aluninum basic settings

[SAS Company]

Stan, thanks for the detailed explanation.

[tigqk]

Stan read your post about the different methods of cleaning aluminum, a file eh? Next opportunity will give er a try.
Interesting post.Everyone into aluminum tries to clean their welds well.But alot of consumer items made of aluminum don't seem to show any cleaning at all.

[SAS Company]

tiggk, when you talk about consumer items, I believe you are talking about mass produced product. In a factory setting there is much more control of the material. When set up to make a product they can control what equipment the aluminum comes in contact with. No saws that also cut steel etc. Also I suspect you would find that an acid bath or something of the like is used to clean the material which would not leave an obvious mark on the metal. Most custom fab shops on the other hand get material that has been stored outside, shipped across 3 states, warehoused then shipped locally and maybe even stored in the shop awhile. While raw aluminum does not "rust" it does oxidize (white powdery look) over time and with exposure to the elements. Not the welders friend. By the time the average hobbyist gets a piece of aluminum, it has been around. Maybe even from a scrap yard, hence clean clean clean.
Or the short answer would be, because all the old guys taught us that you have to clean your aluminum.

[SICFabrications]

i dont really clean the welds AFTER they been welded, just clean the parent metal before i weld it....

[junes]

however, the frequency is actually based off the pulser and is not correct. you should not use pulse while welding aluminum cause youre using the pedal

This is confusing and i dont believe it is correct. In AC you have the frequency which is the HZ of the SINE wave and you also have pulse frequency or more commonly known as PPS. They are independent of each other on every machine that i have ever used.

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------

a low balance is not good either. I cant remember how the longevity machines are but on every machine i used a low balance usually means more EP (electrode Positive) which is the cleaning part of the cycle and this can be a big factor in why the electrode is eroding away and melting away also why you would not be getting a puddle formed due to most of the heat going into the electrode. Depending on the size of the piece of aluminum you may have absolutely no problem welding 1/4 inch plate if it is a large piece then yes but you may be fine. I welded large 3/8 aluminum transom brackets for boats. I was at around 375 amps for the first 30 min of the day then after that i was welding very nicely at 250-275 amps but if the piece is fairly small you can definitely weld it.