AL cast???????????

[MACH4]

Help again,
Had a buddy bring me an "old" bracket off of a chevy luv pickup truck that had a major crack in it. The bracket was Al I think,but
it was a cast metal. My problem began when I tried to light up with
the tig rig,didn't look right at all,couldn't get a puddle at all.
I re-cleaned the part and got out the spoolgun and got a decent weld.
My ???? is how the Heck does one tig cast AL??? Or how do you know if it's AL cast or a magnesium cast???????????Hawk you out there??????
Mike
MACH 4 Welding

[imported_Blackplague]

Poor quality casting.

I have done a few of the brackets your talking about. They are made of some of the poorest quality aluminum i've ever seen. It seems like it was casted with a ton of zinc. It's like your welding in dirt. I couldn't get 4043 to work worth a darn. I use aladdan 3 in 1 rod {mostly used for pot metal} now for most of those brackets and it seems to work good.

[Gregg]

I agree with mike,some brakets are made from some of the worst metal. I used 5356 al tig rod and pure tungsten , and got a pretty descent weld..