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[HAWK]

Recently Franz posted a thread regarding aluminum MIG with a 10' MIG torch, teflon liner, and an XMT 304. The replies recommended a spoolgun set up instead.

I invited Franz to stop by my shop. He dropped by this afternoon. I put a 30A gun on an ALT 304 using a WC24 controller and let him try it. Here is a picture of one of his first 10 beads. Bear in mind thid man has no formal training and very limited MIG experience on the XMT 304. His other welding experience is a few hours on a Lincoln 135SP 120VAC portable MIG machine.

I think he did a fine job and is well on his way. What do you guys think? I am sure he will be glad to hear your critiques.

[fun4now]

sweet

i hope my first 10 welds on al. look as nice
you tryin to sell him a 304
ill bet he wants 1 now LOL

HAWK is it a lil hot or is that the pic ?

[HAWK]

Fun4Now,

He already has an XMT 304. Yes I have it set a bit on the hot side. With the stick out he is running the arc is trying to go into the spray mode. The picture is not very good either.

[fun4now]

cool looks like i'm atleast lerning what it should look like that will help me adjust

[HAWK]

Fun4Now,

You called it correctly. I usually run in a pulsed spray mode, but wanted more of a short arc that might resemble what he was used to with ER70S-6 on mild steel. Beside that I did not want to introduce the concept of pulsed spray since he neither has the optional Optima Penant nor had ever tried Al MIG until today.

[jeffscarstrucks]

Hi guys, He definitly looks comfortable with speed and tecnique. I have a big aluminuim wire feed project going and I hope it looks as good! JEFF

[dyn88]

well thats better than i can do. I still have the black soot and spatter.

[HAWK]

dyn88,

I think he has some real talent that can be developed! I did tune in the parameters for gas flow, voltage, and wire speed. He just had to run the gun after a few minutes of instruction and looking over my shoulder. NO MATTER THE ANGLE OF VIEW IT'S A GREAT WELD FOR A 1ST TIMER with a spoolgun and very little welding experience to boot! The weld bead has not been touched.

There was no soot or smoky film to wipe away. That is all in the weld parameters. This is where I had it set for him.

Machine ALT 304

Material .125" 3003 8"x8"

Gas argon flow @17CFH

Filler 4043 .035"

Wire speed Dial setting 3 on the 30A spoolgun

Voltage 19.4 volts on an ALT 304

Inductance 10 on a 0-100 scale

He was running .035" filler through a .035" tip because I was out of anything larger. If I had any .045"-.052" tips, I think the welds would have been better. I could feel the wire dragging just a little through the tip after a few beads during set up. The hot tip expanded the wire and would not let it push through freely.

[dyn88]

I was not trying to take anything away from franz at all. that was, and is an awsome pass. I was mearly stating that Im a somwhat experiencd welder and cant get my darned machine(although we all know its my technique) to weld aluminum to save my life. I was just trying to convey the fact that franz should be proud of himself and his abilities. He is obviosly a talented individual, and is fortunate to have someone nearby to help him hone his skills.

[Alex]

Franz,
That's a real nice-looking weld. You should be very proud, especially since you've got a hotshot like HAWK toutin' your skills.

So, HAWK,
Are you tryin' to talk him out of usin' the 10ft gun w/ teflon liner? Sure looks like it.

Be cool,
Alex

[franz]

Thanks for all the compliments guys, with Hawk's help I may actually be a welder someday!

[HAWK]

I was not trying to take anything away from franz at all. that was, and is an awsome pass. I was mearly stating that Im a somwhat experiencd welder and cant get my darned machine(although we all know its my technique) to weld aluminum to save my life. I was just trying to convey the fact that franz should be proud of himself and his abilities. He is obviosly a talented individual, and is fortunate to have someone nearby to help him hone his skills.

dyn88,

I did not think you were and actually did not realize my post sounded that way at all. Sometimes I will say things that come across the wrong way. If you don't believe me, then ask my wife. I am getting used to the taste of shoe leather!

I was only saying that I had set up the weld parameters for him. I have found that most soot comes from the wrong gas flow. The fact that fillets and verticals seem to need less gas than horizontal and in position welds only complicates matters further.

[dyn88]

point taken. Myself I constantly have a size 4 up my [email protected]#.

[HAWK]

Franz,
That's a real nice-looking weld. You should be very proud, especially since you've got a hotshot like HAWK toutin' your skills.

So, HAWK,
Are you tryin' to talk him out of usin' the 10ft gun w/ teflon liner? Sure looks like it.

Be cool,
Alex

Alex,

I think is he going to buy a 30A spoolgun!!! The MIG torch works okay with patience and good technique.

[Andy249]

Just with the comment about the amount of heat, I think it is more to do with a constant travel speed as opposed to one that has increased as more heat has been input into the job, just an observation I have made with Aluminium. The other thing is, with the contact tips, instead of increasing the size of the contact tip, use the correct diameter Aluminium contact tip, does absolute wonders for arc stability!! The lack of soot on the weld run may also be related to the lead angle, (I think you can see it toward the end of the run where it looks like the torch has been laid back further and further). By dropping the torch angle back I have found that it seems to lay less soot on the job, less soot, less cleaning, the faster a job gets finished!!

It looks to me like that weld was laid down with a pulsed MIG? I didn't know that you could pulse with a short arc? I thought pulse was a modified form of spray transfer, enabling an operator to get better wetting at the weld toes than with a conventional MIG using short arc transfer (when welding thin gauges).

In the end though, welding aluminium ain't that hard!! Just need someone to show you the ropes, and once you know what to look for its a piece of cake! It all comes down to practice practice practice!!