Aluminum Welding

[Froggy1936]

I had to make a new mount for my A/C compressor after updateing to serpintine drive belt from V belts (1977 5.7 to 1995 5.7)  The first mount worked ok but due to not being able to weld i soldered it and mechanicly reinforced it (due to wanting to get on the road) Time was of the essence, Now fall of 2014 I had time to redo the bracket Purchased 2 more std brackets and cut them  and had them welded $119.00 @ (Gouldey Welding gouldey.com) I had bought aluminum wire for my wire feed welder and aluminum rods for my Lincoln But could not strike an arc with either one ?? So i took it to the experts Very good job Now to reinstall P/S pump & install on engine to Get ready for Trap Pond trip May 8,9,10 Then i will remove idler and reinstall compressor and finish dash air hookups Frank 

[M & J]

 

[Rickf1985]

The trick to striking an arc with aluminum wire is to bend a little hook on the end of the wire. Heavy aluminum like what you have there would require pretty high heat so I would not think striking an arc with a straight wire would be a problem. The biggest thing with aluminum is clean, clean, CLEAN metal! And you have to move fairly quickly compared to steel. Are you using a spool gun? If not that may have been an issue also since aluminum does not do well in the long run of the mig gun. Your welder did an excellent job on it, well worth the money.

[Froggy1936]

Hi Rick, With the wire feed welder (wich only has a 4 ft lead) Wich i kept very straight (no spool gun ) I started with the heat reccomended on the spool of wire then kept turning it up till maxed out then back down trying at ea setting (metal was highly polished with a brass brush) No luck , I have had no problems with this welder on steel  With the Arc welder same thing started with setting on package of rods and turned it up trying at ea setting it would either stick to work of just flash and blow out I have been welding since school in 1955 but this is the first time i tried Aluminum , I asked the fella that did the weld on the bracket and he said Hummm I dont know why , Unless the welder is direct current , does not work with aluminum , The solder i used last time worked good but requires heat right below melting point of aluminum so its very tricky as you cannot see when the aluminum is going to melt and collapse . Its actuall made for ligher thickness and worked very good at make ing brackets etc . But now its something to play with later Frank

[JerryP]

To weld aluminum it helps to preheat the piece with a propane torch,  may want to check the polarity on the mig. Should be a guide, somewhere on the mig unit.
Also find a stainless steel brush, and only use it for Aluminum.
Also check your gas for the mig, helium works best for me with the mig.
When welding aluminum with a small mig,everything much be just right to get good welds. With a 220 machine you csn power through much of the stuff

[DRMousseau]

That looks DANG good!!!

Haven't done much of that since late 70's or so. Mostly motorcycle cases, using TIG with helium, and hand fed fillers. Then treating the whole piece to relieve heat stress in the weld area.

I could never get the same results with any wire-feed systems. Same with stainless,... only trickier!!! Came to hate those spooled wire-feeds! Guess they now flood the "back" sides with gas to prevent the bad oxidizing problems we also suffered with back then.

Yep,... that's DANG good work!!!

[Froggy1936]

Hi Jerry, I have the stainless brushes (have to use them with the solder) On the wire feed  it is a gasless syestem that uses hollow core wire with the flux inside, steel & aluminum . The Lincoln is a 220 machine and would not strike an ark @ 190 setting I saw  later that damp rods could cause a problem, They were in plastic containers but had sat on the bench for a couple of weeks. The package stated 50 Amp setting, Started there and went up, I did think of heating the material but did not try it, Chewed up 3 rods and was discusted. At wich point i had to decide on buying a TIG welder or haveing it done for me $$$$ made the decision and the further need to weld aluminum is not that great After haveing dropped off the bracket my son suggested I should just make the whole thing out of steel  It had never occurred to me but would have been very easy to do . Frank

[Rickf1985]

MIG stands for Mechanized Inert Gas, That is where that type of welding got it's name. What you are describing is a regular wire feed welder and cannot be used for aluminum, You have to have shielding gas, I use argon but some use helium. I have never seen flux cored aluminum. Does not mean it doesn't exist, I have just never seen it and cannot picture it working due to the large amount of shielding that aluminum needs. I have tried to use aluminum rod before and while I have put down a bead it was not what I would call a good weld by a long shot. The problem with running aluminum through the long ling is the chance of kinking and also the poor electrical connection at the tip. A spool gun energizes the wire right at the rollers and the tip, plus the feed rollers are millimeters from the tip so no kinking or slipping.
Is your welder 110 or 220? a 110 machine is going to have a hard time holding arc stability at the high end of it's range. The most amperage you can get out of a 110 machine is 95 amps. And the duty cycle on that is usually around 10%. N:(

[Froggy1936]

Hi RickThe wire feed is 110V and the aluminum wire does have a flux  core, The lincoln is a 220 V and the rods are coated !

[Rickf1985]

Interesting, I will have to look for the flux core aluminum just to see what it is. It has to be pretty big stuff, .045 or bigger? I have a spool gun running 220 so I have no need for it but I am always learning. Striking an arc on aluminum stick is not all that hard but maintaining the arc is tricky because the rod burns back so quickly. You are trying to concentrate on a puddle that you can't see and also maintain an arc that requires you to move fast. That is with TIG and MIG came into their own with aluminum, especially TIG. I remember when it was called Heliarc.

[Froggy1936]

Pics of installed bracket w idler Passed road test Belt alignment right on no squeaking or chirping ! Frank 

[M & J]

Looks great Frank.