Alum. MIG Welding

[KC@TAC]

I am having problems with MIG welding aluminum. The base material is 5052-H32 aluminum with a thickness of 0.080". I am running an ER5356 filler @ 0.025 diameter wire through a spool gun. The base metal is clean and I am triing to hold a 10 to 15 degree push angle on the torch. I have tried various setting from short arc range to spray transfer with little success. Would like to know a suggested starting range for voltage & amperage settings, or am I off track from this start. ????

[Moe]

What are the results with your present settings exactly? Burn through? Low fusion? Is the material new, used and cleaned, painted before, exposed to salt water, etc???

I just went through an ordeal welding aluminum with 5356 filler. The biggest difference was that I was mig welding 1/2" plate padeyes to sch 80 pipe with past exposure to salt water. Low (or should I say no)fusion until cleaned the heck out of the old metal, and we lowered the wire feed and slowed down the tip.

Even all new material can be tricky to weld, as I found out...

[KC@TAC]

The base material is new material which had a pvc coating on one side to prevent handling scratches and dings. (pvc coating removed before welding)

The results I have seen so far have been low fusion in the short arc mode and lots of spatter & popping.

The spray arc mode produced a smoother appearance and penetration seamed to be more controllable, but the overall appearance was still not what I would like. (alot of heat and hard to control)

????

[weldteacher]

KC, If it is not a requirment to use 5356, don't. 5356 has a high amount of magnesium in it so it spatters and is a mess to run. 4043 is a much better apearing bead because of the silicon content of the wire. The silicon causes the aluminum to "wet out" better at the edges and be smoother on the surface. Use 100% argon and the "push" angle the that you have been useing. As you know wire feed speed and voltage settings are a bugger to fine tune with aluminum. Millers' slide chart gives a good starting point.(sorry I don't have one here) Setting the arc in spray mode will give you the best appearance of weld. You may also want to try .035" wire, because it will carry more amps and be a little easier to control the puddle.
Weld on!

[HAWK]

Be patient and try this technique. I became very frustrated running a 5356 .035 filler on a 3/16" 6000 series tubing for houseboat railing. I finally got great results by setting a hot short arc pushing for spray and using a counter clockwise swirling motion. I opened up the swirl pattern to about the size of a dime and was very impressed-good fusion and a great looking bead. It was almost like welding steel. If by some chance you are working with anodized aluminum, you can try this: use a belt sander on the area to be welded and wipe clean with isopropyl alcohol. Weldteacher is right: use 4043 unless you just can't! It flows a lot easier.

[KC@TAC]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try the 4043 / 0.035 and when I get the results I will let you know how it worked out.

I am assuming the 4043 will have a lower tensile strength??? In this application I do not think it will matter. The application mandates only a watertight seam and good appearance. (Custom electrical enclosures.)

Again, thanks.

[HAWK]

Although 5356 filler is recommended for joining 5052 to certain other 5000 series alloys ; 4043 is recommended for welding of 5052. 4043 tensile strenth is around 27000psi as welded on a 6061-T6 base. 5356 has a tensile strength of about 39000psi as welded on a 5086 base. I don't think any of this will be a factor in your application. Good luck!

[mowjunk]

Hawk, I tried the method you described for aluminum. I think I might have still been a bit hot, but it worked great. I'm using a MillerMatic 175 with .030" 5356 wire. I have also used .035 and .047 wire with it. But this has been the best effort so far. I also used the regular liner and used a .035" tip with the .030" wire. I also cut the tip back 1/8" on my lathe. I hope that the picture comes out good enough to see.

Thanks for the information....

[HAWK]

Mowjunk,

Glad you like the method. It seems to work most of the time. I think you are still a little hot. Did you change your gun angle or lose shielding gas on the upper toe at the far right of the picture. It looks liks some small pores creeping in on you. Maybe it's just the light. It's a nice looking bead and I would be very happy with it. Good job!!!

[mowjunk]

Hawk, the piece was about 8" long. I welded a bit, then adjusted the machine, then welded a bit, etc. I think that might be a portion of the first attempts that got overlapped. I will go take a look at the piece in the shop and see if I can figure it out. I liked the way it turned out, too! Now if I can just steady the hands a bit more.......Thanks again!

Mow

[HAWK]

Mowjunk,

The hands look pretty steady. It's hard pushing the torch on such a small angle without bracing yourself somehow. I was looking at some production welds today in 3/16" aluminum ramps for ATV's, lawn mowers, etc. The picture you posted is 100 times better than what I saw today. If I were the manufacturer, then it would have never left the assembly line. You are running circles around these guys who do it everyday on an assembly line with tried and true settings. Again thumbs up!

[PISTOL8]

STEADY HANDS

I THINK THE WELD LOOKS GOOD. I WISH MY HANDS WERE THAT STEADY. LOOKS LIKE YOUR ON THE WAY NOW KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK PISTOL8

[jessp]

Hawk, I tried the method you described for aluminum. I think I might have still been a bit hot, but it worked great. I'm using a MillerMatic 175 with .030" 5356 wire. I have also used .035 and .047 wire with it. But this has been the best effort so far. I also used the regular liner and used a .035" tip with the .030" wire. I also cut the tip back 1/8" on my lathe. I hope that the picture comes out good enough to see.

Thanks for the information....

Out of curiosity what voltage and ws did you use?

[intruder357]

can i use a Millermatic 135 MIG Welder to weld alum?????

[Blondie_486]

Intruder 357,

Unless you can hook a spool gun up to it most likely not. I tried once in vain to try to run aluminum through my little red piece of welder and it didn't work. We're running 1/16 through our MIG's at work and have lots of problems with it even with that heavy of wire. We're constantly having binding problems that lead to tip burnbacks and liner life is only a day or two at best, the slightest little drag in the liner and ZAP, there goes the tip. Ideally to push alulminum wire that distance you need the push pull set up that Miller has, I tried one on a demo machine at one of the Miller dealers and it's the cat's meow!!

Whenever I get my finances straightened out I'm going to have a 251 or bigger MIG with the push pull module and gun.

Blondie