Aluminum spool gun welding

[Mitchell17]

I weld a lot of aluminum at work we have Tankers that crack and break a lot

I'm new to this forum and wanted to share techniques and
Tricks with other that weld aluminum.

So let's see some of your guys work thanks Mitchell

 

[Stick]

Keep it clean (stainless steel wire brush to get through the oxide layer), lots of pre-heat, slightly more electrode stick-out than with steel wire, make sure you are spraying and not running in short circuit transfer. Not that difficult.

 

[HKB3]

just some random stuff I do at work
5086 material/5356 wire MIG

5086 material/5356 rod TIG

1/2" fillet welds

 

[Mitchell17]

What are you usually welding on? With these tankers they are around 3-8 thick I've been welding them
For about a year now I use a stitch patteren pushing the bead witch allows the argon to penetrate into the weld
I have a little trouble welding upside down I usually dial my heat back and lower my wire speed

I run into times that my filler hits the aluminum and Just falls out leaving a pit even after cleaning it and trying again it does the same thing its kinda hit or miss when upside down

Have you ever come across this?

 

[Strouty]

I have a beverage truck that I am turning into a utility truck, my welds are yucky and I don't want to show them. I am still learning.

 

[NASTYZEN]

just some random stuff I do at work
5086 material/5356 wire MIG

5086 material/5356 rod TIG

1/2" fillet welds

Are those with your spool gun? If they are ,they look great. My spool gun leaves
a black smokey soot behind that is hard to remove, even with a wire brush. Mig Alu. is difficult to master. I guess you have to do it day in day out.

 

[HKB3]

The first two pics are done with an old miller XR30A. One thing most people do wrong when learning to weld aluminum is they to weld to cold.
Practice, Practice, practice... I have been doing this for over 18 years.

 

[sberry]

Alum is fussy about gun angles and stickout, dilligence is a good thing. 1st, mig, second one tig. Its a rare day I do alum, last resort, but when you need it you need it.

 

[Mitchell17]

I had the same problem with black sut coving my welds. I was pulling my beads I switched to pushing my beads so the argon can get in front of the bead. That problem went away

 

[steel 35]

I have used a spool gun about ten times, and drug one home recently couldn't pass it up! Fun to play with.

 

[Bigrhamr]

I'm just getting into Aluminum work. This was 5052 welded to 6061 with 5356 wire. Powermig 300 using pulse on pulse mode, push gun only. Get the settings right, keep the angle and stickout perfect and this machine does all the work. Get the angle a little off and things go downhill in a hurry. Still working on getting it dialed in, in this pic I think I need a little hotter start procedure and a different technique at the end to avoid getting that crater. A push-pull gun is high on my wish list but for now I am using the u-groove feed rollers and keeping the gun straight and getting by. The soot that has been mentioned is interesting. As soon as I start to weld I can see if I have a clean strip on either side of the bead. If it's there the weld will be okay, if not then something is not right.