lidl arc welder- opinions please

Hi, if you are using a stick welder for welding aluminium it will in the majority of cases need to have a DC output with the electrode positive. Your welding plant will probably need to have OCV of around 70 volts. Most of the DIY welders will only have an OCV of 50 volts at best.

If you want to weld aluminium with TIG, it can only be done with an AC welding plant, and you will need filler wires suited for TIG welding, gas welding filler wires are not suitable.

Aluminium is not easy to weld and you really need to know what the composition of the aluminium that you are welding for the most suitable filler wire to use. It is a bit of a skill of its own and you will probably need a lot of practice before you will get good results.

I have welded aluminium, but pretty it is not.

Regards Nick.

Wait until you try welding aluminium with OXY -ACETYLENE !

That sorts the men from the boys !

The problems with welding aluminium are many and varied .

I have seen something as simple as a dirty wire brush cause all sorts of havoc and this was one of the first things my Tig teacher at Tafe stipulated : a clean stainlesss steel wire brush that never gets used on anything else other than clean aluminium is what you should be using to remove the oxide layer before welding .

This is because plain steel brushes can leave iron oxide behind or some of what ever it was the brush was used to clean last time you used it .

Even something simple like a draught can cause problems as i plays havoc with the shielding gas .

I suppose there are people who write SHARP on the side of a knife as well but my thoughts are if it is a knife it will probably be sharp if it is physically large it will probably be heavy but unless it is glowing red you have no way of knowing how hot a peice of metal is until you touch it !

Considering one generally has to look at something to pick it up if they see Hot written on it and still wrap thier grubby mitts around it then it is thier own stupid fault !

And chalk is cheaper thas new welding gloves .

Ian

Edited By SLOTDRILLER on 17/05/2013 05:39:00

Hi Ian, yes, I couldn't get a good class work sample when doing my C&G advanced gas welding, my lecturer gave me a domonstration once again, and then said quitely, do your tests on that one and submit it as your clas work sample. That was back in the 70's and I beleive he knew gas welding aluminium in general was starting to wane, as TIG was then starting to be more popular.

I agree with you about the wire brushes.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 17/05/2013 06:50:27

I would say- buy the cheap welder, but don't expect to much. Just use small rods, maybe up to 2.5mm. Extra cooling will be good, a fan and extra holes, after the warranty has run out. Ideal for making bench, trailer etc. Then you will start buying angle grinders ,cutting discs etc. I've been welding for 50 years and still no good. I still remember watching a chap gas weld an aluminium panel on a Land Rover, just like magic.

Fizzy - classic welding joke

Did someone mention welding jokes....

She was only the welders daughter but she had acetylene legs

I purchased one of these a few years ago.the face shield was not much cop and I bought a light activated one from Amazon.it does overheat in summer but I have overcome the problem by cutting a bathroom fan to it to coil it down a bit.

Regards

Robin

It's a beggar when your face shield overheats