converting my mig to ally welding,info

[RevHead]

im converting my spare mig to alloy welding wots the tricks and secrets i need to no b4 i get welding ,i got a new liner and argon,plus a roll of hi tensil alloy wire wots next

[sharky]

Lots'n'lots of practice.....:D

[Booster]

Way different to steel, turn the wire feed up and get used to moving fast ,

[RevHead]

quote:Originally posted by Booster

Way different to steel, turn the wire feed up and get used to moving fast ,
so when im mig welding im pooling the molten steel ,am i building with the alloy[:o)

[Booster]

Going back a few years now but i think when i did it if you used enough power to get a molten pool it burnt the wire as it fed unless the feed rate was turned up quite a bit, need to try it and see what works for you, mine was 6mm thick truck tipper body that i was repairing some cracks, must have stuck ok as none have reopened..
brought a tig soon after..

[Deano]

and be prepared for it to look like crap. unless you have a $10k pulse mig.

but you will also need another roller to suit the ally i think they are a u groove not v groove and drill out the tip a touch.

[davio]

did our one at work ,you need a nylon sleeve for the feed gun cheap and easy to put in ,u just undo the gun at the welder end and pull out the wound wire sleeve and slot in the new one
you will prob also have to change the feed rollers to suit the thicker ally wire
lastly u need pure argon not argoshield bottle
and said as above a shitload of amps and very high feed rate, best just to experiment there and u will see for urself
when u do get going be aware there is heaps more expansion and distortion than with steel
but all in all its much the same technique
comments above written by a completetly untrained and ill informed but successful ally welder

[RevHead]

ok i,ll give it a go tomorrow just didnt want to jump straight in without a bit of info

[pappas]

On my mig you have to reverse the polarity to weld ally as well.

[BANDITROD]

spot on pappas

[RevHead]

quote:Originally posted by pappas

On my mig you have to reverse the polarity to weld ally as well.
how do i do that ,ive got a mono mig 140,[}:)]

[Deano]

open up the door for the spool of wire and there should be 2 leads with wing nuts on them one is marked - the other + just swap them so the + is the old earth lead

[sharky]

Why do you have to reverse it ? Mine seems to work ok on normal for ali ...

[probike]

I found pre heating the the alloy helped

[Redmohawk]

Clean the ally Just (seconds) before welding with scotchbright will improve the weld outa site as it removes the oxidation layer (even brand new shiny ally is still oxidised it happens in seconds) the oxidation layer is what protects the ally from more corosion but it also makes it hard to weld. Reversing the polarity of your mig reverses the current flow making it easyer for the current to punch through the oxidation layer (its an insulator) the reason a pulse mig/tig or better an AC tig welds ally better is because the pulsation of the current continually breaks the insulation down. This reduces the current needed to weld it (less current means less heat , less heat means less expansion and less buckeling) neater cleaner job.

[davio]

quote:Originally posted by Redmohawk

Clean the ally Just (seconds) before welding with scotchbright will improve the weld outa site as it removes the oxidation layer (even brand new shiny ally is still oxidised it happens in seconds) the oxidation layer is what protects the ally from more corosion but it also makes it hard to weld. Reversing the polarity of your mig reverses the current flow making it easyer for the current to punch through the oxidation layer (its an insulator) the reason a pulse mig/tig or better an AC tig welds ally better is because the pulsation of the current continually breaks the insulation down. This reduces the current needed to weld it (less current means less heat , less heat means less expansion and less buckeling) neater cleaner job.
[8)]ahh didnt know that, says the slightly less ill informed davio