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Author: Subject: Mig Welding Ally
yellow melos

posted on 7/2/09 at 08:12 PM Reply With Quote
Mig Welding Ally

Has anyone used a standard mig welder to weld Alli ???

i know you have have to reverse the polarities but what about the gas, use a specific gas or not use any ???

how mell did it come out ??

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minitici

posted on 7/2/09 at 08:14 PM Reply With Quote
Try this site

Linky

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jacko

posted on 7/2/09 at 08:32 PM Reply With Quote
Pure argon gas
a nylon liner with a spring in the handle
the motor roller wheels are smooth not serrated that feed the wire
a larger hole in the welding tip ie 0.6 wire use a 0.8 tip
jacko

[Edited on 7/2/09 by jacko]

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mark chandler

posted on 7/2/09 at 09:50 PM Reply With Quote
And after you have expended £30 on gas and wire, lean back and admire the mess that the pigeons have left behind.

Been there, done that and it was hopeless so took my tank to a professional and got him to weld for £15.

Subsequently purchased an AC TIG.

Proffesional MIG sets are very expensive!!!

Regards Mark

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MkII

posted on 7/2/09 at 09:57 PM Reply With Quote
ive used mig to weld 6m ally plate. its not easy but quite satisfying when it goes well.frustrasting as hell when it goes badly .m.
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martin1973

posted on 7/2/09 at 10:18 PM Reply With Quote
i mig welded my zetec sump no problem
u mkesure the alloy is very clean and do a bit at a time.
never change polarities tho and i use argon lite gas, turn the flow up alittle.

have repaired minor surface damage on alloy wheels in the past.








martin

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James

posted on 8/2/09 at 02:29 AM Reply With Quote
Oh, and I believe that if you use a stainless(?) wire brush on the ali to be welded first, you take off the surface corrosion and get a better weld.

According to my college welding instructors anyway!

Cheers,
James





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Peteff

posted on 8/2/09 at 10:19 AM Reply With Quote
Do you need to reverse the polarity. On my welder that is only recommended for gasless welding





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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Marlon

posted on 8/2/09 at 12:25 PM Reply With Quote
No you don't need to reverse the polarity but you do need to use pure argon gas and I agree with jacko on the tip size, use a bigger size than the wire is. Oh and have a few spares as I can guarantee that you'll kill at least 1 in the process of arking up (I still do this after 11 years of weldind steel and ally for a living) If what your welding is quite thin, do it in short bursts as ally gets really hot very quickly so will blow through easily. Also the material does need to be very clean, try using a wire wheel in a drill to remove surface oxidisation before you start.
hope this is of some use.
good luck.

john.





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BenB

posted on 8/2/09 at 12:27 PM Reply With Quote
Only reverse polarities if its set-up as gasless. Otherwise keep as it is.

I've got the gas, I've got the ali wire, I've got the stainless brush. Just got to get up the courage to have a go and I'll post the result. Personally I'm just using the MIG to tack weld the pieces together so I can run some technoweld type stuff into the joints and then grind the MIG welds down to make it look right pretty. Technoweld is pretty strong but the problem is whilst you're making one joint all the others melt and the whole workpiece falls apart. MIG spot welding (even if it's sheddy pigeon poo welds) will do the trick for me.... and if it works better than planned might do the whole thing MIG....

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