Post soem pics of the welds. Great to hear that it worked out great.

 

For small jobs I would have no problem saying "go for it". No spool gun needed on small jobs. For the money and around the shop use this welder has been just great.

Amen Brother! If I had a dollar for every person who told me I wouldn't be able to weld aluminum with my little Lincoln, well I'd have at least $8.

I'll get a birdsnest on occasion if I'm not careful, but at least then I can practice on my cussing!

 

well I'd have at least $8.

LOL Sometimes it pays to be hardheaded.

 

Yep...my mm130 will do it fine on thin stuff. You just have to run it at full throttle. I have occasionally tripped the breaker on aluminum. You know bumble bees are not supposed to be able to fly...but, dont tell them that.

 

It is possible to push aluminum though a 10ft gun if you are:
1) Patient
2) Keep the welding gun straight
3) Use a .035" diameter wire
4) Use a 5356 alloy because it is stiffer
5) Use a Teflon liner.

If you aren't doing a lot of aluminum, this should work fine for you. If you are doing a lot, then you will get to a point where a spool gun will be worth the money.

My 2 cents.

Jeff

 

I bought a 145 amp wire feed Century from Sam's 12 years ago for $550.Last week I had the need to weld aluminum. I bought the teflon liner, rubber roller wheel, a 20 cu ft argon tank and a 1 pound spool of wire. Everyone told me that it would wad up and would not work. It welded like a champ. Not a single bird nest, smooth feed and great looking welds. The biggest thing I found was the AL needs to be spotlessly clean before welding. Even a little bit of oxidation or debris will mess up the weld. For small jobs I would have no problem saying "go for it". No spool gun needed on small jobs. For the money and around the shop use this welder has been just great.

I just did this same thing....except mine is a Lincoln 155...any my welds are horrid. The big difference may be that I'm using C02 Still. My hope is that if I move to Argon my troubles will be over...but I'm a bit skeptical given the welds so far.
I just read today that AL develops a oxidation layer that has a melting point of 3720 degrees versus 1200 degrees for AL. Like you, once I cleaned it with a wire wheel, it did seem to be more consistent, in that the arc persisted, by the results were still consistently horrid

I would sure like to see pictures of your weld results.

 

Limpet you can NOT use C02 to weld aluminum you need argon or heilum
your brush need to be stainless and you should only use it to clean aluminum

 

I just did this same thing....except mine is a Lincoln 155...any my welds are horrid. The big difference may be that I'm using C02 Still. My hope is that if I move to Argon my troubles will be over...but I'm a bit skeptical given the welds so far.

Hang in there. I've been using a Weld-Pak 155 to weld aluminum and as long as I run it on the two highest voltage settings and keep my wire speed above 7, it does OK. My only gripe is the piece of crap regulator that came with the MIG conversion kit from Lincoln. It lets the flow of Argon drop while running a bead so the results look like lava rock.

I've started zip tying a piece of plastic 1/2" electrical conduit to my torch cable to help keep it straight.

All the aluminum welding I've done so far has been with 4043, .035" wire. It's like trying to push cooked spaghetti up a garden hose.

When time allows, I'm going to try out both 4043 wire at .045" and 5356 wire at .035" to see if it goes any better.

 

Limpet,

Chopper5 is 100% correct - running CO2 is like putting diesel in a gas engine - it may run, but it will run very poorly. If you invest in a tank of 100% argon, you will have better results.

 

Limpet, I will try and snap a pic this weekend. I second (or third) the stainless steel wire brush thing. I am no expert by any means, strickty a weekend warrior but you need to use a stainless steel wire brush and keep it dedicated for only AL and nothing else. As far as I know 100% Argon is the only shielding gas that can be used with AL. Now that the job is complete I have removed the liner and put the old one back in. In order to keep things spotlessly clean for the next time I need them, I have taken the teflon liner and the left over AL wire spool and am storing them in the house in a plastic bag with some of that decicant stuff so they stay dry and are not subject to all the heat/cold humidity cycles. I can not stress enough in just my short experience with AL that it needs to be dirt and oxidation free.

 

Miller Matic 200 w/Prince Spool Gun with Tweco Eliminator Cam Lock Tips