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DC ARC welding aluminum

chuck hahn

chuck hahn

Forum LongTimer
Past Site Supporter
Guess this qualifies as a GENERAL / MAINTENANCE section topic....


Neighbor has offered use of his Lincoln ARC welder for doing any aluminum work if I should need it. Has anyone here used ARC welding on aluminum pieces such as a case cover or the cases themselves?? I know it has to be super clean and all that jazz. just wondering how it does and what rods you guys like.
 
Without a inert gas blanketing the work, you'll find it difficult especially on the thin stuff that you are considering.
 
Use DC+ polarity and you'll need to run the amps a little higher then you would with steel. Aluminum dissipates heat much faster and acts like a heat sink pulling heat away from the weld area. Here are some good welding rods I've used in the past:

Zena Aluminum Welding rods

DC ARC welding is not best at doing anything aluminum less then 1/8" thick. Hope your neighbor is a good welder.
 
Is this stuff really any good? I have a bunch of cracked cases and things to practice on....
 
It's worked for me in the past. Not sure if it's considered the best. I'm sure others with more recent experience will chime in.

Now using MIG and gas. Practice with aluminum is critical. I need to practice up each time I work with it since I don't do it that often.
 
All I have for a MIG is a little 110V buzz box. To much to buy the spool kit and new liner for how often I would actually need to weld anything aluminum. Neighbor mentioned his so I figured make some enquiries into the DC rods.
 
I think a TIG is the way to go. I would get a 170 amp min. for aluminumn. i bought a miller 100 amp and am considering heavier for aluminumn drawa the amps, I am NOT a welder but have friends that are nuclear certed, Man can they weld a bead!! I am still trying to get the tig I bought to do aluminumn nicely but im a hack. Later Mike (Dont have the time to spend on it too many gs bikes to fix!)
 
The part I don't like about welding aluminum is when the whole thing melts and collapses into a puddle between your boots.
 
tkent02 said:
The part I don't like about welding aluminum is when the whole thing melts and collapses into a puddle between your boots.
Click to expand...


My old Dad used to weld aluminium with his oxy-acetelene and he did it beautifully, he said that the trick was to clean the job perfectly and weld straight away, (Ally rods and flux as usual) because even touching it would be enough to form a layer in which the metal was melted inside a sack/bag and then it blobs out when you try to weld it. Just as you describe. He always had a lot of wire wool and scotchbrite about when he did those jobs.

I was shown this link by a friend that bought some of this stuff, he hasn't used it yet but we're all keen to see the results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiThO-UQIWE
 
tkent02 said:
The part I don't like about welding aluminum is when the whole thing melts and collapses into a puddle between your boots.
Click to expand...

That, too.
I asked in a place where welders lurked, who was the best alloy welder in there. "Him there - he's an ally welding god", said one.
I handed the cracked oil filter housing to this bloke and watched as he totally ruined it with his oxy-ace torch, melting it on his bench.
I could have done better myself.
 
Grimly said:
That, too.I asked in a place where welders lurked, who was the best alloy welder in there. "Him there - he's an ally welding god", said one.
I handed the cracked oil filter housing to this bloke and watched as he totally ruined it with his oxy-ace torch, melting it on his bench.
I could have done better myself.
Click to expand...

We have a TIG at work. Its an art. I can pass on .125 and up. Under that and Im blowing holes. I know a full time welder named Bill. We call him Billy TIGer. This kid is an artist ! Watching his foot on the pedal is amazing.
 
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Yeah, TIG is something I'd like to get the kit for and have a go at - the kit itself isn't all that much of an outlay nowadays, but the upkeep of pure argon gas and rental agreement on the bottle is something I can't justify for something I'd use twice a year, if that. Same applies to MIG and ally - the unused bottle ticking over on rental contract for no purpose. So, if I do start sticking bits of ally together it will likely be with the zinc-based solder sticks and see how it goes.
 
Grimly said:
Yeah, TIG is something I'd like to get the kit for and have a go at - the kit itself isn't all that much of an outlay nowadays, but the upkeep of pure argon gas and rental agreement on the bottle is something I can't justify for something I'd use twice a year, if that. Same applies to MIG and ally - the unused bottle ticking over on rental contract for no purpose. So, if I do start sticking bits of ally together it will likely be with the zinc-based solder sticks and see how it goes.
Click to expand...

There are rent free bottled gas suppliers on the net, I forget which one supplies me, but how it works is that you put a deposit on the initial bottle then you pay for only the refills thereafter till you want to cash it in and then they return your deposit. You cant buy Acetylene this way but there is an alternative which is as good, I forget what its called.

I use the gas infrequently but it is just so handy having it there, My supplier delivers and collects. I use 'cougar' for the mig with the same snap connectors so that it also can be used on the tig.
 
tatu said:
but there is an alternative which is as good, I forget what its called.
Click to expand...

MAPP gas?
Also propane will work, if you are to braze solder.
For that I would recommend to flux the part/s
Sorry, no help for the OP and is question (although I deem it not worth the hassle, even if it were free).
 
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Tried the alloy rods and MAPP gas on a case. Was useless as the cases are so thick and big they suck the local heat away and I never achieved the melting point for the rods to stick. Something small like a points cover may be a different story though.
 
It's not the easiest thing to do;

You have to bring the part to almost melting point temp. without exposing the rod, which has to melt with the heat given by the part, not the torch, least it will oxidize itself, oxide (Alumina) which is going to melt at 2000??C/3632?F against 660?C
/1220?F of alu.

Did you use any flux?
 
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Lorenzo said:
MAPP gas?
Also propane will work, if you are to braze solder.
For that I would recommend to flux the part/s
Sorry, no help for the OP and is question (although I deem it not worth the hassle, even if it were free).
Click to expand...

No MAPP gas is little more than a blow lamp and hopeless for any kind of welding/brazing. I just checked and Propolene is the substitute for Acetylene used. I use these people: http://www.gas-uk.co.uk/ Check their rent free cylinders I got the 20 litre size still on the first fill and there is still plenty in them and I must have got them 2 years ago
 
tatu said:
I was shown this link by a friend that bought some of this stuff, he hasn't used it yet but we're all keen to see the results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiThO-UQIWE
Click to expand...

That's good stuff. The guy in the video repaired a carb float pin for us at Netley a few years ago (mate bought a beat up old carb body at the show and deliberately snapped the pin to see if it would work). I've got a metre of the stuff in the garage and although I've had a play with it I haven't had a use for it in earnest yet - I'm keen to see how it works in a bolt hole to repair a knackered thread.
 
Chuck, there was a guy I used to work with who was good at stick welding aluminum. I had a cracked case cover on my old 500 Kaw that he welded for me. He went out back, flipped the welder on DC+ and laid a bead like no other. I've TIG'd it back in high school. Welded it with oxy-acetelene in the distant past using a carburizing flame, but I have yet to try my hand at SMAW welding it. Someday...
 
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