Trindle super industrial welder

[addertooth]

Just remember, Aluminum requires more amps than steel. You might want to look up the required current for 3/32 rod, when doing aluminum of your desired thickness. You may discover you are short of the required current, depending upon the thickness of your aluminum.

 

[FOMOGO]

TIG is AC for alum. Mike

 

[Shootymacshootface]

I've been trying to learn as much as possible about welding aluminum successfully. From what I have learned so far, mig and tig are A/C, stick is D/C. As far as gasses go with mig, the 75/25 argon/co2 mix is ideal for steel. Straight co2 works well enough, but you need more heat and there is more spatter. Straight argon will work for steel, but not very well, way messier than co2. Mig welding aluminum with any amount of co2 in your gas isn't possible (normally). Whats the deal with helium? Isn't that were the term heliarc comes from? Does anyone weld aluminum with helium anymore?
I'm going to TSC to pick up some feed for our birds, and I am going to get a bottle of Mapp gas. With every type of aluminum welding, preheating is always recommended. I think that is where I may find success with this endeavor.

I believe that I was mistaken when I said aluminum tig welding is A/C.

 

[ericc]

I tried to weld some aluminum scraps together tonight. It didn't go very well. It took me forever to find my stainless steel wire brush. My torch ran out of propane while I was preheating the parts. I could only get the temp up to about 200F. The rod did nothing but stick to the parts that I was trying to weld. Frustrating indeed, but towards the end I was starting to see more of an arc and the rod being consumed. So, what I think that I learned is that preheating is mandatory for this to work. I'll get a bottle of mapp gas and do a proper preheat and try again.

There is somebody who made an AC to DC converter for his buzz box welder so he could use DC rods. I seem to remember that he noted that a choke is necessary. I'll see if I can dig up the link. Here it is: http://www.hildstrom.com/projects/ac-225/
Note the comment about stick welding aluminum. I built something similar. The choke makes a huge difference. You don't stand a chance without it.

 

[Shootymacshootface]

There is somebody who made an AC to DC converter for his buzz box welder so he could use DC rods. I seem to remember that he noted that a choke is necessary. I'll see if I can dig up the link. Here it is: http://www.hildstrom.com/projects/ac-225/
Note the comment about stick welding aluminum. I built something similar. The choke makes a huge difference. You don't stand a chance without it.

That is a great article!

 

[General Zod]

I've been trying to learn as much as possible about welding aluminum successfully. From what I have learned so far, mig and tig are A/C, stick is D/C.

Aluminum MIG is done on DCEP, not AC. The rest of what you have learned is correct though.

You should compare the current price of helium and compare it to argon, ft³ vs ft³.

 

[Weldingrod1]

DC stick welding needs a choke on the electrode side of rectifier. Makes a huge difference. In AC stick the transformer provides that function...

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Tim9]

So, I have poking around on the internet, and have discovered that a dc conversion can easily be done by using a bridge rectifier. I just have to make sure that it is rated for my welders output amperage.
Has anyone done one of these conversions? And, how does it work? I know that it would improve welding in general, but what of aluminum?

I looked into converting an old ac welder to dc. But that was probably 15 year ago. It can be done fairly easily but by the time you are finished buying a heavy duty diode board and a fan, I think you’ll be better off just getting a low cost inverter stick welding machine.
I’m guessing off hand, between the diodes and fan it would cost close to 75.00 to 125.00 just for the parts. Now, that’s just my guess going off my memory of it…. And that was 10 to 15 years ago.
Anyway, it can definitely be done. I just don’t think it’s worth it if you have to buy parts for the conversion to dc.
=====
Anyway, I just noticed you already started the conversion. Good for you. I’ll be curious to see the end results. In any case, please make a cheap plastic enclosure for it so you don’t drop a wrench or something and have a huge short across the rectifier..

 

[G-ManBart]

TIG is AC for alum. Mike

Not exactly true. AC is certainly the most common for TIG aluminum, but it is possible to TIG aluminum using DC and there are times when it's the preferred method. It requires 100% helium, so that is one reason many people don't/can't try it....helium is pretty darned expensive now so few hobbyists have it available.

Tig Welding Aluminum

Video shows 3 main Tips for Tig Welding Aluminum using DCEN

www.weldingtipsandtricks.com