Can a MIG Welder weld aluminium?

[WydRyd]

OK, now that I have built my new garage, I want to invest in a compact welding machine and start practising!

Can a 230-240V compact MIG welder weld aluminium pipes? I'm talking about intake/charge air pipes... nothing too thick at all.

I just want something that can do both thin gauge mild/stainless steel as well as aluminium pipes.

Advice please?

[chapo]

yes, but it takes lots of practce

[WydRyd]

Cool - I'm willing to invest the blood and sweat to learn. I'll be booking myself into an evening welding course soon, so it'd give me a good foundation to build from. I'm tired of being raped by local fabricators to make simple pipes for my car

[RickM]

Precision feed and current control are important. These are usually seen on the better welders. If you can spend a few more bucks for a tool you'll likely have for a long time.

As mentioned on OT before a spool fed gun is pretty much mandatory. Feeding aluminum wire through as steel just doesn't cut it.

I think Thom (Widebody) purchased a spool fed gun for this very purpose. Hopefully he'll chime in with his experience.

[Dixie]

yes. you need the right gas, and the right wire.

[Bill Verburg]

MIG is the defacto standard for large/production welding of aluminum.
This is all MIG


For fine or less robust sections TIG is the way to go.

[Laneco]

If you want to learn and you don't have a welder than I would suggest a TIG welder you can weld what ever you want. TIG will work for Alu., Steel, Stainless Steel just change your rod and in some cases your gas mix. I have a mig and have use my buddies TIG some what regular the TIG is is much nicer but will take longer to master but is so much more versatile. Spend your money there you'll be much HAPPIER.

Steve

[widebody911]

The aluminum conversion kits for the compact welders (ala Lincoln) are PITA. It can be done, but it's frustrating as hell - the Al wire just won't feed right. For MIG you really need a spool gun. Or as Steve said, a TIG.

[WydRyd]

hmmm, the reason I chose MIG was because I was led to believe it's SO much easier to learn to weld with and TIG requires significantly more time invested to get good welds out of

Of course, I want to buy the right tool *once* and learn the right way, so I guess the general consensus is that TIG is the way to go!

[Laneco]

A spool gun is the way to go if your set on a mig. If you have ever done gas welding a TIG is similar to that but I find it much easier to control the arc. If you have any real desire you can pic it up and do well. Remember were all just hairless MONKEYS anyway.

So I'm talking to this guy and he's missing his thumb and I ask him if he knows what makes a different from the monkeys?
He said don't know what I say they can't run a saw.

Steve

[id911T]

Contrary to what many people say, I find TIG welding to be fairly easy. Instead of dicking around with settings on the machine, you have all of the adjustments at your fingertips. If you can solder or gas weld effectively (key word), you can TIG.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by id911T
Instead of dicking around with settings on the machine, you have all of the adjustments at your fingertips.

On my Lincoln spool gun, the speed settings are on the gun, so all you need to set on the machine is the voltage.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by WydRyd
hmmm, the reason I chose MIG was because I was led to believe it's SO much easier to learn to weld with and TIG requires significantly more time invested to get good welds out of

Of course, I want to buy the right tool *once* and learn the right way, so I guess the general consensus is that TIG is the way to go!

Mig is dead easy to lay down a bead on steel provided the wire speed and temp are properly set for what you are welding. IOW, my mother could lay a perfect looking mig weld on steel provided the welder was set properly. The skill neccesary, is knowing how to set the welder up based on what you are attempting to weld

Tig takes a bit more skill to actually do as during the weld, one hand has to guide the tig torch while at the same time the power input needs to be varied to keep the puddle proper. At the same time, the filler rod needs to be dabbed into the pool at the proper time.

This takes time to become second nature, but once you get the hang of it, you can weld about anything.

If welding long beads of relatively thick materials, mig is hard to beat. When attempting to weld thin structures that are small, mig is not as good as the thing you are welding will rapidly heat up which means that if you set the mig up to penetrate initially, by the time you get to the end of the weld, it will be too hot and burn thru. If you set it up to weld good near the end of the weld, it will be too cold at the start. With tig, you can constantly adjust for the rapidly heating part being welded which will allow you to make a perfect weld from start to finish.

Of course there are several ways to compensate when all you have is a mig, such as welding in small stitches and some more expensive migs can be programmed with ramp up and downs.

While it is possible to weld aluminum with mig, the best aluminum welding results in the average guys garage are going to be coming from a tig welder.

[id911T]

On my Lincoln spool gun, the speed settings are on the gun, so all you need to set on the machine is the voltage.

Indeed, that is true. Mostly my reference is to the fact that with TIG welding, the settings are made by your movements and the current pedal, allowing on the fly adjustment. You can have pedal adjustable current with other welding processes, it's just not as common.

[RickM]

How about filling gaps with TIG? I hear it's quite hard.

[id911T]

It depends on the gap. How wide, and on what material? Filling gaps on thin stuff can be tricky regardless.