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Help! First post; terrible aluminum weld
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 6:36 pm
by Drodio
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This is my first post. I am new to welding generally and very new to aluminum. My aluminum welds are just absolutely horrendous and I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing wrong. Would love to get some advice!
I’m using a pretty cheap welder that I bought off Amazon which is probably part of the problem. But it I’m also imagining that my voltage and speed settings must be really off as well. I’m using argon as the shielding gas.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Re: Help! First post; terrible aluminum weld
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 4:16 pm
by JayWal
What wire are you using? What diameter and alloy? (4043, 5356?)
And what's your gas flow rate?
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Re: Help! First post; terrible aluminum weld
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:54 pm
by Drodio
Using .035 aluminum wire
I was using the aluminum spool that came w/ the Lotos (and was unmarked in terms of alloy). Right after I posted this and switched to ER4043, and it seems to be much better, although still pretty horrendous compared what I'm sure any of you could do!
Re: Help! First post; terrible aluminum weld
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:07 pm
by Oscar
Your WFS is terribly low. You need a lot of amperage for aluminum due to spray transfer method required. I would simply max both out and then dial it down from there if you are able to obtain spray transfer...but before you do that......
What is your polarity?
Re: Help! First post; terrible aluminum weld
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:12 pm
by cj737
Oscar wrote:What is your polarity?
It's a MIG box, therefore DCEP. A more important question is what GAS are you running? Many people use 75/25 with their MIG machine which is correct for
steel but not for
aluminum. Aluminum requires 100% Argon.
Re: Help! First post; terrible aluminum weld
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:17 pm
by Oscar
cj737 wrote:Oscar wrote:What is your polarity?
It's a MIG box, therefore DCEP. A more important question is what GAS are you running? Many people use 75/25 with their MIG machine which is correct for
steel but not for
aluminum. Aluminum requires 100% Argon.
Some MIG boxes can have the polarity switched internally, so it's a fair question to ask.