Is it possible to weld Aluminum with a MIG welder?
Yes, and welding aluminum using a MIG welder is well within a home hobby welder’s capability.
You should be able to produce some pleasant welds in no time if you have a clear understanding of the metal, a little practice, a good welder, and a spool gun.
For home hobby welders who wish to learn how to MIG weld aluminum, here are some of my aluminum MIG welding tips.
First and foremost, you must understand precisely what you are dealing with. Before knowing how to MIG weld Aluminum, you have to understand the Aluminum.
MIG Weld Aluminum
When welding Aluminum at home, it’s important to understand how welding aluminum differs from welding mild steel.
Aluminum is not the same as steel. It’s a softer metal that’s easily damaged by heat.
Aluminum is a metal that absorbs any heat applied to it and has a low melting point. Aluminum tends to melt at inconvenient moments.
Before you know it, you’ve got aluminum bubbles coming out of the bottom of your weld. This is referred to as burn-through.
Now you understand why I recommend using a spool gun while MIG welding aluminum.
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Aluminum is combined with other metals to form an alloy found in your home and industry. These alloys improve Aluminum’s casting ability and strength, as pure metal would be considered too soft to be using.
Aluminum alloys can be found in a variety of forms around the house, including:
- Silicone applied to 4000 series aluminum
- Magnesium added to the 5000 series aluminum
- Aluminum 6000 series with Silicon and Magnesium added
How To MIG Weld Aluminum Tips
Welding aluminum is similar to welding any other metal in that it’s preferable to first learn about the base metal/alloy you’re going to weld and then find the suitable Aluminum filler metal to go with it (welding wire).
To ensure that your filler wire melts at the same temperature as your welding process, choose an aluminum wire compatible with your base alloy. There are two types of aluminum wire for MIG welders.
Silicon has been added to 4043, which should be utilized with 4000 and 6000 type aluminum. It’s known as a general-purpose wire because it produces a weld that’s less likely to break. The wire appears to be shining and bright.
Magnesium has been added to the composition of 5356. It’s a thicker wire that’s more challenging to weld. This wire is comprised of 5000 series aluminum alloy and has a saltwater resistance that makes it ideal for use in marine conditions.
Tips for Aluminum MIG Welding: How Important Is Metal Preparation?
Before you begin, make sure your Aluminum is clean.
It’s a requirement. When you MIG weld aluminum, it is prone to oxidation on its surface, a contaminant.
To remove any oils, clean with a solvent. Acetone is the preferred oil remover for Aluminum since it leaves no behind.
Use a wire brush to remove the gloss from the Aluminum in one direction back and forth, not in circles.
Aluminum should only be cleaned with a wire brush.
Otherwise, this soft metal would gather up pollution from the item you previously used your brush on.
Because the metal is soft, keep the speed low and use a new pad if you’re using a power brush.
A flap disc and a grinder can also be used to clean aluminum metal. Look for a flap disc explicitly manufactured for use with metal.
Even when the Aluminum is clean, smoke accumulates on and around the weld. You haven’t cleaned your metal thoroughly enough if there is too much smoke on it.
Setting Up Your MIG Welder for Aluminum Welding
First, consult your MIG welder’s handbook or, if one is provided, the settings chart on the equipment itself.
If neither of those solutions is available to you or you prefer a different approach, you might begin by using an online welding calculator.
Miller Welds makes an excellent one.
- To use it, first choose the metal you’ll be welding with: Aluminum.
2. What is the material’s thickness, say 1/8th inch?
It will also notify you of its suggestions.
- Use 0.035 wire at 350 to 440 inches per minute with a 350 to 440 inches per minute wire feed rate.
- Argon gas must be used, and the voltage on your welder should be between 21 and 22 volts.
- Amperage range of 110-130 amps
It’s not perfect, and you’ll have to change it to match your requirements, but it’s an excellent place to start.
How To MIG Weld Aluminum At Home
The pressure on the Aluminum alloy in the spool gun should be neither too loose nor too tight, or a nest of wire will form.
The drive roller is integrated inside the spool gun and features U-shaped grooves to help feed the soft Aluminum.
After you’ve connected your spool gun to your welder, you’ll need to turn a switch on your welder to let it know you’re using it, and the wire will be fed from there.
The spool gun hose feeds the Argon gas to the spool gun, so make sure the connections are positioned adequately inside your machine to enhance gas production.
Weld horizontally in a flat or slightly downhill position.
Vertical and overhead welding of Aluminum is complicated for a beginner and requires a lot of practice.
Just Before You Weld
To allow the spray transfer mechanism to work effectively when welding Aluminum, you’ll need to have a longer stick up (3/8th to 1 inch).
Keep a supply of contact tips on hand because while welding aluminum, although everything is going well, a contact tip can burn out.
Set your wire speed: Aluminum demands a lot of heat/amps and a lot of wire-speed, ranging from 300 to 450 inches per minute.
Set the gas to a rate of 20 to 30 cubic feet per hour.
How Do You Weld Aluminum With A MIG Welder?
- You are simply holding your spool gun tip at a 10 to 15-degree inclination from vertical.
- When using a MIG welder to weld aluminum, use a push approach. This means you point the tip, nozzle, and wire of the spool gun in the direction you’re welding. This guarantees that your shielding gas completely covers the weld pool.
- The inverse – because the Argon gas cannot sufficiently cover your weld, a drag method generates porosity in aluminum alloy.
- Because Aluminum reflects heat from the weld puddle, running the filler wire tip too close to the base metal may result in wire burn back into the contact tip, causing feeding difficulties.
- Maintain a distance of 1/8-inch between you and the project component. The usual crackle that you hear when welding mild steel should not be heard while welding Aluminum. If your wire feed is set too high or too low, or you’re welding too close to the base metal, and the spray transfer isn’t happening, you’ll hear a lot of crackling.
- You’ll think the heat is too low when you first start welding non-preheated Aluminum, but as you go along, you’ll realize it’s perfect because Aluminum doesn’t glow like steel when it heats up.
- The weld puddle looks like molten tin foil, but it’s getting hotter and hotter until you’ve burned through.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of MIG Welding Aluminum
Advantages
- High-quality welds can be achieved with time and skill spent on preparation, proper setup, and equipment.
- You should be able to weld 14 inches to 1/4 inch aluminum, depending on your welder’s ability and preparation.
- There’s no need to invest in a TIG welder, learn how to use one, or hire an expert TIG welder to weld aluminum for you.
Disadvantages
- To weld successfully, you’ll need to practice setting up your MIG welder correctly.
- If you only have a 140-volt welder at home, you’ll just be able to weld Aluminum up to 1/8th of an inch thick if you don’t have a 220-volt welder. can weld up to 3/8th of an inch using a 220-volt welder.
- Aluminum that is 1/4 inch thick must be preheated before welding.
- Even if the welder is inefficient.
- Welding aluminum thinner than 18 inches requires a unique setup.
- Any horizontal position other than level or mildly downhill is prohibited. Aluminum overhead welding necessitates specialized knowledge.
Conclusion
With the tips in this article ‘How to MIG Weld Aluminum, a Home Welder Tips for Success, a good welder, and some experience, you should be able to produce some good, strong welds when welding Aluminum at home.
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