Best Way to Weld Aluminum

   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #11  
You could just use Borax as a flux. I use THESE flux cored rods from Amazon. Simple and they work great. They work just like the video. Keep the rods in an airtight container when not in use. I throw a desiccant bag in with mine.
 
   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #12  
I have two TIG machines, a Miller Goldstar and a Lincoln 200. The Goldstar I have is a special machine in that it has 4 ranges instead of three. The 4th range is from 1 to 10 amps. I used this very low range for welding stainless foil. The Goldstar also is just a sine wave machine when using g AC.
The Lincoln is only a 200 Amp machine whereas the old Miller Goldstar is 300 Amp machine. So I am keeping the old machine just in case. Anyway, the Lincoln is indeed an inverter machine. It weighs about 70 pounds. The Miller weighs about 700 pounds yet only has 33 percent more power. The Lincoln is an excellent machine and I was amazed how easy aluminum welding was with the Lincoln compared to the Miller.
You can buy welders that have more options, and are more versatile, than the Lincoln, for less money. But they will be made in China. When I bought my Lincoln I also looked at Chinese machines, and almost bought an Everlast. But the reviews weren't that good for the Chinese machines but the Lincoln had much better reviews and my purchase was for my business and I needed reliability and quick service.
Now I would probably buy the Everlast because they seem to have ironed out the reliability problem and apparently the quick service issue too. Though I have no direct experience.
All the new welders, except maybe some stick welders, are inverters machines. This is actually good for several reasons. The main reason being that inverter technology is mature and well understood. Every computer made since at least 1985, and maybe before, has an inverter power supply. This technology has blossomed and is used almost everywhere voltages need to be transformed to any significant degree.
Inverters are so popular because they are efficient and versatile. The efficiency comes in a large part from lower energy losses by using higher AC frequencies which leads to lower losses in the inductors changing the voltages and because smaller inductors are used. The versatility comes from the fact that DC must be changed to AC for an inverter to work. In fact, that is why they are called inverters. But once DC is chopped into AC at a certain frequency why not change the frequency to whatever you want? And, unless you need a smooth sine wave, why not keep the square wave that inverters naturally produce? Then, because you can switch the AC at whatever frequency you want, it makes sense to switch it at the best frequency for the job. And even the duty cycle of the square wave can be chosen easily. So much time at positive and then so much time at negative.
The description above does not cover all the advantages and versatility and waveforms of modern inverter power supplies, but does give a general outline of why virtually all modern welders are inverter power supply machines.
Finally, do I think it is worthwhile to change to a newer "high tech" inverter machine? If you are welding much aluminum then yes, it is definitely worthwhile.
Eric
Eric, Thank you for your detailed reply.
 
   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #13  
I don't know if this is the best way or not but I use oxygen/propane torch with flux cored welding rods. It's cheap and works for the type/amount of welding I do.
 
   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #14  
I am a fan of the TIG welder, you will use it for more than just aluminum once you know how to use it. I can weld fairly thin material with it too.

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I also have welded a lot of aluminum AC lines and one of our vendors found out I had been doing so with a TIG and aluminum filler and sent us some brazing rod. Another fellow that can MIG steel tried it out with a hand torch using map gas and made usable parts first try. So it has a shorter learning curve. The fittings are subject to pressure but not much load.

MIG welding aluminum takes a pretty powerful machine that also has a lot of wire speed. Much thickness at all and preheat is needed to get decent looking welds. Changing liners is also needed if you don’t have a spool gun. The Cobra push/pull rigs are really nice for aluminum but I still almost always use a TIG for non “production“ stuff like repairs and small projects.
 
   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #15  
I know...I know, this subject has been done to death here over the years but searches give me little advice specific to my situation.

I have a Hobart AC/DC stick welder and a Hobart MIG wire welder. The MIG has a gas regulator which I don't use since most of the welding I do is on mild steel. Switching wire types and setting up the gas takes more time than the welding project itself. Keeping a supply of gas is also an issue since I would use so little.

Most of the aluminum I work with is 6061 or 6063 angle & bar stock 1/8 to 1/4 thick. Are there any tricks & tips to welding this material using MIG or stick machines without gas? I've tried using aluminum welding rod in the past but the weld always looks like the dog's breakfast.

I've been considering another welder, perhaps TIG to use exclusively for aluminum but I hate to spend the $$ since I would use it so infrequently. Gas is also an issue since welding supply shops are a great distance away. Are there small disposable gas cylinders available online? The ones I've seen are only available in Europe, likely due to US shipping regs.

Any suggestions?
I do a ton of aluminum welding. I used to use a spool gun for years with success on a old Millermatic 200 I bought new over 40 years ago with straight argon gas. Over a years ago I sold it after purchasing a new Millermatic 255 pulse welder and use their Alumapro push pull gun. It does a very nice job. This is only good if you are planning to do lots of welding due to the expense involved. The most cost effective is the spool gun. Look at USA welding supply on line for the best gun choices at a reasonable price. I went back to Miller for a new welder only for security. I feel like they will be around for service for as long as I will be around. This mig I use will go places a tig won't (I used to do tig) go. Also very fast as compared to tig. I had a old Miller 300 water cooled tig years ago with the frequency option to make the arc jump to the work. Every time I hit the pedal and welded all the TV`s in the area had their pictures screwed up. They never did figure it out!
 

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   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #17  
You can weld aluminum with any DC+ work mig welder. All you need is pure argon and a larger liner for your whip. Don’t try to use some .035 aluminum welding wire you will never be able to push it through the whip. You gotta use 3/64 wire, and of course proper size tip. 3/64 is just a little bit bigger than .045 an .045 liner should work fine. You don’t need any special Teflon liner. You can use any DC positive welder in GMAW. you do not need a pulse or pulse on pulse welder. The biggest problem people have trying to push aluminum through their whip is they try to use .035 wire thinking it should be the same size as steel wire. You cannot push .035 You would need a push pull whip that has a second motor in the head that actually pulls the wire as the welder pushes it. I have a Miller Alumapro push pull whip, using a regency power supply with an XRs extended reach wire feeder to weld aluminum when I want to use a Miller with no pulse. I also have a lincoln powermig c300 with a push pull whip that I use to weld aluminum if I want a pulse on pulse operation. But for smaller jobs I can pull out my little Lincoln that I use for small thin sheet metal and throw a small spool of 3/64 wire in it and hook my argon to it. I. I can weld just as good with it as the other two and my lincoln tig welder. Tigs for things that cant take the heat of mig welding or finer detailed welding. 99.99% of the time i use the migs.
 
   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #18  
Spoolguns are worthless truly. To much money to have a bulky spool to handle. Use 3/64 wire and push it!
 
   / Best Way to Weld Aluminum #20  
Spoolguns are worthless truly. To much money to have a bulky spool to handle. Use 3/64 wire and push it!
Do you just swap liners when going from steel to aluminum? Never really thought about how much time/effort it would take to convert the same machine back and forth:

1. Swap gas bottle (same regulator?)
2. Remove standard wire spool.
3. Swap out liner & tip
4. Install Al wire
5. Reverse for next job on steel

Anything else?
 
 
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