Aluminum Welding Tips, Keys To Your Success!

Aluminum welding with Miller Spoolmate was a foundational piece of equipment for us. The MIG welder has a spool gun, it continously feeds wire through the tip. There are different types of wire for welding Al., ER4043, ER5356 these are the most common.

The spool gun, something called burnback would happened. Burnback you have to deal with. Burnback is like putting a cork in the end of a bottle...nothing comes out.

It melts in the tip so you have to take the tip out and cut the wire. Sometimes you can cut the end off and use it again.

Wire is controlled by the drive-roll-tension and spool tension, it should provide an even wire feed rate.

Too much or too little tension can cause burn back.

This hull was not welded continuously throughout. Every time you weld the boat, it moves and flexes. With this movement comes distortions in the look of the hull. It causes the hull to look wavey, bumpy with no smooth flowing line.

Aluminum is an excellant conducter of heat and with each extra weld length increases the chance of possible distortion.

Stitch welding (staggered welds) allowed us to come up with a pattern to help lesson the movement of the ribs, bulk heads and stringers. A little 2 in. stitch weld on opposite sides kept things under control.

Weld sizes were adjusted to plate thickness that were being joined together. Heavier plates were beveled for proper penetration.

Oh the sweet smell of plastic welding, coming up next...

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