Looking for a TIG welder for aluminum
 

Hey all, I have a question about welding cast aluminum. I recently picked up a 2072 with a broken tab on the front of the transmission. I know the front tabs are not needed with the brace kit that I will install on this machine but I would like to try and weld it back on. I have an Esab 252i mig, tig & stick machine that I thought had the capability of welding aluminum but it can only weld DC tig. So, I will need an AC tig machine but don’t want to drop $2k on one. I found the attached machine with a 6 year warranty and was wondering if anybody could give me some direction on what machine to purchase.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-ti...dc-welder.html

IF.........you are not going to do a lot of Aluminum Welding, wouldn't paying a Professional Welding Shop ($50-$100) for this repair, cheaper than spending $850.00 ??

:bigthink:

Yes, I could do that and probably should but it's something I'd like to learn how to do.

have you tried to use the MIG with a spool gun and a reverse polarity setting? The thick casting will likely be easier to weld with MIG than with TIG.
And, you'll need argon or argon/helium if you dont have it. you cannot weld aluminum with co2 in the gas mixture

Well, that was my first thought also with the gun but when I looked up the number for my machine the gun was $700+. I didn't look to see if I could find a gun cheaper yet. I do have a tank of argon.

IIRC I was thinking that I heard people say the guns didn't work that well on aluminum. I don't know if that is true.

You would have to be real good with a gun to MIG weld THIN aluminum. I would say TIG is the only way to go on thin sheet aluminum. On medium thickness say 14/16 gage its not difficult either way. Thick castings, I have not used a TIG since welding school many many years ago. I am too old to Tig anything that is not on a bench. if you want to TIG the eastwood is not bad, priced alright too. I live real close to the eastwood store in Parma. they are fun to go to and have classes regularly. I have Lincoln or Miller for mig/tig/plasma because years ago those were the only options and my forty year old equipment is still supported for consumables.
Getting it clean is most important. clean it/grind it then clean it out again! you likely should heat it up to get any oil/grease out then clean it with acetone and heat it again -get some heat into it and contaminants out. they will ruin the weld no matter what you use.

I may have been reading into your post. I was assuming you are welding the tab on while still on the tractor.
If the transmission is on the bench then I would TIG it. Torch in one hand, filler in the other foot on the pedal. I cannot do that while lying on my back anymore - on the bench no problem
If you are welding the tab to the transmission while still on the tractor I would MIG just because one hand does all the welding and the other can hold the broken piece in place scratch your butt whatever! haha

Good info spndcash! Yes, I have the rear pulled out of the machine and on the bench for other repairs needed. I'm too old to lay on my back and try to weld something anymore.:biggrin2: Thanks.

I never caught on to TIG welding. Stick and MIG are no problem for me
35 years ago I made 2 aluminum snowmobile trailers then bought a Miller Welder with a spoolgun so I could do more aluminum fabrication.
Then I never did, I have run a half of a small spool of stainless thru the gun but basically bought something I never use ?
TIG is definitely the way to weld thin aluminum

Tig is far superior in the case you present. I've laid a lot of aluminum rod into oil soaked Cat torque converters. Use some heat to sweat out as much oil as possible. V the joint equally from both sides. There's a good chance you'll have to lay some weld on the material then remove it with an aluminum burr. Each time you do this you'll seal off contaminates. Then tig in from both sides.

You need straight argon for aluminum.

You can do the same with a spool gun, just not as controlled and not the same weld integrity.

To make it much easier, just fill the bolt hole in to if it's too close to the weld, then re-drill. Also leave the bottom side a bit proud and file to plane. Then you don't have to worry about keeping it all perfectly flat and you'll have no induced tension on the tab

I think the newer Miller 215 combo does DC/AC tig and has auto polarity switching. Not sure. I just helped a friend set one up for mig but he didn't have a tig torch. Very nice home unit with 220/110 options. 220 is far superior to 110, but 110 is definitely better than nothing.

Ambush is correct. go TIG, its more versatile for material thicknesses and the torch is easier to manage. TIG is superior quality - I simply cannot contort my body to TIG upside down anymore. for you starting out go pure Argon. Argon will be easier to learn with but for welding heavy material there is a distinct advantage to argon/helium mix
The advantage of the helium(in your argon) is it increases weld penetration and allows higher heat. it has high heat conductivity which is an advantage moving heat to your casting - Helium is harder to start the arc and it is not as good at cleaning as 100% argon. Argon is pretty poor at heat transfer so you will have to preheat the casting for sure.
Helium has gotten a bit pricey in the last ten years as well.
I would like to add that you'll need an aluminum wire brush as well, a steel wire brush will contaminate the aluminum.
220 is the only way to go. I doubt you can generate the heat required for castings with 110v - if it is not in your shop you should run it - compressor, mig, tig, plasma all are best on 220.

Thanks guys.

Well after I did a bunch or research, I ordered a machine. I would have loved to get a Miller, Lincoln or Esab but the cheapest I could find was the Lincoln at $2300. There are a bunch of AC/DC machines priced from $600 to $850, all of which come from China....just like my awesome Esab did.:biggrin2:

It was a hard decision and here was what I narrowed it down to.

YesWelder -- not too bad for $624 shipped to your door but I would have to order a foot pedal and gas regulator. 3 year warranty
https://yeswelder.com/products/tig250p-acdc

Everlast -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWU739O...2b_a_p-20&th=1

Eastwood -- Best warranty that I have seen but not many options for adjustments.
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-ti...dc-welder.html

Harbor Freight -- The absolute worst warranty I have seen and priced higher than all the other China crap.
https://www.harborfreight.com/weldin...put-56254.html

I ended up ordering the PrimeWelder. It has a lot of great reveiews and comes with everything needed.
https://primeweld.com/products/tig-2...hoCGPcQAvD_BwE

It should be here on Tuesday so I'll keep you all posted on how it does. Thanks again.

Well Oak, that looks like a pretty impressive machine for the price after watching the review vid seeing the customer ratings. :beerchug:

Once you learn to not contaminate the tungsten, you'll be having fun.

I would go to a welding store and pick up a couple of things. Two or three small stainless steel wire brushes and a couple for you drill. A few different size and shape aluminum burrs if you have a die grinder. Or ones that fit your Dremel. You can also buy a bottle of liquid chemical cleaner that works well.

This goes for all welding but, use a small propane torch to sweat the moisture out of the material just before welding. This also prevents "cold start" spots with stick and mig. This allows less initial heat input and more puddle control.

But the mantra with aluminum is "clean, clean, clean!"

Practice on stuff you have laying around. Cast and structural will act differently. Sometimes you'll have a surface scale you can't seem to break through and that's the time to lightly skim a bit off with the burr. Eventually you'll float enough of the contaminants to the top and burr them away.

Youtube is your friend since a video is worth about a hundred thousand words.

You just opened up another world of opportunities and probably get a few new friends. Congratulations.

I'll badmouth cheap china products just as much as the next guy.
That said, you do get what you pay for.
If one purchases quality, you get quality, just like most everything.
China will build most anything one wants, to the specifications you specify.
I just hate to see the jobs and profits leave the USA.
Tig welding aluminum is very satisfying, much like painting a high dollar restoration project.
And I have to explain that, one would not understand. :beerchug:

I couldn't agree more George. This rant isn't towards you, it's just my thoughts on what I did.

I had a few choices,
(1) pay someone to do it. Why? I do this stuff to learn new things.
(2) spend over $2,400 on a Lincoln or $2700 for a Miller (I'm pretty sure neither is 100% American made and I'm pretty sure no inverter welder is either)
(3) buy and entry level machine and learn on it.

If for some reason I quit my day job and get into welding then I'll look at the pretty blue & red machines and sell this POS to someone wanting to learn like me. From what I have seen and heard, this machine is pretty good for $800.

Somewhere about 20 years ago I wanted a 10" 3 jaw chuck for my old 1918 south bend flat belt lathe, as the chuck on it was worn quite a bit and precision was just a word while using it.
Not only were the jaws worn, but so was the scroll.
so I purchased a chuck made in china I can't remember where or what I paid but it was inexpensive compared to a quality Buck chuck.
Seems like like it was under $200
Well 20 years later it is still within .001 tolerance and I have used it and abused it.

You might well like the welder you purchased.
I was spoiled using the best like Hobart, Miller, etc. and the like, that Ford purchased for their tool/die operations as well as maintenance gangs.

I think with practice it will beat the hell out of JB weld any day Ha,LOL! :biggrin2:

Argon, as mentioned is your friend and sometimes oil impregnated Alum.just will not weld worth a chit no matter how you clean it/heat it or beat it.
it will bubble and porosity is a fact of life.
But for the most part, that is the exception rather than the rule.
A good die cast part rather than sand cast will always weld better.
We used to use heated trichloroethylene as a cleaner till we found out it was bad for the human body, and removed it from the work environment.
Aw well, too much babbling, have fun learning and burning holes in yer clothes :biggrin2:

Have you had a chance to play with the new toy yet? Been kinda waiting to see what you thought of it.

I have not had a chance yet to use it but I hope to today.

It shipped to my door in 3 days and was packaged very well. I have been watching a lot of Youtube vids on tig and there is a good FB page for the PrimeWeld owners/users.

I finally played around with my new welder. WOW, TIG is a lot harder than stick or MIG.

My right hand runs the torch but if you lift it off of the sweet spot it messes up the weld and if you dip the rod it contaminates it and you should stop and clean the tungsten. All this while your left hand is dabbing in filler metal at the correct time and speed while your foot is controlling the amperage output by the foot pedal control. All I had were some old fan blades off of an A/C unit to run some tests. This was pretty thin at 0.040" and easy to burn through not knowing what you are doing.
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I didn't get a before pic on this piece but this axle tube had a chunk busted out of it from the rear bolts being loose. This repair wasn't needed but I wanted to try out welding cast aluminum before I try the broken tab on the transmission.
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I ran out of daylight and it was getting cold + dinner was ready so I stopped. I still need to fill in some area's file it to shape and drill the bolt hole out a little. Like everything else it was getting a little easier as I went.

OH, I did pick up a China welding cart for the new China welder too.:biggrin2:
Attachment 109773

Here is a good coupon that saved me about $80. Take a pic of it with your phone and they will scan it at the register.:beerchug:
Attachment 109774

As someone who got payed to tig weld, I'd say you're doing darned good! And it will only get easier. Contaminating the tungsten is a common problem for beginners. That and forming the ball after you contaminated it. If you have a few tungsten's, just prep them all at once then do a quick change until you're ready to do them all again.

You can also buy a little rod "feeder" that advances the rod as you go. But you can get pretty handy with just quickly re-grabbing it farther up.

Having the right size tungsten for the metal volume (required heat input) is fairly important too.

Have fun, you're well on your way!!

I basically know nothing about welding but still think that is pretty darn
cool.

Ken

I got more play time on my TIG machine yesterday. The reason I purchased this A/C TIG machine is because of this busted tab on the rear of my 2072. Although the tab isn't needed with Sam's rear brace kit I still wanted it on there.
Attachment 109786

Welding cast aluminum is pretty hard because of all the trash inside of the material and it has been soaked in oil for years. I still need lots of practice to make them look good but I think this will be "good enough" for now. I'm still thinking about cutting a V and welding the bolt holes shut and re-tapping them. What are your thoughts on that idea?
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Oak,
you have a God given talent.
enjoy it,
it will only get better with practice. :beerchug:
------Please tell me you don't paint like Bob Ross :biggrin2:

There are generic guns on eBay -- I got one for my Hobart Ironman but haven't actually tried it yet. They are pretty well reviewed and available for all the brand names.

Thank you my friend. It was aggravating and fun while I was working on the repair.

I mentioned in an earlier post about filling the hole in while you were welding it up, but you still can. If you have a drill press that you can clamp solidly too, it's possible to run an endmill slowly through the hole. Then with the tap guided by the drill chuck put that through. The trouble with trying to "free" drill the hole now is the bit will want to chew out the threads opposite the gob of weld.

If you want to just give it a try, I'd suggest taking a small diameter aluminum burr and removing that gob right to the thread depth. Then start your tap in from the side with the most original thread. You always have the option of just welding it in if you don't like the results.


If you decide to weld it in, you can "V" it from both sides with a big drill bit. Weld it in with smaller beads rather than trying to get a really big puddle going.


Either way, you've broadened your knowledge and scope. Congrats!