[PSUBS-MAILIST] Aluminum Welding Technique Question

[Daniel Lance via Personal_Submersibles]

Steve,
Are you using pure tungsten ( green band on one end ) and argon shielding
gas ? . With the torch set on DC+ you will usually experience a tungsten
melt down. Just set the machine on AC and run a pass on some scrap aluminum
. You will get a balled end . Not to complicate things but a balled end is
not exactly the most preferred condition in the world. But unless you have
an inverter type machine with lots of parameter adjustments you really
don't have much choice.  Alec is correct the amperage setting depends on
the thickness of the material you are working with . If you are trying to
join a thin piece to a thick piece its ok to preheat the thick piece first
, just don't exceed 250 degrees F. Old oxidized aluminum is very difficult
to weld unless the crusty white scale is removed . It should be nice and
"shiny" before you start . And of course a little preheat never hurt
anybody . Aluminum is a near perfect material for marine use , it is easy
to cut , form , shape and weld . It can be painted , anodized or just left
in its original mill finish.
As far getting welding advice from Youtube , the only source I would
recommend is "Welding Tips and Tricks" . This guy is really, really good .
Hope this helps,
Dan Lance


On Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 11:49 AM, Steve McQueen via Personal_Submersibles <
personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:

> I attempted some Aluminum welding this weekend.  I needed to tack 2
> together pieces of a trolling motor mount I modified for my stern thruster.
>
> I watched a video that said it is important to first first strike an arc
> on DC+ for a few seconds to create a "ball" on the tungsten tip prior to
> going back to the AC mode.
>
> It was unclear in the video if the arc was being struck on an Aluminum
> piece or the Steel welding table surface.  Does it matter?
>
> Also they said the amp range should be set to 55-75.  Seem OK?
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
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