Aluminum Help

[sdeshazo]

OK I'm new to welding (just started in the last year) & never had any real training just bought a welder (Millermatic 135) & follwed the owners manual. So far so good, I've been real happy with my steel welding & want to expand to Aluminum, actually I've got a tool box on my truck that I want to customize a little.

OK, I bought some .030/0.8mm 4043 aliminum wire & now I just need to know how to set up my machine (wire speed & voltage) & if I need shelding gas or not. Anything else I need to know anout aluminum?

Thanks for the help guys!

[paulrbrown]

You will need a cylinder of argon, and you might think about using 5356 wire, it is stiffer than 4043 and will feed better in your machine, 4043 tends to birdnest quick on such a long run, [10' of lead], you will have to crank the voltage up more, but the feeding problems are less. it is not easy to weld aluminum with that machine, but you can, make sure to practice and get your setting down before starting, Hope this is of some help, Paul

[fun4now]

it would also help to use a tip one size bigger than the wire. in this case a .035 tip would be in order for the .030 wire. after that its just a question if you have enough power to get the job done ??? and be shore to clean it well with SS wire brush and some acetone if its greasy.
clean is pretty important with aluminum. do a search and read over a few posts about aluminum. getting it clean will be the same for MIG as it is for TIG.

i have the MM135 and think you are bighting off more than the MM135 was meant to do and or has the power to do.. if it was me i would get some .025 wire in 5356 and a .030 tip, clean my work really well and try it out. be shore to do some destructive testing to be shore how well its holding.
i waited till i had the $ to get a TIG for aluminum.i just could not see the MM135 getting a proper hold on aluminum. good luck with it. show us what you come up with.

[DDA52]

You can do it, but the welds will be on the cold side. I have done it with my MM135 just to play with. You already have the best wire. I had a very hard time getting 5356 to run correctly with mine. One thing you will definitely need is a teflon liner. Miller part #194014 ( should be around 20 bucks) Install that before you do anything. I was getting an inch of bead per 5-6 bird hotels...cuz what I was getting twerent any nest. Once I put the liner in, I could run 6-8 inches of bead per bird nest. Huge difference. You must have straight argon for shielding gas. The .035 tip will make a big difference as well. You will want to get the voltage and WS almost all the way up. You will need to gt some scrap and experiment with it to get teh balance right between WS and Voltage. With the MM135, that can be tough due to the wire speed tracking that is built into it. Frustrating, but it can be done. Just experiment and see what works.....you'll know what doesn't pretty quickly.

I started getting better results with 9 and 85 for my settings. Try to start around there and see what you get. For the box, I'm guessing 8/85 or so maybe. It should be 14 ga, as most are. If it is thinner, just adjust the heat if needed. Keep notes on the volt/WS numbers you like and what works, you may need them later. Watch the duty cycle also. You won't have but a couple of minutes of arc time. Let the unit cool or it will do it for you.....don't ask how I know this. Oh yeah, always push the bead. You need the cleaning action ahead of you with alu.

For thin alu sheet like what you will be doing, the MM135 will be adequate to get it done. For heavier alu, 1/8 and up, it just isn't a big enough machine by a long shot.

[sdeshazo]

Guys I really appricate the help, I know I'm asking a tall order from my machine but thought it would work for the few mods I was making to the tool box.

Thanks again for the help.

[welder_one]

i weld aluminum daily, and to get a good flat weld bead, i use 25 to 28 volts and 700- 800 ipm for 1/4 inch material. on something thinner like .125 i use about 22.5 volts and 650 ipm. the machine i use is an xmt 304 with xr-a feeder with xr edge push-pull gun 30 footer. i am not sure if the 135 will get hot enough to get good wash and burn in, if it does, it wont have the duty cycle to keep it up.

[DDA52]

The MM135 won't do 1/8 acceptably for my book, but it will get 14 ga acceptably. It doesn't have to do any more than get into short circuit and go. The duty cycle will be low, but it is just a toolbox. No reason to get too worried about it.

[shadetreewelder]

Guys I really appricate the help, I know I'm asking a tall order from my machine but thought it would work for the few mods I was making to the tool box.

Thanks again for the help.

I see an excuse to upgrade to a MM 212 with a spoolgun.

[fun4now]

I see an excuse to upgrade to a MM 212 with a spoolgun
yep, yep, yep!!

[DDA52]

Or an HH210 with spoolgun. It actually runs alumimuminum better than my MM210. Just lacks some duty cycle.

[fun4now]

not to hijack the thread but the HH210 was a great idea. small size but all the bang of a bigger MIG.