Welding Tips and Tricks

Got some anodized aluminum tubing from a friend to try out. I've welded a little plain aluminum before, not much, but he said anodized is difficult to weld. Looking for some tips, or baseline settings to try out. Its 1" and 1 1/2" tubing, looks like about .125 wall thickness. Any recommendations on technique or heat?

Im using and AHP 200x

Thanks!

I weld it all the time. I will help if I can. What kind of anodizing is it? Polished or brushed finish?

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Thats one of my anodized joints.

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Polished. Just like that, he uses it for cobia towers.
That is my 5th try, 140amps, 3/32 2%lanth tungsten 120hz, and about 35% cleaning. It just seems dirty, and cold. Whenever i get it to wet in it looks like one round bead instead of the way it looks on regular aluminum

You might drool a bit looking at this guys work-
https://www.instagram.com/martinmarinedesign/?hl=en

You'll notice the anodizing is disrupted within the weld, and the "crispness" of his beads is due to the "bump welding" technique. Basically he uses a torch switch to modulate the heat to full on, off, full on as he dabs and travels. Takes a LOT of practice to achieve these outcomes.

You might achieve something similar by setting up PULSE on your Alpha. A low pulse rate like 1.2-1.4pps, 25% on time, 25% background, and move your amps up. Just tinker with the % on time, to see if you can get the timing down. And maybe Warren has some other better insights from his experience.

That is the brushed and its the easier one. Polished never looks good. I set my machine at max amps so I really cant say the exact amp setting you need. I use 1/8 cerriated tungsten, 75 percent electrode neg, gas should be at 40 cfh. Get a small ball on your tungsten. About like an ink pen. I use 1/8 5356
Start your puddle and make sure the anodizing is breaking down on both sides. I have had coworkers watch and they see 185 to 195 amps. Add filler and reduce the heat until the puddle freezes. Advance about 1/8 inch. Increase the heat until it is flowing and add filler, hold the heat until the puddle matches the last last ones size, repeat.
It will never look like bare aluminum. The anodizing contaminates the puddle. You will start seeing a stripe down the middle of your weld. You are pretty close when you see that.

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I make towers, poling platforms and cable railings with the same material.

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I wanted to add that my work machine wont let me adjust the frequency but my squarewave makes better looking welds at around 120 hz. Im stuck with 60 at work. This is from the squarewave at 120 hz.

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Hey thanks for the input fellas. Now I've got something to work with, just gotta get some more scrap and try it out.

We have a member here, Tamjeff, who is an. Absolute animal on anodised aluminium. And all things aluminium fabrication. Do a quick search of the name, you'll see lots of fantastic things

New to welding anodized pipe and bending. I keep hearing about pvc pipe liner for bending to prevent scratches. Can anyone tell me where to buy this stuff ?
Thanks a million.


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TIGTK wrote:New to welding anodized pipe and bending. I keep hearing about pvc pipe liner for bending to prevent scratches. Can anyone tell me where to buy this stuff ?
Thanks a million.

You'll probably get better responses by starting a new thread over reviving one that's old and on a different topic.