New to welding Aluminum

Oops, Sorry. Got off the subject
I have only used the hobart handler 180 a couple of times to weld steel and it was ok. For the money its a good deal. Never used one with aluminum though. I know it's supposed to run aluminum but I'm skeptical. Not sure what kind of control you will have over wire speed. Aluminum mig is very touchy and you're constantly changing your speed depending on your application. Not saying it wont work. It's a good little machine. Just making an educated guess based on what I've seen in the past. The standard miller welding torch is supposed to be able to run aluminum wire too. But it really is hard to do. Thats wwere the spool gun comes in.

Hope It proves me wrong. Good Luck, Joey

 

Thanks for that. I only have the word of the guy at Airgas, he says it does OK up to 3/16th but after that he doesn't know. Of course he is the salesman. I hope it works I'm commited to it. I will say I think he gave me a good price at $550.

 

Aluminum Welding

You may want to look at www.wirepropellant.com for some help with your wire feed welding problems.

 

Sparky; thanks for the info., I looked at the site and it looks real interesting. Have you used the system youself? It would be interesting to see what kind of results users have had with it. I wonder if Joey has had any experience with it, he really seems to have a handle on MIG welding Aluminum.

Butch

 

Hey there,
Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate that.
Ok first let me say that I have NO experience with the wirepropellant system, nor do I have any aluminum welding experience with the hobart or any other 110v welding machine. Therefore my opinions are based on my experience and are mine alone.
Ok, I am a little skeptical about the WPS. Here's why. First of all, every one of the problems this thing is supposed to cure, i'd say 99% are due to improper set up and/ or poor maintenance.
1.You should never, EVER have your drive rolls so tight that the wire "rolls up around them". If you do, your problems lie elswhere, or you need a different machine. You're wire should run as lightly as possible thru the rolls so that when a gloved hand is paced at the nozzle, the wire should immediately slip. Maybe slightly tighter. I'll tell you why in a min.
2. Every liner I have ever used is teflon, still one of the slickest materials there is and is more than adequate for this application. It's also very tough. They dont say what the secret liner is made of, but for 195 bucks it's probably not too exotic.
3. I have tried wire lubricants before such as silicone,(which by the way makes a great anti spatter shield and you can weld right over it) and some other brands I dont remember and found out real quick that there is an inherent problem. If the wire is at all wet or "filmy" it picks up debris, usually in the form of aluminum oxide dust(isnt that what they make sandpaper with? Aluminum is very soft, which is the reason that you dont tighten your drive rolls more than necessary. You're wire will deform and get little grooves in it, which picks up all kinds of crap on it's own not to mention when its "wet". So put this all together and what you get is, in effect, is wire that acts more like a tip cleaner. It is no longer smooth and and friction increases. I will guarranty that more stuck tips are caused by rough wire/dirty liners than anything else.They dont say what the solution is so it may be dry by the time it gets there, I dont know. But, my point remains. Doubt me? Ok, then why dont you see the same problems with steel wire? Because they stay smoother thru the rolls? Maybe.
4. The whole "heated wire" thing I dont buy at all. If that really made a difference, then you would think that when the ambient air temp. is around 80 Deg. you're gun would work just fine. Thats not the case as I and many of my co-workers agree that tip burnbacks are more prevelent in the summertime than in the winter. Maybe you just notice them more cuz you are already sweaty and p.o'ed Also, what about the material you are welding? What if its really cold? Does that make a difference? The problem lies in the arc voltage. The starting arc is much more violent(pops harder) on a 220 machine than on a three phase 480 and burnbacks are more common. Dont know about the 120. In case no one notices, aluminum melts very quickly. Hook your wire to your ground, stretch it out about 4 feet, and pull the trigger. It turns to near liquid almost instantly. What is that, 1100 degrees or something(brain fade) I have a hard time believing that heating the wire 30 or 40 deg. makes a difference.
All I can say is I use on average about15 tips per year. Thats PER YEAR! Some of my co workers go thru 10 in a day. My personal best is 9 months/ one tip. Thats nine months, five days a week, ten hours a day.(yes i keep track) But I am a fanatic about gun cleanliness. I also only use one 15' liner a year. There are lots of tricks to get this kind of life out of your consumables, but thats another thread
Anyway, before anyone gets irrate with me, please look at my statement on top of this post. The wps system may work just as described. I cant say it doesnt. If it can make an unusable 110 welder usable, then I'm all for it. But if someone comes into my shop and tries to sell me one, these are the questions that I would have. If it works, put me down for several.
I dont know if you purchased a machine yet, but I still would recommend finding a good used machine. Especially if you are going to just run Aluminum wire thru the standard steel gun anyway. You will get more power and versatility. A cheap machine will only give you frustration. In a hurry.
Remember, I am not a hobbiest welder. I spend hours everyday behind a welding gun. I know what I like and I know what works for me. It may be just fine for your use. Some of the testamonials on the site show photos of welds that would not be exceptable in my business, but were obviously fine for the home builder. I am all for saving money, but when your talking aluminum MIG, you really do get what you pay for.
Hope this helps. Peace Joey

 

Joey; I ended up buying a Hobart 180. The guy at Airgas where I bought the machine suggested to me that I by a Tweco gun and a Teflon liner and set that up for AL and change guns when I change materials, He said and I paraphrase, "The best way to weld AL is to make sure your settings are right and use a dedicated system, and you'll never have problems with feed." That seems consistent to what your saying here.
Butch

 

Cool, hope it works for you. Good machine, great warranty, Tweco's are good guns.
Let me know how it works. It will probably work just fine for your application. Also, let me know if you try a WPS system.
Happy welding

 

Yes I hope all goes well, I really want to thank you for the attention you pay to these forum problems. It is really a lot of help to have comments from a person who is as experienced at this as you are. When you do things like this without guidence you just rattle around and it costs a great deal more in the end. I really don't know what we did before P.C.s and forum's.
Butch