Jody on weldingtipandtricks said he did that exact thing I will find the link and edit this with it. http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...ips-part2.html Here is what he says if you don't want to find it on the page.
Did you know that you can use UHP helium (ultra high purity) and weld aluminum on DCEN? I have not been able to make this work on dirty castings but on something like an injection mold or aluminum fixture made from new fresh aluminum plate that is not heavily oxidized , it works great and does not heat the base metal nearly as much as welding on A/C.. takes a lot less amperage too.
Here is a post from another page of his
And another tip...Did you know that you can do certain aluminum welding jobs with DCEN and straight UHP helium for shielding gas?
UHP stands for "ultra high purity". and thats what you need. Not the stuff they fill balloons with.
I remember one job that this worked great on was an aluminum injection mold.
The pitting that sometimes happens when the A/C does its thing was just not tolerable. All the mold needed was a small fill of a chipped area.
So I Hooked up some UHP helium, increased the flow rate to about double what I would have used with argon, lit up , puddled, added a few drops of filler rod...and done. No pitting, and the mold barely got hot. which was nice because there was a bunch of sealant around the edge that would have needed to be replaced.
Reply With Quote
