Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Some time in the future I'll need to do some repairs to aluminium panelling (on the Dodge trailer), which has received several nicks and rips to the skin. Question is (and I am a complete novice!!), can a Mig welder be modified and used for welding aluminium, or am I stuck with a) buying new equipment altogether b) or using a kit such as Lumiweld, that I've seen advertised?

thanks
Rick.

[Uncle Joe]

Lumiweld is only suitable for non-stressed applications.

MIG (as well as TIG) is ideal for aluminium alloy sheet. You dont really need to modify your welder very much.

Aluminium welding wire is usually available in 0,8mm, 1,0mm and 1,2mm diameters. Therefore if your feed is in good condition, it could just be a matter of getting the 0,8 wire. My personal preference however, is to use 1,0 wire, and use Teflon / Keran feeders, if these are available for your welder.

For gas, I use a 50 / 50 mix of Helium and Argon, unless I am welding thicker sections, when I change to 70 / 30.

Some people change the welders polarity, but for me, this is just BS!

Hope this helps.

[rustyreks]

Rick i also have a mig and asked about the aluminium welding at the welding supplies store and you can do it with the mig you will need to buy another welding lead and nozzle the problem is that the aluminium wire is tacky it may be the coating on it anyway the cable is tethlon coated so the wire moves through the lead easily and i think they recommended the argon shield if you are using gas apparently it is better for mig welding as well just more expensive i run co2 and i am happy with that a bottle lasts for ages and is cheap to fill 35.00 nz.

[Uncle Joe]

The thing about aluminium is, though it can be welded using MIG, and the welds are OK, my own personal experience is that if you have the possibility, its way better to use TIG. Although I know that some people will disagree with this!