# Aluminium welding problems.



## th62 (Jul 13, 2020)

Just hooked everything up for aluminium welding:  Argon pressure set at at 8 lpm, wire is 5356, volts at 18, wire feed at 8.5, base metal cleaned with stainless, aluminium liner installed, earth is negative but weld wire globbing on base metal regardless of voltage, any ideas?


----------



## Downunder Bob (Jul 13, 2020)

No idea, I've yet to embark on the Al adventure. I have tried the low temp Al rods that are advertised everywhere, with limited success, it would seem that cleanliness is the ultimate goal here too. I ended up taking the job to a shop that specialises in Al and paid a few dollars, it was worth it.


----------



## RJSakowski (Jul 13, 2020)

My first MIG welder had problems like that.  The wire feed power supply ran off the main supply so when the arc was struck, the voltage would drop and the wire feed speed would drop as well. The net effect was that it would feed wire in and the slow appreciably, increasing the arc length.  I built a regulated power supply with pulse width modulation for speed control which greatly improved the welds.


----------



## General Zod (Jul 13, 2020)

So I replied in the other forum you posted this question in.  There you didn't mention the polarity, but you have it correct (hopefully).  Work clamp is negative, MIG gun is positive.  I noticed you did not disclose your WFS.  Aluminum needs to be in spray transfer which means very high WFS.  So tell us, what WFS are you using?  And please don't say "all values".  Part of the problem with describing welding issues is that they are discrete events; meaning that when you tried ONE weld, you did not try all values at once.  There were a specific set of values at that one time.  Instead of telling the whole series of independent events all at once, you need to describe them in discrete events,  where one event encompasses one set of values for each of the variables which in these case are: V, WFS, Argon flow rate, CTWD, gun angle, metal thickness, joint orientation, travel speed.


----------



## th62 (Jul 13, 2020)

Yep, I did say wire feed was 8.5 but I have tried other settings.


----------



## General Zod (Jul 13, 2020)

No mention of wire diameter. 

So

WFS= 8.5 m/s (336 IPM)
V= 18
Argon flow rate= ?
CTWD= ?
Gun angle= ?
Metal thickness=?
Orientation = Flat(?)

Do you see what I mean by discrete values?

You need more voltage and WFS for that 0.9mm diameter 5356 (that was not mentioned).  8.5 m/min on 5356 is about 95A.  You're about 75A short.  Try 14.4 m/min and 24.5V.  You need a good 12-14mm CTWD for spray transfer BTW.


----------



## th62 (Jul 14, 2020)

That's a day I'll never get back, in the absence of any insightful help, I gave up.


----------



## Joe in Oz (Jul 14, 2020)

Why don 't people read the original post before asking questions that were answered in the very first post?????
Have you tried maximum voltage and wires speed your welder is capable of? Aluminium welding is a spray trasnsfer process as was mentioned above. That needs very high (200A+ for 0.040" wire) and very fast wire speed.
What's the capacity of your welder?


----------



## th62 (Jul 18, 2020)

Well after two days of following 'helpful' advice, I threw it all away and within an hour of messing with settings myself managed to run a bead before running out of wire.  Last bead is fourth from the right.  Not good I know, but a big improvement from my original post.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone (Jul 18, 2020)

Man, I know your getting hit from all directions here, I hope to not add to that..
just start with puddle control...don't even add any rod. keep your torch around 1/16" away from base metal, about 15 degrees tilted the way your moving. Just practice starting, moving your puddle. In you pix, I see a weld that was done too cold and without a good puddle started.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone (Jul 18, 2020)

Welding Drill


----------



## General Zod (Jul 18, 2020)

GunsOfNavarone said:


> Man, I know your getting hit from all directions here, I hope to not add to that..
> just start with puddle control...don't even add any rod. keep your torch around 1/16" away from base metal, about 15 degrees tilted the way your moving. Just practice starting, moving your puddle. In you pix, I see a weld that was done too cold and without a good puddle started.



He is not TIG welding.



th62 said:


> Well after two days of following 'helpful' advice, I threw it all away and within an hour of messing with settings myself managed to run a bead before running out of wire.  Last bead is fourth from the right.  Not good I know, but a big improvement from my original post.



You never gave all the info to get the advice you were looking for.  You were wanting people to both read your mind and turn on their crystal ball to peer through space and time to look at your machine from a far.  There are so many variables that you weren't able to wrap your mind around, that you shut-down because it just couldn't be that someone didn't have your answer in one simple sentence.  Diagnosing/troubleshooting these kinds of things without being there, simply takes a lot more than you think.

It's like crashing your car, then you get it towed the repair shop,  and ask them "what did I do wrong"?  They will look at you like you're crazy.  Even if you told them how fast you were going, and how fast the other vehicle was going, there are so many variables to such an event that there is no way they or anyone else that does not have video evidence would be able to tell definitively you what you did wrong.  Yet you would still want advice on how to improve your driving, even without the necessary information.  Do you see how it parallels your welding situation?


----------



## Ulma Doctor (Jul 18, 2020)

th62 said:


> Well after two days of following 'helpful' advice, I threw it all away and within an hour of messing with settings myself managed to run a bead before running out of wire.


it looks like you really didn't want advise


----------

