Hobart 210 Running Aluminum without Spool Gun

[CincyFlyer]

Here is some info from Lincoln. https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en/Products/le-na-magnumpropushgun. I thought a long time ago I purchased a special liner for my mig gun for aluminum. It was some type of plastic tubing with a brass end pc. I don't know where it is now. I purchased the Lincoln spool gun, the Magnum Pro 250 XL. I don't remember paying the price that they want now. Wow it is pricey.

I used to weld aluminum wheels for racing machines (before CNC made it easy to get wide stuff) with a transformer MIG; it was a giant PITA when the wire hung up, which was several times per wheel. It was very fast when it was working (spray arc is awesome!) but ultimately we went to TIG, which was slower at any given moment, but quicker overall. A spool gun would have helped but it was a limited job.

 

[Bob Gibson]

Gotcha. I'll just get the spool runner then. I've even had 0.30 flux core stuck in the spring liner under abuse.

Yeah, my 210 is the traditional transformer welder, a nice heavy suitcase as I like to call it. Stays on a cart most of the time.

Hard to make that guy overheat even doing insane things.



I'll have to get some straight Argon, was going to get that and aluminum wire when I go get it. Guess I'll add a spool gun. Good addition to my 210 anyways.

I have run aluminum in my Lincoln MIG welder. It has a Tweco gun and I ordered a Teflon Liner from my supplier and it worked well. If I remember right, I think I also changed my contact tip to 0.040" to get a little more stiffness. If you don't have a lot to do or only use it for Aluminum occasionally, this is what I would do - and the teflon liner runs steel wire flawlessly. Way cheaper than messing with a spool gun.

 

[TMGT]

I have run aluminum in my Lincoln MIG welder. It has a Tweco gun and I ordered a Teflon Liner from my supplier and it worked well. If I remember right, I think I also changed my contact tip to 0.040" to get a little more stiffness. If you don't have a lot to do or only use it for Aluminum occasionally, this is what I would do - and the teflon liner runs steel wire flawlessly. Way cheaper than messing with a spool gun.

Really shouldn't run steel wire in your aluminum liner, the steel wire can be pretty dirty and leave contamination in the liner, which can cause issues later when you run aluminum.

Even on our Fronius welders that used a traditional spiral metal liner for aluminum, we would have dedicated liners for different wire materials.

 

[Bob Gibson]

Really shouldn't run steel wire in your aluminum liner, the steel wire can be pretty dirty and leave contamination in the liner, which can cause issues later when you run aluminum.

Even on our Fronius welders that used a traditional spiral metal liner for aluminum, we would have dedicated liners for different wire materials.

I know, I only weld aluminum occasionally and when I bought the liner for aluminum, I ordered an extra one, so I could just leave the teflon liner in for my regular welding. I won't put the other liner in until I need to weld aluminum again, then I will switch them when I switch metals, the liner is just about as easy to switch in my Lincoln as the wire is!

 

[etpm]

You shouldn't have any problem running aluminum wire in your 210 machine without a spool gun. I have run 4043 aluminum wire in my Lincoln SP 125 Plus welder which is under powered compared to your machine. To run aluminum wire you will need to use a teflon of nylon liner in the whip. Do not attempt to use a steel liner. I have 2 whips, one with a teflon liner and the other with a steel liner. If I need to weld aluminum then I just change whips. Actually, I no longer do this because I bought a Miller machine that will at 300 amps with a 60% duty cycle. Anyway, the feed rolls should be used with the smooth grooves, not the knurled grooves. The whip needs to be held as straight as possible because this will reduce the friction in the liner. The feed rolls need to be adjusted so that they barely feed the wire. This will keep the wire from bird nesting. Adjust the pressure on the feed rolls so that the wire will stop feeding when the wire is prevented from moving when the wire is directed against the palm of your gloved hand. To make this adjustment loosen the drive rolls, direct the wire feeding from the gun against the palm of your hand or against a board or something similar. The wire should at first not even feed from the gun. Slowly increase the pressure of the feed rolls until the wire feeds from the gun but stops feeding when it hits the palm of your hand. This will keep the wire from bird nesting. Before welding make sure the aluminum is very clean. And just prior to welding use a stainless steel wire brush to clean the area to be welded. This cleaning will help greatly when first contact is made with the welding wire. Unless welding 5000 series aluminum use 4043 wire. 4043 wire is softer that 5356, which is too bad, but it is the proper alloy for 6000 series aluminum alloys. If you keep having problems starting an arc increase the pressure slightly on the feed rolls. Use a new contact tip when you first start welding because you are new at this. If you just can't get a good bead because the bead is not penetrating enough then pre-heat the aluminum before you start welding. Use one of those weed burner torches to get the aluminum good and hot. 400 degrees is good. After pre-heating give the aluminum a quick scrub with the stainless wire brush. Use the smallest diameter wire you can. To finalize, keep the whip as straight as possible when welding, adjust the feed rolls so that they barely feed wire, make sure the aluminum is very clean, and use the smallest diameter wire you can get away with.
Eric