Aluminum stick welding question.

[tanglediver]

Hello, I wonder if there is any advice for doing small repair work in aluminum with these rods I picked up from Airgas. Mainly I would like to know which polarity works for Alum 43 rods.
http://www.airgas.com/browse/product...2&WT.svl=80552
I was told to use reverse polarity, is this correct?

[aametalmaster]

DC reverse is correct. Electrode positive, ground negitive...Bob

[tanglediver]

Thank you very much, Bob. This could explain the first results! I'll let you know if there is an improvement.
Danny.

[moyersmobile]

keep a short arc and practice a bit with it, it really is possible to do quality work with it but it takes some effort and practice

[Snidley]

Some people can work well with aluminum rods - gererally better suited for thick aluminum.

In most cases, think of your crappiest looking steel rod weld bead - that will be a good aluminum rod weld.

Keep at it, just experiment with amps, distance and rod angle (be fairly vertical). Rods go quick and you can't linger at any time or you're blowing holes.

[tanky321]

Does anyone have any pics of an AL stick weld? It seems as if these posts are on here weekly but there are never any pics.

[fordtrucks]

Hey i just tried the same rods on a small engine intake manifold. Man all i can say is practice practice practice wayyy before you even attempt the repair. Its real finiky. I'm difinatly not the world greatest welder but here is some things i found.
Travel speed is critical to not blowing holes.
When you think your going fast enough go faster.
Preheating helps alot, try a slight leading angle.
If your welding thin stuff (like 1/8 or smaller) use the 3/32 rod at about 45 - 50 amps DC+. This rod is very flimsy so break off some flux around the middle to hold the electrode or just practice with it untill ist down to about 6 in then use this rod for the repair. It easier to controll a smaller rod, you don't have as much flex (yes flex- not flux) in it.
Also remember to break off the flux off the end of half spent rod or it will be hard to start the arc, as if it wasn't hard enough already.
And don't worry much about putting metal down The heat will fuse most of parent metal together with little filler metal needed.
Wait till its almost totaly cool before you chip the slag off, try to have it cool slowly.

Good luck and enjoy the show ( the arc is really cool looking-- kinda like a White and Blueish color).

I've never welded aluminum before till the other day, if you have then maybe some of this stuff is reduntand. Hope some of this stuff helps.

[WolfmanJack13]

When welding thin stuff(1/8th or thinnner) try to use backing if you can, and yeh it burns fast , you feel like you cant feed it fast enough. Welded cable tray(1/8th sides) for a few months and got pretty good with it. Have fun and yeh it took some practice finding the right angle and amperage. Finicky rods. Your in the right amperage range. Try to do it with out shortening rod, they can be expensive lol.

[tanglediver]

Boy I'll say! I barely muddled through that stuff this morning. It could have been harder but I don't know how! Sorry no pictures, I haven't got a digital camera, I've only had this computer for 6 months.
The only DC stick machine available to me is my Honda powered gen set/DC 170Amp welder that has been sitting unused for near ten years! It still runs but the voltage adjusting knob had taken a set where it was, that cleared up after a few cycles. The welding had to be done in place on a corner of the slide out frame of a fifth wheel travel trailer. Paneling and carpet on the inside of the framework! It will be covered up within the wall when complete.
At first I tried a few practice runs on some scrap. I had only a package of 1/8 and a package of 3/32, 7 rods in each package and an average cost of over a dollar each rod!!! So I gave up on the scrap very quickly, not much rod to play with and then went right at the repair.
All I can say is, it is very fortunate this repair attempt will be hidden within the wall! I hope it holds up as this is a high stress point. What a mess, sign me up for the fall semester TIG class!!!
Thanks for the suggestions,
Danny.

[Bobsawelder]

Here are some practice stringers I ran a while back using Forney 1/8" 4043 AL rods, second shot is penetration on back of the plate, it ain't perty! Make sure your work is clean and shiny before you weld it. The Forney package recomends pre-heat 400-600*, I did not I was just playing around as we never had a unit of AL SMAW in school.

[zapster]

I'm gonna have to try this Monday..
Never did stick aluminum..

Should be interesting..

...zap!

[WolfmanJack13]

We always cleaned with wirebrush but we never preheated them. It's takes awhile to make em anywhere new passable looking, never mind pretty LOL

[tanglediver]

I finally got my 35mm pics back. This time I had them burn a photo CD so I could show the aftermath!

There was no bead across the face of the joint. I ground off the muck to make clearance for the patchwork, and to hide the disgusting results before the photo!!

Good, bad, or UGLY, we have to get this job done, so we prepared for cosmetic repairs.

The patch proved to have a weakness along the right vertical edge, which we bolstered with flat head screws that got countersunk flush. There are more pictures, but I only post these with a focus on the stick welding. First-time-ugly! At least we could hide it behind resin, bondo and paint!
Thanks for the help! See you in the fall semester TIG class!!

[tanglediver]

I can recall being new to these boards when I posted this question, concerning this job.
Well, it failed. It came back as a warranty job for us, meaning...yours truly.


Two years ago on the day after I passed my steel certs., I get an aluminum job dropped in my lap. "Well, Mr. expert?", the boss says.
So this time around, as soon as I heard it, I knew it was time to take the new/used E-tig to work with me. I dunno, call it intuition!

Sure enough. It broke.

[tanglediver]

I should mention, that I only last week got green tip tungstens for the transformer based tig machine.
I had no time to try aluminum with the new tig. aND i HAtE aLUMinUM!!

[tanglediver]

The forklift test was a success, despite the elephant-man-like-bead-appearance. "Yuk!" The rest is an excercise in body shop class, but i digress.
Did I mention that........ i hATe aLUmiNUm?