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  1. #1
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    Default Unimig Razorweld 200 Welding 2.5mm Aluminium, Love this machine

    Hey guys i chose to fab my own fuel tank no great loss if it leaks it will be a water holding tank.. however the welds are turning out really well, i bought a sheet of 2.5mm quality aluminium from Capral Aluminium and used my home made sheet metal bender, These weld pics are only some offcuts i dialed the machine in on so its only practice, Last night i watched WeldingTipsandTricks and tried to convert everything to millimeters and metric in general i came to the settings of imperial 0.098" thickness "2.5mm sheet", for every 0.001 is 1amp so technically i needed 100amps converted to 200inch per minute wire feed converted to metric is 5 meters a minute of wire feed bloody hard trying to do all the conversions... anyhow

    i ended up at 5 meters per minute wire feed for 2.5mm material aluminium and than elding TipsandTricks said to start off at a low voltage and test each weld and turn it up one setting at a time, what i found was the wire was burning back so i found my own happy setting yes i have actually worked out how to use a mig welder based on weld appearing and what the wire is doing

    i was up around 16volts came down to 14volts and played in between i found 10 meters a minute on the wire feed the perfect starting point, i noticed 16volts was pretty hot and it was leaving holes as i was passing kind of it was melting both sides of the material but it was leaving a elongated hole in the seam so i backed it down to 15volts the weld laid down much better and was a lower appearance but while running the bead i could see a hole in front of the molten pool so i backed it down to 14volts and it ran beautiful

    running .9mm wire, 2.5mm material, 14volts, 10 meters a minute wire feed and i came out with this, i ran a continues 300mm bead without overheating or blowing any holes
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  2. #2
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    Default

    here are the weld pictures
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  3. #3
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    We might just make a welder out of you after all.
    I've seen a lot worse and with some more practice and tweaking you will get even better. Can you post a shot of the inside of the weld so we can see what the penetration is like?

  4. #4
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    Just a tip- Get a staino wire brush and give it a razz up before you weld. Keep it only for ally, and keep it out of the normal workshop crud. This really helps with edge wetting and keeping all variables in your favour.

    Today I played with a new toy- a 350A pulse mig. IIRC this was about 16V.
    With ally you really do begin to see the effect of heat soak into the material. So if all other things remain constant and things go south, wait for your material temps to drop a bit. Welding on a big heatsink can help.
    IMG_0496.jpg

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karl Robbers View Post
    We might just make a welder out of you after all.
    I've seen a lot worse and with some more practice and tweaking you will get even better. Can you post a shot of the inside of the weld so we can see what the penetration is like?
    Hey Karl here is the pic the weld was a outside open corner weld, weld was left to right in this picture as its flipped over

    What's your opinion on penetration? i was a little slow to start off than things got moving as the weld went on

    pic failed but is up now
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Commander_Keen View Post
    Just a tip- Get a staino wire brush and give it a razz up before you weld. Keep it only for ally, and keep it out of the normal workshop crud. This really helps with edge wetting and keeping all variables in your favour.

    Today I played with a new toy- a 350A pulse mig. IIRC this was about 16V.
    With ally you really do begin to see the effect of heat soak into the material. So if all other things remain constant and things go south, wait for your material temps to drop a bit. Welding on a big heatsink can help.
    IMG_0496.jpg
    Hey CK i tried that to break the oxide layer on the very last bead i ran, same settings but wire brushed and the weld came out a nicer flatter more appealing looking weld but it was only a short 80mm to 100mm weld on the end of the material i played with, it was all clean new material so i thought the wire brushing was unnecessary but it did help on the last weld for appearance i think i need to focus on smaller tacks for a better appealing weld appearance

  7. #7
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    You can get success with a bit of a whip motion with the torch on standard GMAW.
    Pulsed GMAW does a lot of this for you, and a steady travel speed works best.

    Aluminium oxide forms on the material almost instantly, so always best practice to remove it before any welding operation - if mateial is new, old, or somewhere in between. That being said working on new stuff is so much nicer than old. So you have that going for you for consistency in results.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2009au View Post
    Hey Karl here is the pic the weld was a outside open corner weld, weld was left to right in this picture as its flipped over

    What's your opinion on penetration? i was a little slow to start off than things got moving as the weld went on

    pic failed but is up now
    That's not too bad. A fraction more heat and I do mean only a fraction, may be a good thing. I reckon your tacks are a lot of the reason that your penetration is not as consistent as it could be. Ideally tack with tig and no filler, then mig over the top of the lot.
    Provided you design your tank properly, those welds are fit for purpose.

  9. #9
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    Thanks guys much appreciated for the advice, the tank measures 500x480x180mm 48 litres im assuming i shouldnt need a baffle?

    These tacks were about 2 seconds i'll try 1 second when i weld the tank

    I can show what the 15v and 16v settings welded like i will take some pics soon

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2009au View Post
    Thanks guys much appreciated for the advice, the tank measures 500x480x180mm 48 litres im assuming i shouldnt need a baffle?

    These tacks were about 2 seconds i'll try 1 second when i weld the tank

    I can show what the 15v and 16v settings welded like i will take some pics soon
    You definitely need a baffle or 2. The purpose of the baffle is to prevent the sides and ends of the tank bowing and bulging as fluid sloshes around. If you don't prevent this, your folds and welded seams constantly get worked and will crack and fail. Always over baffle rather than under baffling as the consequences can be unpleasant, particularly when talking boats.

  11. #11
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    Thanks Karl i will install them

  12. #12
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    Only 2 pics are uploading showing the 15v and 16v, 10 meters a minute settings on 2.5mm material

    Both these settings weld much better but the job opens up and i dont want to risk trying to fill the holes

    I have paper over the welds because it was a test piece to test the migs setting and find those sweet numbers so i covered them up
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