welding aluminum 6061

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 03-30-2008 02:54 Edited 03-30-2008 03:02

Do a search on "6061 Aluminum," and you'll find quite a few threads on the topic.
Here's the link in case you're not familiar with the search function in this forum... Click any one of the threads to see if you can find the potential solution(s) to your problem(s):

http://www.aws.org/cgi-bin/mwf/forum_search.pl?words=6061+Aluminum&user=&board=0&min=&max=&field=body&sort=time&order=desc

Be prepared to do some reading, then repost your query/question with as much SPECIFIC information as possible such as: diameter wire, gas flow rate, voltage, current/wire feed speed, travel speed, type of application, whether or not post weld heat treatment is being used afterwards, thickness of material, etc. Hopefully either you might find the answer to your dilemma or someone here may be able to help out but, remember to include as much of the SPECIFICS involved in your welding operation, and application of final product as possible from now on or, use the search feature ;)

Respectfully,
Henry

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 03-30-2008 15:27

What type of cleaning are you doing before welding,aluminum needs to be clean before welding.

By BkTaylor (*)

Date 03-30-2008 15:44

As well you can try preheating your work prior to welding. By blacking the joint with acyteline and then preheat it till the plack is gone and then use a ss wire tooth brush to clean what you cant see. I use this on all my welding with wire, I have also found you need tremendous amount of heat when welding with wire and I use 4043 .23 wire for most of my projects in my spool gun mixed with straight argon. My machine I run off of is a classic IIID and I am running upwards 120-180 amps depending on the thickness. hope this helps?

By MEWelding.com Date 05-13-2008 20:22

Acetone, clean (used only for aluminum) wire brush.

By MEWelding.com Date 05-13-2008 20:24

Make sure you are getting good gas (100% Argon) coverage using the push technique.

By Kix

Date 05-14-2008 12:48

Sounds like your really hot. What position are you welding in? what kind of joint are you welding? how thick is the material? what voltage are you runnin? Are you pulsing? What kind of machine and gun? How much gas flow are you pushing? How are you cleaning the part? Looks like you have some questions to answer now my friend. ;-)

By 803056

Date 05-14-2008 20:55

I hate to say anyone's suggestions are wrong, but this is one of those rare cases.

You do not want to preheat heat treatable aluminum before welding it. They are time at temperature sensitive and will over age and lose strength is they are held at temperature for any length of time. Until you have performed tensile tests and bend tests, don't assume all is good just because the welds are crack free.

Make sure you are in the spray mode of GMAW. High wire feeds speeds are required when using small diameter filler metal. Your wire feeder may not be capable of feeding the wire fast enough to ensure you are in the spray mode of transfer.

Kix asked several valid questions that will influence your ability to achieve the level of quality required for your application.

As mentioned, there are several recent threads on aluminum welding you can review.

Best regards - Al