Tried both ways, DCEN and DCEP. Prior to that, I cleaned aluminum very well using a cheap brush wheel mounted on a 1/2 HP motor.
The results were beyond bad. Instead of welding, an ugly opening developed between aluminum pieces.
Then the arc for some reason became extremely deflected and did not want to go one of the pieces and concentrated on another piece.
sorry, absolutely no experience welding aluminum.
but.....
I've had some of the issues you talked about with steel. as I did not know (at that time) what i was doing wrong, i just turned the joint 90 degrees and let the piece that accepted the arc be on top and let the puddle be affected by gravity.
only got an AC welder, so I cant tell what DC setting you are supposed to use, nor did you mention what kind of rod you used.
I thought arc deflection was caused by magnetization and was a reason not to use DC, could have my facts mixed up.
glad to see posts about bad welds, makes me happy to know I am not the only one that has problems at times.
Short arc, large tungsten, argon gas shield. Melt the end off teh filler rod first so it forms a ball in the weld joint. Heat this ball directly until it wets out to both sides.
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