourself loosing the dime affect if you dont back off of the heat. Many people use pulsers on aluminum and you have your perfect setting after messing with it for an hour or two. I have been teaching the other guy that i work with to use the pulser and to weld on aluminum. In general you dont just push the pedal and go like you do with steel/ss/ With the pulser i generally tell him to give it 5 or so pulses and then move. If you just go you will have taller beads, not cold really but not as penetrated as if you were to wait 5 or so pulse cycles and then move, you will find the rest of your weld will be uniform except for the initial one because the material dissapated the heat and didnt allow the tiny section your working on to totally absorb it like steel does.

 

do you got any advice on the length of the pulses? i tried that at the lowest setting it wouldnt melt it. might need more amperage while in pulse mode. at the highest setting it still didnt pulse long enough to melt the aluminum. once again i might need more amps while on that setting. ill try a few different things.
i also ran out of filler rod. i grabbed what i thought was aluminum rod and then i found out i think its a piece of stainless. 308 or 305 something like that. i was trying to melt it and had to give it all i had before it would melt then it wouldnt blend with the aluminum. finally i figured out that it was not aluminum. beings how it was stacked with the rest of my rod.

 

when using the pulser im at 90 amps w/ 50% background amps, 50% peak time and like .75-8 peaks per second so if you watch a clock its a noticeable amount faster then the click of a second although it may not seem to be on paper. Every machine is different, each material is different etc, you have to find what you are comfortable with as well.

 

ill have to check out my settings on the machine. i admit im still not 100% proficient in the controls of my machine as i rarely use it and i have had it about a yr now. for the most part i got most of the things figured out. if not i try out different things to see how they affect my work. i read the manual but some of it still doesnt make sense.

 

What size filler are you using?

 

lets see some pics then i can help you plus pulser suck no real man would use that haha jk

 

hahaha, that chinese aluminum you get is anodized don't ask me how I know...

Try oven cleaner, or a sand paper wheel, wire wheels won't do anything to fix it... Also most importantly try cleaning the inside of what you are welding..

I had a local metal stripping company try to strip the "coating" off of the aluminum pipes and they failed at it and i found that it was anodized shortly after...

p.s. there's nothing crap about it, because i've had it analyzed at a metallurgical laboratory and it's tested to be 6061 Aluminum. It's all in the Prep In that same run of testing i sent some pipes off that i had laying around that I thought were 321.. Ended up they were Inconel lol..

 

i think for filler size it was 1/16, im not sure, i was down to my last piece and didnt really pay attention.

i dont think its fair for you to say that pat. for all that know your credentials its obvious you dont or wont use a pulser.

i have a couple things that will take that finish off. the wire brush did scrape it up a bit and it id weld. right when the torch arc'd it appeared to be aluminum. as aluminum has that distinct way of arcing. i cant guarantee it but it might have been coated anyways.

 

sorry the pulser may be making it harder on you its a lot of **** to get right that all....and ppg make a metal cleaner dx579 that will help you alot

 

i made a catch can today cause i was bored. turned out alright so far. i think that aluminum tubing i was using was just that ebay junk. i was scared to try my welding on this catchcan today since i have such limited experience and alot of it isnt beautiful dime shapes like many of the other members in this forum but ive already tested it and its leak free.
now i have to buy some bungs for my valve cover and the catch can itself and then decide where im going to put this thing. its about the size of a honda battery. yeah its overkill in a major way but whatever, its going to fit somewhere and its going to work.

 

I had a customer that brought me E-Bay aluminum tubing for an intercooler setup. It welded like **** so I ended up using some of my own bends.

Once you're familiar welding a material with a certain process don't be afraid to blame the materials instead of yourself.

 

1/16 is too small for you I say try some 3/32 I think you will like it better especially when you are learning imo

 

I run 1/16" filler on .065 aluminum with no problems.

 

That coating sucks ***...period. It takes forever but the best was I've found is to file it off. It takes FOREVER but it doesnt imbed anything into the tubing either.


Did I mention that I hate coated/anodized al tubing? well I do.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I run 1/16" filler on .065 aluminum with no problems.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just meant it might be easier for him to learn on especially since he is liking the higher amps.

 

Yea, although welding aluminum together with to much heat will make it crack.

OP, post some pics of your welds, and we can get you better advice on what you need to do.

 

ive been trying to post pics for an hour now. photobucket is lagging for some reason and i cant upload new pics on imagestation so im waiting for the damn sites to get straightened out.

 

pics are blurry, im no damn photographer.






i still have to buy the bungs, 1 1/4" tubing for the filters, the filters and im going to throw steel wool on the topside of the baffle. i havent figured out exactly where im going to mount it as i have several options. it can go either horizontal or vertical as far as im concerned.

 

Bead size looks alright, i'd just practice more on your consistency, i'll lay a couple of beads and snap some pictures for you to look at