anodized aluminum pipe???

[Reel-Break]

Hello I want to build myself a t- top for my boat I`ve bent the material have it to shape but I was wandering what I need.I went to a local shop that build these and they were not helpful at all.Here`s what i know I have extruded anodized bright dipped aluminum marine pipe.At the shop the guy was using a miller machine but what one I don`t know.My question is what machine,rods,gas etc what ever I may need.I`m planning on purchaseing a machine to weld with later friend has a older ideal arc hf I`ll probally use for now.Several people have ask me to bend them a top so I`m curios as to what I`ll need.I have done some tig at work. Thanks in advance.

[Glenn B]

try to find out what alloy aluminum you have. Chances are it's welded with 4043 or 5356 filler. Normal sheilding gas is Straight Argon gas. you need a welder witgh A/C weld output a dialarc 250 hf should work fine, especially if you have a pedal or hand controll for arc start and current controll. As far as the settings for amperage and tungsten size it depends on the thickness of your material. 3/32 Tungsten is probably the most common. Let me know when you find out the details & i'll try to get you the info.

[HAWK]

The anodized will have to be stripped at the welding area or pulse welded with a high helium content in the argon, or possibly can be worked with 100% helium and a small amount of stripping the anodized coat at the start point. I think stripping the anodized coating at the weld area would be a last ditch effort. As GlennB mentioned the alloy and thickness will be a good place to start.

[Reel-Break]

OK had no luck with the alloy question.Reason for concern is at the shop the guy was moving along at incredible pase for tig must haver been the dynasty with pulse mode.Still I`m looking into possibly the 150STL and I need help with what accesories i`ll need and even if this machine will do what I want the wall thickness is .145 for the aluminum pipe.With out the pulse action are you saying I`ll have to grind to have a nice looking weld area? I brought a piece to my work and had welders here try but didn`t come close to the top shop guys appearance.We were using syncro 250 I think.

[jeffscarstrucks]

The Miller on-line newsletter had a good article on a manufacturer building tuna towers with anodized tubing about two issues ago. I don't have the detailes on exactly when it was but maybe you can search back issues. It may have been the cover story. The article gave some information on weld parameters and equipment.Sorry I don't have better info to help find it . Good Luck, JEFF

[Glenn B]

The 150 STL is a 115/230 machine. small Light and portable . But it only has DC Weld output they are great for steel but do not have A/C output. They are not recommended for aluminum. They do have a new model the 150STH wich has high freq start and limited pulsing ability but it is still a DC output Machine. You would be much bwetter off with a Synchrowave 180sd or a dynasty 200 would be even nicer. It depends on your budget. The people on this forum can't say enough about how much they love the dynasty 200. The synchro 180 is also a very nice piece of equipment also at almost 2/3 the price.

[HAWK]

Anodized aluminum welding is hard on a machine. The Syncrowave 250 or the Dynasty 200DX would be preferable to the Syncrowave 180. It is a great machine, but an increased amperage output and duty cycle are a plus for welding anodozed aluminum.

Unless you are welding with a high pulse frequency or running pure helium you will have to remove the anodized coating prior to welding. There are exceptions. This is a general rule.

[paulrbrown]

reel-break, the bicycle hubs I repair are sometimes anodized, I use Easyoff oven spray to remove it and also knock off the al oxide, give it a shot, you can spray into the lid and then paint on, use vinegar to neutralize and water to wash off, let us know how it goes, BTW, the 'Marine' alloy is most likely the 5000 series, so you would want to be using 5356 filler, it has magnesium in it for better corosion resistance, but needs more voltage to weld it to overcome the lack of conductivity. As Hawk pointed out, a He/Ar blend will make your work much easier and give your machine a little more punch due to the fact Helium is a more reactive gas than straight Argon, Hope this Helps, Paul

[jeffscarstrucks]

Hi, I went back to look for the article that I mentioned above and it is not in an e-mailed Power Click so I,m sorry if you wasted time looking for it as I did. BUT I did find it in the paper version that pre dates the e mail thing in Memco's Applied Welding; Volume 3;Issue 4 2002. The article discusses how the company "Pipewelders" out of Ft Lauderdale builds tuna towers using anodized tubing without removing the anodizing. They go on to say nothing about specific process but they do use a Syncrowave 350 LX. If youd like me to scan the whole thing and send it to you I will but I think you already have more usefull info here than there is in the article(despite what I thought was in there before I reread it). Good luck and let us know how your trials go. It looks like there is a good market for this on the coasts! JEFF

[Reel-Break]

Thanks guys I really appreciate the advice.Yes the olden budget could very well be the problem.

[HAWK]

Originally posted by jeffscarstrucks
Hi, I went back to look for the article that I mentioned above and it is not in an e-mailed Power Click so I,m sorry if you wasted time looking for it as I did. BUT I did find it in the paper version that pre dates the e mail thing in Memco's Applied Welding; Volume 3;Issue 4 2002. The article discusses how the company "Pipewelders" out of Ft Lauderdale builds tuna towers using anodized tubing without removing the anodizing. They go on to say nothing about specific process but they do use a Syncrowave 350 LX. If youd like me to scan the whole thing and send it to you I will but I think you already have more usefull info here than there is in the article(despite what I thought was in there before I reread it). Good luck and let us know how your trials go. It looks like there is a good market for this on the coasts! JEFF

Jeff,

Most of these guys are using the Sync 350 with 100% helium. This combination actually works quite well. I prefer to pulse weld it with a 300DX. The 200DX also does well on the thinner anodized. This stuff is really hard on machines!

[Canuck]

Is it just the higher amperage needed that is hard on machines or is it something else?
Thanks KB

[HAWK]

Canuck,

The higher amperage, high quality and heavy duty high frequency generators, and increased duty cycle all play a part in deciding which machine to choose for welding anodized aluminum.

You need the increased amperage and duty cycle to withstand the longer welding times and increased input wattage required to adequately weld through the coating. The HF generator insures a good arc start each time. The anodized coating acts like a resistor in the welding circuit. You have to get past it to weld the under lying base metal.

Hope this helps.

[Canuck]

Thanks Hwak I try to steer clear of that stuff at home but I have played with it some at school with a D300DX. even at almost full output it was hard to get through the coating but that is because it was pure argon we did not have any helium. I did use the high pulse rate which helped some.

[rickybobby]

i know this thread is old but have any of you recently moved to the new dynasty 350?