Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Excuse my ignorance ... can aluminium be welded with an arc welder, if so what electrodes do i use, any special way it should be done??

cheers

Hi all...K-D,No you cant weld alluminium with an electrode,you caN mig and tig[AC hf only]Aluminium though.

to mig weld aluminium is preety hard if you dont know what your doing......how do i know this......cause i tried and failed. if your gonna mig it you need straight argon gas, and from memory lots of heat. tig is the way to go, and if its just to repair a bullbar or something, i dont think it would be costly to get it done by a pro.... good luck

ally is ok with mig or tig. cleanleness cannot be more important. the weld puddle tends to pool without flowing on if there is contamination present, and often drops through. be clean buy a new wirw brush and use it for ally only, removing anodizing helps too.

cheers bru

bru21 wrote:ally is ok with mig or tig. cleanleness cannot be more important. the weld puddle tends to pool without flowing on if there is contamination present, and often drops through. be clean buy a new wirw brush and use it for ally only, removing anodizing helps too.

cheers bru

hes on the money

oh and heat is not the key for ali it will drop away without warning, u cant see the colour change like in steel.

I have seen arc welder electrodes for aluminium, but have not used them. Mig welding ally is best suited to heavier sections (+6mm) and as well as bru's comments, pre heating the job with oxy helps a great deal. Definitely tig for the lighter stuff. Use a stainless steel wire brush.

Plus you need a high freq tig for ally dont think to many people have them in there shed.

Dane wrote:I have seen arc welder electrodes for aluminium, .

Yes they exist, ..... and I wouldn't rust any critical welds with them...

Dane wrote:Use a stainless steel wire brush.

Yes! And if it's been oily/greasy you may need to give it a wipe with metho to get it nice & clean.