Setting up a mig welder

a_kelley

a_kelley

mechanical fixer
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Location
Rutherfordton
I've got a Hobart handler 140 at the shop.. I think we have a bottle of argon also.. is it capable of welding cast aluminum? I'm sure I can figure out the process, just wondering if it's got enough power to do the job.. and what variety of wire would I want to run? I have three bolt hole bosses/ears that broke off in a car accident.. can't find a new engine front cover, so fixing it is the way we are seeking to go. I can weld steel pretty decent, I hear Al is a little bit different. Surface prep, surface prep, surface prep. Don't mix tools for steel with Aluminum. Stainless wire brushes. Absolutely clean surfaces.. anything I'm missing? Oh and I also heard if you wait to see the puddle, you are already moving too slowly. Do I need to swap the liner if it's had steel wire ran through it?
 
I've never welded aluminum, but the little bit that I do know is that I've heard that it's damn near impossible for the wire to feed all the way through a MIG gun and lead. I've only seen people do it with a spool gun. If you do try it with your lead, please report back because I've been interested to see if it is possible and/or how easy it might be. But if you did try it, I'd say that it would probably be a good idea to swap liners.

Beyond that...can't help you with the rest of it. I only know that it does take more heat to weld aluminum, so I don't know where that puts you with machine power.
 
You'd be wasting your time. Even with preheat, there's no way that 140 has the ass to dig into that. You'd probably never get the wire to feed well, either. Aluminum is hard to push down a standard gun lead. You could invest in a Teflon liner, possibly knurled rollers, new tips, etc. But you'll still likely wind up with a mess.
 
Cast AL is tough enough to deal with on it's own, especially nice oil soaked cast that has had its pours all filled with crud and oil. A 140 will not have the guts to actually bond. I have mig'd AL tubing/plate with a 210 a couple times without a spool gun in a pinch. Once with a short gun lead that had a smooth liner and once with a standard 10' lead, but had to have someone hold the lead out straight while I was welding so it wouldn't birdnest.
 
Maybe I should have attached these pics...
It's pretty clean and pretty thin.

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@XJsavage what about Aluminum stick welding cast like this? I have access to a ranger...
 
Well that changes everything! I'm not going to say "no," anymore. I'm gonna say "Hell no!" ;) That's a mess there. Those threaded holes should really be ground out, built up with weld, then remachined, drilled, and tapped in order to have any chance of surviving. You could MAYBE tig it back together well enough to hold for a little while, but you'll likely end up with screwed up threads and welds that continue to crack.
 
No, nope, not even a chance. Welded aluminum is in the annealed state when finished. It would require extensive heat treat to hold threads again along with an absolute perfect weld condition.

You got yourself some scrap metal. Honestly lab metal or some goofy epoxy would be a better attempt.....profesionally...replace it.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
No, nope, not even a chance. Welded aluminum is in the annealed state when finished. It would require extensive heat treat to hold threads again along with an absolute perfect weld condition.

You got yourself some scrap metal. Honestly lab metal or some goofy epoxy would be a better attempt.....profesionally...replace it.
Click to expand...

Lol. That's what I was gonna say, better off with an epoxy. No matter what you do on that, it won't hold anything belt driven. If it was just helping to seal the cover to the motor, that would be one thing, but that looks like it will have a load on it and a lot of vibration.

Replace it
 
even with a spool gun it's a bitch. Have it tig welded or just replace or
 
I'd happily replace it if it wasn't made out of unobtainium. Anyone want to Tig it for me? Yes it is structurally loaded. It mounts the power steering pump.
 
What part for what kind of car?
 
It's a 2011 Chevy Aveo front engine cover / water pump rear cover. Can't even get it at the dealer. I can get the VIN for which motor it is. Junk yards don't list it as available either.. even those with core motors.
 
If it were me I'd find a cheap parts car or wrecked one and rob this part off it then part the rest out.
 
I'd attempt it, personally. If it were my car or a friend/regular customer. I feel confident I could make it strong enough, but I couldn't guarantee it. And between the welding and machine work necessary, it wouldn't be cheap! I would strongly encourage you to find a replacement cover overseas or wherever.
 
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