[amessina]

I just installed an eBay spool gun to MIG weld aluminum and I get grey dust (soot?) everywhere including on my hood.
The material is 6061 and using 5356 .035 wire by Blue Demon.
Settings are:
575in/min and 21Volts
Ground clamp is on NEG
Spool gun on POS
What am I doing wrong?
Has anyone experienced this?
Photos are attached
Any help is very appreciated

[tweake]

not sure on the settings, but common problem i found was aluminium needs a much longer stick out. once you get that right the settings are much easier to dial in.

[cj737]

You don’t list your gas settings or metal thickness.

I have had intermittent results with different brands of filler for ally MIG. I don’t know why and I ve never been able to dial some brands in.

I have no experience with Blue Demon filler but I’d think that “grey soot” you cite is the oxide layer being vaporized. Which would lead me to believe that spool gun nozzle is creating lots of turbulence.

[amessina]

100% argon at 40cfh
Is that too much?
I read that 5356 smokes more than 4043
Thanks

[amessina]

Material thickness is 3/16 6061 (T6?)

[tweake]

i found one of the calcs which mentioned settings about 400-450 ipm and 23-24 volts. try that and see how it goes.

5356 will give a bit of black "soot" which is magnesium oxide.

[BillE.Dee]

you will get more soot with the 5356 filler. without a doubt. try a 10-15 degree tilt on the gun and shove the puddle. Im not at the shop right now, but will look up the settings that are working for me and get back.

Im back. try 429 ipm with 20.3 volts and 35 cfm gas flow.
I have 2 different machines one is direct mig drive and the other is a spool gun and both are about the same settings.

stay at it and good luck