Just picked up a Millermatic 250X and was wondering if you can just throw a spool of aluminum in it and start welding or am I going to need a spoolgun? Also, can aluminum be welded with DC TIG? And lastly, are there any problems with the 250X I should know of?
Thanks
If You have a 10' gun and use a teflon liner You might be able to push aluminum wire, use 3/64 wire and keep the gun conduit as straight as possible.
In theory You can weld aluminum with DC TIG, do a search on it, there have been a few threads about DC TIG on aluminum in the past.
I am just passing along hearsay, I use a spool gun or AC TIG for aluminum.
Hello phaux, just to add a little bit to what Dave has already included, if you can use 5356 wire it will feed a bit better due to the additional stiffness of this alloy. Additionally, the 250X is considered by some to have a bit of a crisp arc as opposed to a soft arc, although most folks wouldn't even notice this unless they had done a considerable amount of welding and would even notice the difference. Best regards, aevald
I've welded with those MM250's Allen & they can keep them. I know exactly what you're talking about. I had an old '79 Miller SCP 200C with a series 50 feeder on it that had, IMHO, probably one of the nicest, smoothest welding arcs I've ever MIG welded with. I use an XMT 304 now, but I never should have gotten rid of that machine. It was slick.
So great to have you on the forum Allen! Have a nice day! Steve.
It will work, like anything else...But how well?? Not all that good. You really need a spool gun or a push pull setup on it to do it well. It will most likely jam up & birdnest a lot. May get a lot of burnback too. hard to say, but it will not do a very good job. A 30A on ebay will run about $400-700 depending on condition & age. I would say an average would be close to around $550.
Good luck with the fence job. Sounds like you bid it ok. See how 100' turned into 300'! Who knows what else may change after you get working on it! :-) S.W.
Thanks, Hopefully I get it and all goes well. Have a friend willing to help with it for cheap.
you have to use 100% argon