I just wondering how hard is it to set up a MIG welder to weld aluminium and would the weld looks as tidy as TIG weld ??

before you say just get a TIG, im on budget so getting a TIG is a no no

thanks guys

 

jb weld? and bead it like a goof tig weld

nah, most people just get spool guns, run straight argon, and get a good MIG welder. nowhere near as tidy, of corse semi auto welding NEVER is tidy as tungsten

also IIRC you need a new tip, and diffrent wire of course

 

No it doesnt look nearly as nice as a tig.

 

How nice it looks is purely subjective. Find an aluminum trailer or something else welded with a Mig on a good assembly line and the welds look fine to anyone who isn't so biased they get a little chubby over the 'stacked coin' look of Tig.

 

no it will not look as nice unless maybe you had a machine pulse mig which can come pretty close to looking like tig. Regular mig on aluminum is a bead look not the "stacked coin" look as mentioned. Not to mention if you never weld aluminum before get ready for the black soot and lots of cleaning after you weld.

Need teflon liner also to run aluminum. At work we use push-pull setup which works very well with aluminum, but we also have like 20 foot line between gun and wire feeder.

 

A few nights ago a few of us at work were messing with a new licoln mig like a 185 or something. threw a spool of alum wire but a argon tank to it and it did an amazing job with no spool gun, worked for about 2 hrs then since we did not have a nylon liner it eventually bound up in the gun. MIG alum has a lot of spatter around it so i doesnt wind up looking as good as TIG but it has its place.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jj07 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">doesnt wind up looking as good as TIG but it has its place.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree, 90% of the time at work all I'm doing is mig aluminum welding. I only have to tig when part is visible to customer or not ground flush.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KENetics1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Not to mention if you never weld aluminum before get ready for the black soot and lots of cleaning after you weld.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Black soot? I used to Mig aluminum on a pretty regular basis and there was no black soot. What wire and gas were you using?

 

can you guys with mig aluminium experience post some pics of it?

 

It's not soot but weld area around is black but the not the weld itself. I'm not saying my weld turn black now but when I first started welding aluminum the area around the weld would turn would have like black buildup. I forgot what it's called or what causes it. I know gun angle had a lot to do with it and gas coverage. Sort of like this picture I just found on the internet:


I could try and take some pics of my aluminum mig welds but a lot of what I do is plug and slot welds, not long straight welds.


Modified by KENetics1 at 7:44 PM 4/27/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KENetics1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's not soot but weld area around is black but the not the weld itself. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Looks like you're not using enough gas. You need to bump it up when you weld aluminum; sometimes twice as much as when you weld steel.

 

yeah I figured it out, but just stating that when I first started that's what my welds looked like. Still get it here and there but that's because I don't weld on a bench, always welding in tight areas and on top of body compartments can't always be welding with the "ideal" technique.

 

a quick weld.. so much easier/faster than tig.. that took 10 seconds or less.

 

That looks almost incredibly clean to be mig. almost makes me doubt your honesty lol

 

Do you have a pulse mig welder Cause I can't get my Miller MM180 w/ SG100 to look that good. How did you do that.


James

 

The welder is pretty old! haha.. no pulse... its at work, we weld on aluminum trailers all day... so have a lot of practice... we have another machine thats brand new that has pulse, but i think its setup for steel right now.

 

Some general advice to the OP from the Lincoln site:

http://www.lincolnelectric.com...g.asp

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dmotoguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

a quick weld.. so much easier/faster than tig.. that took 10 seconds or less. </TD></TR></TABLE>

what was ur machine setting when u welded that piece and how much argon usually needed to weld AL ?

 

my lincon 175 does a good job for small tig stuff.

 

All I do at work is alum mig and have been doing it for quite a while. I'll post pics soon.

I have a miller XMT/push pull/ watercooled setup. I tried the pulse add on and it didnt make any difference in the profile of the weld, just cuts down on the excessive soot and smoke.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cyber ITR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
what was ur machine setting when u welded that piece and how much argon usually needed to weld AL ?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

It really depends on how thick the piece is that you are welding. That picture of that weld seems like a pretty good thickness. The thinner the aluminum the more difficult it is and doesn't look exactly the same.

 

im trying to weld aluminium piping its about 2mm thick

when welding AL with mig do you use dip or spray transfer for the material like the one im about to weld ?

thanks

 

in general aluminum you should always use spray transfer

2mm is pretty thin but it is possible. Hardest thing is trying not to burn through that thin a material. You're going to be moving pretty fast.