Switch hitter?

[Goodhand]

I've recently added aluminum capability to my 110 volt mig - a bottle of argon, neoprene drive roller, larger tip in the gun. I'm wondering how most of you handle switching back and forth between aluminum and steel. Do you have two machines, one for each metal, or do you just change parts when needed?

Suffering from severe ADD, I don't seem to have the patience to change parts in order to change metals.

[Wyoming]

A 110v Mig...oh boy, you are going to be limited right off the bat on that one. I wish you the best of luck. Aluminum may just demand more power than your machine may produce.

Using a different liner, rolls, etc. will get you going....as far as your limited range will allow. Many larger Migs come with a spoolgun that attaches either with an adapter or as a plug-and-play option. Still other Migs use a push-pull drive system. The spoolgun deals with the troubling tendency for aluminum wire to birdnest due to its having to feed all the way from the drive rolls out through the long liner by having a small drive system and spool of wire in the handle of the spoolgun itself...short run-no kinks. The MM251 I have will allow the use of the regular gun for steel and I need only to turn on the Argon tank valve and pick up the spoolgun to start a bead for aluminum.

For your set-up, realize that you are going barebones and will need to swap out the liner and drive roll whenever you switch from aluminum to steel.

If aluminum is something you consider you will be doing a lot of, you may want to consider a larger 220v Mig with or without a spoolgun. I'm not making any judgements on your 110v unit, and we all like to be able to use what we have already, but you are going to be fighting an uphill battle at best. Again, best of luck.

[Hotfoot]

...ditto...

[tigger1]

I've recently added aluminum capability to my 110 volt mig - a bottle of argon, neoprene drive roller, larger tip in the gun. I'm wondering how most of you handle switching back and forth between aluminum and steel. Do you have two machines, one for each metal, or do you just change parts when needed?

Suffering from severe ADD, I don't seem to have the patience to change parts in order to change metals.

Yeah, I switch when I go from steel to aluminum..............from MIG to TIG!!!

[precisionworks]

My 110v MIG runs stainless wire most of the time, .023". Perfect for SS sinks in restaurants, where that machine has paid for itself many times.

Ran a few inches of mild steel wire on time, late at night, cold misting rain, six feet off I-57. All my shield gas bottles look the same in the dark, and pure argon got connected to the MIG. Very dark deposit, but full penetration ... which isn't hard on 1/8" mild steel. Decided to use the machine for only stainless after that

[Goodhand]

My 110v MIG runs stainless wire most of the time, .023". Perfect for SS sinks in restaurants, where that machine has paid for itself many times.

Ran a few inches of mild steel wire on time, late at night, cold misting rain, six feet off I-57. All my shield gas bottles look the same in the dark, and pure argon got connected to the MIG. Very dark deposit, but full penetration ... which isn't hard on 1/8" mild steel. Decided to use the machine for only stainless after that

Thanks for the reply, Barry...

One has to be cautious when making blind choices in the dark. I learned my lesson on a windsurfing trip. Our caravan of several vehicles was returning from the Sea Of Cortez, and decided to overnight at Lake Havasu. We had been driving most of the day, and were dog tired. Just at dusk I climbed into my little motor home to hit the sack, and reached into my ditty bag to grab a tube of toothpaste. I applied a dab to my brush and started to run it across my teeth in the usual fashion. As I began to realize that the paste had a rather oily consistency, a strange sensation began to affect my tongue and gums... they were becoming numb. I turned on a light and grabbed the tube with the paste that I had squeezed onto my toothbrush. Surprise! It was a tube of Nupercainal (hemorrhoidal & anesthetic cream) that I had purchased to relieve the discomfort of my chapped inner thigh rash from running 8 to 10 miles a day.

[Wyoming]

Thanks for the reply, Barry...

One has to be cautious when making blind choices in the dark. I learned my lesson on a windsurfing trip. Our caravan of several vehicles was returning from the Sea Of Cortez, and decided to overnight at Lake Havasu. We had been driving most of the day, and were dog tired. Just at dusk I climbed into my little motor home to hit the sack, and reached into my ditty bag to grab a tube of toothpaste. I applied a dab to my brush and started to run it across my teeth in the usual fashion. As I began to realize that the paste had a rather consistency, a strange sensation began to affect my tongue and gums... they were becoming numb. I turned on a light and grabbed the tube with the paste that I had squeezed onto my toothbrush. Surprise! It was a tube of Nupercainal (hemorrhoidal & anesthetic cream) that I had purchased to relieve the discomfort of my chapped inner thigh rash from running 8 to 10 miles a day.

Much preferable to the time back in the early '70s when I brought a bar Betty home and drunkenly groped around in the dark bathroom and mistook the Vick Vapor Rub for Vaseline.

[djb]

I'll simplify this.

You CAN run up to 1/8" aluminum using the same liner and drive rolls, and with the same tip in most instances as you aren't running that hot where the wire expands so much as to burnback.

I run 98/2 Argon for stainless .030, and have NO difficulties switching only to 5356 wire as it's plenty stiff enough to feed properly. Just drop your roll tension all the way back until it just barely pulls the spool and you aren't getting jerking at your weld.

It helps to have a plumbers torch nearby if it's critical to have hot starts, only warm the part for a few moments at medium flame.

Run your voltage high on these small machines, about 75% of their max, maybe the final tap. Choke your wire back and you get a nice glob transfer. Turn up wire speed slightly if you're running too hot after 3-4 seconds.

First and foremost clean that aluminum as much as you can. Argon flow of 20 will suffice.

[calweld]

Much preferable to the time back in the early '70s when I brought a bar Betty home and drunkenly groped around in the dark bathroom and mistook the Vick Vapor Rub for Vaseline.

Haha, Roy, looking at the title of this thread, here in California, when talking about "switch-hitters", here in California when the subject isn't baseball there's a completely different meaning to the term And it has nothing to do with welding . . .

[Broccoli1]

Haha, Roy, looking at the title of this thread, here in California, when talking about "switch-hitters", here in California when the subject isn't baseball there's a completely different meaning to the term And it has nothing to do with welding . . .

Go back and read the OPs name too

[calweld]

Go back and read the OPs name too

[Goodhand]

I'll simplify this.

You CAN run up to 1/8" aluminum using the same liner and drive rolls, and with the same tip in most instances as you aren't running that hot where the wire expands so much as to burnback.

I run 98/2 Argon for stainless .030, and have NO difficulties switching only to 5356 wire as it's plenty stiff enough to feed properly. Just drop your roll tension all the way back until it just barely pulls the spool and you aren't getting jerking at your weld.

It helps to have a plumbers torch nearby if it's critical to have hot starts, only warm the part for a few moments at medium flame.

Run your voltage high on these small machines, about 75% of their max, maybe the final tap. Choke your wire back and you get a nice glob transfer. Turn up wire speed slightly if you're running too hot after 3-4 seconds.

First and foremost clean that aluminum as much as you can. Argon flow of 20 will suffice.

Well, you've pretty much dialed it in for me, djb. I get a glob transfer at 75% and a nice spray at 100% with 5356, but when I run the bead for 3 to 4 inches, the wire seizes in the tip. I'm running .030 wire through a .035 tip, but it still seizes for just 3 to 4 seconds, then will pass the wire, again. I hold the tip about 3/4" from the surface. Do you know what I can do to avoid the seizing? Thanks for responding.

[Goodhand]

Go back and read the OPs name too

Do you know what broccoli is shaped like? A prick. Hehehehehe.

I tried to leave this type of grade school humor behind when I passed from seventh grade to eighth grade, but apparently, some still think it is funny.

[calweld]

hey,,,, c'mon now, I figure the question has been answered already, leaves a little time for some of us to relive our childhoods, get a little juvenile, no??????? Besides, your title . . . . left this one wiiiiiide open . . . . haahahaha

[Goodhand]

hey,,,, c'mon now, I figure the question has been answered already, leaves a little time for some of us to relive our childhoods, get a little juvenile, no??????? Besides, your title . . . . left this one wiiiiiide open . . . . haahahaha

Don't have a problem with reliving childhoods, but being childish is another matter. You just proved my point, again.