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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Welding Anodize Pipe
- - By Kppoole Date 07-28-2003 18:14
I am having a difficult time welding anodize tube for t tops can anyone help me out? I have a sycroware 250 and am using Argon and even mixing helium but the welds are ugly to say the least. I can go back over the welds with pulsing and it looks fine but thats twice the work. I can not figure out what to do to improve my welds on the 1st. pass. I am using 2% tungston, my amps are 190-220 I have a push button on my torch, I am using 5356 1/8" esab filler wire. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Kevin
Parent - By Lawrence (*****) Date 07-28-2003 19:41

Welding over anodized aluminum will always produce soundness issues.

One possibility would be to clean at least one inch around all welded areas- inside and out. I prefer abrasive removal, others chemical. However, new anodizing formulas (we have encountered some from Boeing) can be pretty tenatious and difficult to remove by any means. lots of threads recently in this forum on just this Issue.

The more detail you add to your posts the better answers you will get.
Parent - By Ken Dougherty (**) Date 07-29-2003 04:15
Kevin,
Had similar experiences with some Al tubing remnants that I bought to practice with. I was using a Miller Syncrowave 180 with 100% argon and pure or Trimix tungston.

I had the best and most consistent results when I used a 1" belt sander with fairly fine grit (e.g. 150 or finer) and carefully removed the annodized coating. Then, I used acetone and cleaned the area to be welded until the cloth did not continue to turn black or gray. Seems like aluminum really likes to be clean.
Ken
Parent - - By aircraft (**) Date 07-30-2003 00:42
you must get rid of the anodize coating first then recoat when your done. Also don't use the 2% tungsten.
The coating must go this is not an option.
Parent - - By Proarc Date 07-30-2003 02:44
How do you recoat when your working witha large item like a t-top or tower?
Parent - By aircraft (**) Date 07-30-2003 10:02
well with a larger items you may just have to resort to another coating like paint.
Parent - By Kppoole Date 07-30-2003 12:16
I appreciate the advise so far but I left a few things out that are important. The Aluminum pipe is 6463 with a bright dipped anodized finish, it is purley for looks. This tube is used on Tuna Towers and T-Tops etc. for the boating industry. There are many companies Like Pipe Welders (who are the best in the industry) that are able to make welds in one pass with out removing the anodize finish prior to welding. Removing the finish takes far to long and would not be an option as the price would be to much. I have been working on it and have had some sucess and it is getting more consistant as I go. I am looking for tips from tower builders but do appreciate everyones advice as it is informative. "THANK YOU ALL FOR RESPONDING"

I am mixing Helium and Argon, seems to work a little better than just Argon, The welds are cleaner. I am slightly leaning the torch in the direction of the weld and am dipping the 1/8" 5356 filler rod from the rear as I go seems to work much better than from the front as the anodize is hard to remove and you kinda have to push it out of the way as you weld. I am back puddling for the layered coin look. Today I will try 100% tungston instead of 2%.

I had an e-mail from Pipe Welders, they said to drop the Helium and use staright Argon.

Any adice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kevin


Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Welding Anodize Pipe

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