trying to get this intake manifold welded together. what a pain in the ass.

i know i should be using a TIG, but i have $4 to my name. that makes it sorta tough.

i first tried using a MIG set up for aluminum (reverse polarity, argon, aluminum wire). insufficient penetration.

i then moved to a stick (SMAW) welder, using aluminum rods. decent penetration, but ugly welds.

i then tried gas welding with aluminum rods. what a waste of time. they wouldn't stay together worth shit.

looks like i'm going to go the stick route. i've found the best penetration without burning through or melting at 150A DCEP. this is 3/16" aluminum. striking the arc is the biggest pain...the electrode welds itself to the aluminum 8 out of 10 times. any tips/tricks?

what length gun were you using with that MIG set up? too long you'll have wire feed problems...ESPECIALLY with aluminum.

what diameter wire? .035 should be more than sufficient for 3/16

what kind of power source you using??

anybody with a wire welder like a Millermatic 210 or 251..? anything of that size?

TIG would be the way to go, but if you have anybody that will let you use a welder, like i mentioned above, with a spool-gun and 1lb. spool of 5356 or 4043 .035 aluminum wire with straight argon. that should do the trick.

if not.......electrodes will be about your only option. shouldn't be any reason a MIG couldn't handle that though. i've seen heavier stuff put together with less.

my MIG is only 130A :-(

i've been using the arc and i'm about 1/2 done with the job. getting much better at it. i'm going to have to do a lot of cleaning up and re-welding, but i'm confident it will come out ok

are you pre-heating the aluminum? something i found very important to do when welding with my lincoln 135mig and aluminum wire.

I grind back the edges if im doing a butt weld so that its a tapered channel to fill... then i go really slow by doubling back to heat up the whole area otherwise you're right it wont heat up the piece enough to melt it together.

it sure costs to do it the right way.....i know.

were you using alum. wire in a standard length gun? no teflon liner?