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Welding Aluminum and Mucked up Tips

Richcz28

Richcz28

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I've been trying to teach myself how to weld aluminum for the past couple days.



I have gone through 4 tips already. When the wire shorts in the tip it melts and there's nothing I can think of to fix them. Usually when this happens while welding steel I just pull the wire out and start again.



I need a solution, because these tips are 5 for $10. I'm also going to try to find some cheaper tips.



I'm running a Miller Multimatic 200 with 4043 .030 wire. I'm typically running 20 at 350.


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Richcz28 said:
I've been trying to teach myself how to weld aluminum for the past couple days.

I have gone through 4 tips already. When the wire shorts in the tip it melts and there's nothing I can think of to fix them. Usually when this happens while welding steel I just pull the wire out and start again.

I need a solution, because these tips are 5 for $10. I'm also going to try to find some cheaper tips.

I'm running a Miller Multimatic 200 with 4043 .030 wire. I'm typically running 20 at 350.
Click to expand...

What are you using for shielding gas?
 
fyi years of welding steel and seeing aluminum done and how it holds up . . . . I would never trust spool gun aluminum stuff for any kind of real structure .

if you realy wan weld aluminum go tig and be done .

takes a lot of heat to get aluminum done right and mig I don't think cuts it at all for heat and speed to work correctly for a good weld in the end.
 
sweetk30 said:
fyi years of welding steel and seeing aluminum done and how it holds up . . . . I would never trust spool gun aluminum stuff for any kind of real structure .

if you realy wan weld aluminum go tig and be done .

takes a lot of heat to get aluminum done right and mig I don't think cuts it at all for heat and speed to work correctly for a good weld in the end.
Click to expand...


I'm sure I'll learn tig in time. Once the piece got warm I can lay in a little better. You can see the cold starts on those welds.

I'm just going to make a welding cart at the moment for practice.
 
prob do some pre heat if you can .

and doing aluminum clean / clean / clean /clean and clean its your best friend . not like steel is a little forgiving . dirty aluminum is not fun and you will find cheep aluminum or cheep cast is fill of slag crap that will come to the surface once heat is applied with the welder tip .
 
Looks like you need a little more heat, maybe some more wire speed, and a steadier hand. Also very important when mig welding aluminum is to push the puddle, not drag. To get the affect it looks like you're going after you start a puddle let it build for a second or so then move slightly in the direction of travel and form the next puddle. Gap and size of weld bead wanted I kinda go by feel for what the piece needs/wants. The black scaring that's left after welding should be on the sides of the weld, not on the puddle. Your gas flow is ok, I usually run 35 on the machines at work.

As for which is stronger miged or tiged aluminum, their pretty even when done correctly. I work on beverage truck bodies which are all aluminum and we use nothing but Miller air-cooled mig welders. Mig is waaaaaaay faster. Both take practice to get a good strong weld.

Its easier for me to show in person then typing it.
 
You definitely need more wire speed. The wire is burning back to the tip which is what is fouling them up. Gotta watch pre-heat on aluminum, it's real easy to take the temper right out of the material.
 
tRustyK5 said:
You definitely need more wire speed. The wire is burning back to the tip which is what is fouling them up. Gotta watch pre-heat on aluminum, it's real easy to take the temper right out of the material.
Click to expand...
This^^^^^^^^^^and also check the alloy content of your material, some aluminum is/are non-weldable.
 
Gotta also bring up feed issues are a major issue with MIG aluminum. The gear needs to be set up just right, kept clean and constantly monitored for a decent end product. Spool drag, driver tension, and tip cleanliness are all highly important. Too much drag on the spool and the driver rolls slip, you get burn back to the tip. Too much drive roll pressure crushes the wire as it feeds, fouling the tip (again). Dirty tip...self explanatory. All this is before messing with heat and feed speed.

I always kept a nice new set of torch tip cleaners handy, and a blow gun. Blow the dust out of the inside of the spool gun regularly. Regularly use the tip cleaners on the contact tip.
 
Thanks guys. I've been away for the weekend but I'll get back to practicing soon.

Funny, I was at the welding shop the other day asking if the torch tip cleaners were any good to help with this problem and the guy told me no so I didn't grab them. I guess I'll be picking some up on Monday.

My spool gun doesn't seem to have adjustable tension. It is just a spring loaded cog and a free rolling wheel that pinch the wire. There is one button to lift the cog for feeding in new wire.
 
Usually there is an adjuster on the spring loaded side...

What spool gun are you using?
 
It's a miller. I just got it so I'll have to look at it more closely when I get a chance.
 
OK, no first hand with that one, but from the description:

Adjustable pressure lever for easy unloading and loading of wire.

Adjustable drive roll tension for feeding different types of wire.
Click to expand...
 
if the roll tensioner is anything like mine, the lever that releases the roller to the side for loading new wire can be tightened or loosened to adjust the tension.

From the looks of the pics, i'd say primarily, you need a higher heat setting.
 
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