# First spool gun welds



## Aukai (Aug 21, 2022)

Trying to weld with my new spool mate 150. My auto set will not calibrate so I have not even tried it, maybe I should. My voltage is set at 4, wire feed is ~63 for 1" schedule 40 1/8 wall. I have never welded aluminum before, so I'm asking here, weld 1 is on the left #2 is on the right. On my practice coupon getting below 4 on the voltage with the .035 would not start consistently. So is this too much heat, and what other mistakes am I making. My muscle memory is doing circles with the gun tip. Thanks for looking, the pipes are coped, and I'm using 100% Argon..


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## NCjeeper (Aug 21, 2022)

You are pushing the gun not pulling it right?


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## Flyinfool (Aug 21, 2022)

Mu eperiance with MIG welding Aluminum is that it looks ugly but the welds were very strong. I built a set of ramps that were used to drive a 3600 lb car onto a trailer every week for many years. Never even a cracked weld. But they sure were ugly. With AL you need to run a lot more heat than you would for the same parts in steel. Al is far more thermally conductive and wants to pull the heat away from the weld, that is why you have to put more heat into the weld to get good penetration.


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## Aukai (Aug 21, 2022)

I THINK I'm pulling, with my gun over the weld, and advancing by circling out, and back? This is my muscle memory setting, I can do Cs relatively easily too. Other pattern types will take more practice.


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## Firstram (Aug 22, 2022)

I always pre-heat to 200°ish when using my spool gun, it helps avoid cold starts.


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## akjeff (Aug 22, 2022)

Aukai said:


> I THINK I'm pulling, with my gun over the weld, and advancing by circling out, and back? This is my muscle memory setting, I can do Cs relatively easily too. Other pattern types will take more practice.


Try pushing instead.


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## akjeff (Aug 22, 2022)

Pretty tough to beat Jody's videos. Very helpful.


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## Aukai (Aug 22, 2022)

Thank you I have seen that one, and I do enjoy his videos, I just watched it again right now. His speed seems more relaxed than mine, I don't know if his material was thicker, and he can move slower, but I'm close to burning through if I don't hustle.


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## pontiac428 (Aug 22, 2022)

You'll need a touch more heat than your practice welds, but just a little.  Push with a spool gun, don't drag.   I don't swim around with the arc in circles or loops or c's with aluminum, either.  I do all of my control with modulating speed and feed.  Aluminum is different than steel in laydown technique.  It's a process where it's better to move like a robot if you want pretty welds.  And clean.... clean, clean, clean.


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## pontiac428 (Aug 22, 2022)

I watched the video above, he's good.  He uses a bit of a Z-weave like I would with steel, puddling on the low side and controlling the right edge of his weld with a little weave.  I think for the heavy lap joints on an outside arc of travel like he was doing, it worked.  On straight shots, though, I burn it in right at the joint and control bead size with speed.  Just in general, you don't want to be crazy with the cursive with aluminum, it sets up too fast compared to steel and doesn't flow the same when you pull to one side or the other in a weave, so keep the heat where it counts in the joint of the weld and deviate less (than steel).  Heat, feed, and travel speed are hard enough to control without thinking of zees and c's, and they are truly the fundamental principals of wire welding.  The weave itself really is extraneous.


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