Aluminum welds & anodizing?

Every time I try to weld aluminum and then anodize it, it turns a white color on the welds only. Has anyone seen this before or am I doing something wrong. The material is 5052 sheet, and I'm use 5356 filler and argon gas shield. My welding supply told me they don't make a 5052 filler. I have tried tiger welding and mig welding with the same results.
Also the Ready Welder 10250, I called them up last week and he asked about how a head about it. I told him it was here. He told me they also now have a discussion forum and asked if I could tell people about it so they could maybe get more traffic on it. I haven't decided if I'm going to get one yet or not. I probably will though, in a few weeks.
here is the link: http://www.readywelder.com/forum /
I haven't decided if I'm going to get one yet or not. I probably will though, in a few weeks. I called the distributors and nobody know anything about them. They don't even know if they sell it or not. He told me if they didn't help that he could sell it me directly. give a good price to.
Thanks for all the help.
Glenn G Houston, TX

m5bmw wrote:
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Hi Glenn,
Most of the aluminum welding I do involves 6061-T6, and the filler rod is 4043, mostly using TIG. This type of filler rod can also be used with 5052 sheet. As a shielding gas, helium is the only way to go.
With type 2, and type 3 (hard) anodize, the color match is virtually identical to the base metal. If you don't sand the welds, then the swirls will show up as very slight changes in the anodize color. With a bit of sanding, the welds are sometimes invisible, and the color is uniform.
4043 rod is known for better color match, but inferior corrosion resistance and strength. 5356, and other 5000 series filler rod provide maximum strength, and corrosion resistance.
Regards,
Guy

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Guy,
Are you referring to the Mil spec 8625 type 3 hard anodizing? We are using the Mil Spec - MIL-A-8625F type 1 and occasionally 2.
Helium as a shield gas? Never heard of that before. I could try that though. I just made a alum. box and I do grind and sand all weld down. The drawning called for a .06 rad on all corners. After anodizing you could seen all the swirls from welding. Looked like I didn't sand it down, but it was flush and smooth. Could I cut a thin piece of 5052 off of a sheet and use that for filler or is there something special done to filler rods?
Thanks for all your help.
Glenn G Houston, Tx

Try The 4043 filler, seems like all the welding we did requiring anodize, we used the 4043 for that exact reason...Hope it helps... Rich

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What would be the difference between Helium, Argon, or really any of the noble gases, other than cost to produce?

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The only gasses you can use for welding aluminum are argon and helium. Argon is cheap effective and gives a soft arc. Helium gives a much hotter arc, but is rarely used pure. The best shielding gas for aluminum TIG or MIG is a Argon / Helium mix gas.
Most welding suppliers carry a variety of mixes. 75 argon / 25 helium, would be a basic mix. 25 argon / 75 helium would be much hotter and more expensive.