Long Welds in 5052

[Yofish]

The problem is it builds to much heat in the weld area and drops out.

What do you set the volts at? Frankly, it sounds like your procedure is right. Of course, pulse will help but walking away when the heat builds is SOP.

Your experimentation with the contact tip set back is compliments of the geniuses at Miller that decided you don't know better. Their 'Qwik-tip' is an abomination.

[Bob La Londe]

I just use the chart on the welder for speed and power settings, although I have found it likes a little more wire feed speed (not much) than is says on the chart for aluminum for almost all thicknesses listed. My experiments outside the listed working range of the gun have all been hit and miss, but extrapolated from the chart. I suppose I could try going colder and slower with a preheat. The only time I've done preheating before has been on 3/8. 3/8 is the thickest aluminum the welder is rated for, but it will NOT do a passable job without preheating.

I think I might have mentioned before that I can almost wallow around like you can on steel with 1/4" aluminum.