[Jacked800]

I have a syncrowave 250DX and you need 180 -205 amps to be welding 1/4" plate. Clean clean clean that aluminum off if you expect to weld anything. Clean off your filler rods too. I wipe mine with steel wool. First action that happens is the cleaning action and it will not start to wet-in until it's clean. More heat at first and as it gets hotter you can back off of it some. Hotter it gets the easier it is to start your weld and a faster flow on your bead.

[Farmwelding]

I have a syncrowave 250DX and you need 180 -205 amps to be welding 1/4" plate. Clean clean clean that aluminum off if you expect to weld anything. Clean off your filler rods too. I wipe mine with steel wool. First action that happens is the cleaning action and it will not start to wet-in until it's clean. More heat at first and as it gets hotter you can back off of it some. Hotter it gets the easier it is to start your weld and a faster flow on your bead.

yes...clean all aluminum always. If you don't, you are like e and have to pretend you are using a scratch start rig. Don't be lazy with cleaning like me.

[MinnesotaDave]

Hello Gang,

Am trying to weld aluminum with a Syncrowave 250 having some trouble.

Just for practice on a 1/4 stock
Have my amperage set at 130


Why is it doing this?

The tungsten is "balling" due to the positive side of the AC wave.

The negative side is the penetration (into the plate) and the positive side is the cleaning (out of the plate, into the tungsten). This is oversimplified of course, but is the general result.

Setting your balance control at 3 makes this effect 50/50.

Increasing the balance control increases the negative side and decreases the positive.
More power to the metal, less into your tungsten.

Try practicing on 1/8" material at 150 amps, balance set to 7.
Full pedal to start puddle quickly (3 seconds or less), then back off a little as needed.

[MinnesotaDave]

yes...clean all aluminum always. If you don't, you are like e and have to pretend you are using a scratch start rig. Don't be lazy with cleaning like me.

People say this often - it's not necessary in my opinion.

New aluminum is plenty clean and doesn't need brush scratches all over it.
Polished aluminum would look terrible all scratched up with brushing.

A little acetone wipe down is generally all that is needed.
My rods come out of a clean factory box - no need to clean them.

I just welded an automatic transmission broken ear back together - naturally the weld area of that needed serious cleaning.

[Farmwelding]

yes...clean all aluminum always. If you don't, you are like e and have to pretend you are using a scratch start rig. Don't be lazy with cleaning like me.

People say this often - it's not necessary in my opinion.

New aluminum is plenty clean and doesn't need brush scratches all over it.
Polished aluminum would look terrible all scratched up with brushing.

A little acetone wipe down is generally all that is needed.
My rods come out of a clean factory box - no need to clean them.

I just welded an automatic transmission broken ear back together - naturally the weld area of that needed serious cleaning.

I guess we probably have a little dirtier aluminum at my school. Dusty from years of sitting and a lot of oxidation. It is also marked some so all sorts of contaminants. Ours isn't very new and clean already so.

[Poland308]

I think I would avoid using steel wool to clean your filler rod. Cross contamination and embedded steel particles directly on the filler wire could cause some issues.

Clean clean clean that aluminum off if you expect to weld anything. Clean off your filler rods too. I wipe mine with steel wool.

[Jacked800]

I think I would avoid using steel wool to clean your filler rod. Cross contamination and embedded steel particles directly on the filler wire could cause some issues.

Clean clean clean that aluminum off if you expect to weld anything. Clean off your filler rods too. I wipe mine with steel wool.

I weld a lot of aluminum and haven't ever noticed any difference using the steel wool or a scotch brite pad. I only went to the steel wool because I kept wearing out the scotch brite pads. I will do an experiment next time and see if there is any obvious difference. THANKS

[Otto Nobedder]

Here we go again, with the "surgical clean" aluminum debate.

This one was spotless:

GEDC1455.JPG (163.42 KiB) Viewed 701 times

This one was completely untouched, buried in road grime. I didn't even brush it.

GEDC1454.JPG (163.35 KiB) Viewed 701 times

There is a difference, but my point is, for most applications you don't need to spend 30 minutes prep for a 30 second weld. 30 seconds prep will get you where you need to be.

Steve S

[Farmwelding]

Well Steve you are right. A lot of it is aesthetics. Do a little work but I wouldn't spend more than a minute or two cleaning for most anything that need to look really nice. As I always say, if you are doing work for NASA do everything you can to clean, but for practice or most projects the average guy builds, you don't have to spend much time cleaning. Do it but don't focus on it. And surgically clean is not even close to what I would recommend. Gosh if you want to spend that much time cleaning you must have pure gloves. I know my gloves are a little black so I know something will be in it but it isn't going to cause a weld failure.

[LtBadd]

Here we go again, with the "surgical clean" aluminum debate.

There is a difference, but my point is, for most applications you don't need to spend 30 minutes prep for a 30 second weld. 30 seconds prep will get you where you need to be.

Steve S

There is a time and place for everything, however when teaching you don't want someone to say, "I wasn't taught that" still common sense and experience should win the day.
Good post Steve

[Otto Nobedder]

Here we go again, with the "surgical clean" aluminum debate.

There is a difference, but my point is, for most applications you don't need to spend 30 minutes prep for a 30 second weld. 30 seconds prep will get you where you need to be.

Steve S

There is a time and place for everything, however when teaching you don't want someone to say, "I wasn't taught that" still common sense and experience should win the day.
Good post Steve

I should have added, for the student, there's nothing wrong with surgical clean. There's nothing wrong with removing every possible variable but one's settings and manipulation. The best way to learn is to remove any variable not directly related to working the torch, puddle, and rod.

For the experienced welder, there's a scale of "how clean do I need it?" based on the material and the purpose.

Steve S