welding aluminum with deca 135e

Hi, all!

I have a deca 135e wirefeed welder. I plan to use it mostly for autobody and bike frames. I was having trouble burning holes through 22 guage sheet metal, but thanks to a previous thread, I've switched from .035 fluxcore to .030 fluxcore with adequate results. I will probably switch to gas when I can afford to.

There is a teflon liner kit available for aluminum. what results can I expect from an 55-85A welder on aluminum? can I weld 1/16" bike tubing with this? or 1/16" to 1/8 bracket?

thanks, - Chris

Reply to
Chris
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Reply to
Potblak

In all seriousness, I'd like to know as well. I started the earlier thread WRT the .035 fluxcore wire for autobody on the Deca 135e. I'm switching to .023 and looking into getting a bottle now, but Ottawa has little to no welding equipment supply stores. I can get a bottle from AirLiquide or BOC but I haven't been able to find a place I can walk into and look at low to mid range MIGs. so for the time being I've got this Deca from Princess auto and it seems that I'm limited to that. phonebooks and internet have yielded little help and word of mouth has been ineffective.

I'd also like to take a crack at Al welding in the future and would hope that the machine I settle on is capable of at least attempting it.

comments? ideas? suggestions?

-mark ottawa, canada

Reply to
mkzero

The little 120 volt welders run OK on flux core, use the smaller wire to get a better match of wire to the heat output. For thin sections ie 20 to 24 ga, you really need to use gas rather than flux core for shielding. The polarity changes when going from flux to gas shield, puts a bit less heat into the base material, results in less burn though, not to mention no flux residue when you are done.

N> Hi, all!

Reply to
RoyJ

You could try Ottawa Fastener Supply, They cary the Hobart brand, they usually have a couple of different machines on the floor ranging from the little 135 A machines all the way up to Hobarts version of the Bobcat 225. More often the machines on display stop at the 210 A floor size (ie it's on wheels) of MIG welder. The staff don't know a lot about welding, it is a tools and fasteners type of place.

Al North Gower, (sort of Ottawa)

Reply to
Alan R, Owler

Air Liquired on enterprise had a miller 135 and praxair on startop had a lincoln SP135 PLus last I checked (A little while ago because i now have an air liquide account)

The deca's strike me as "lowest bidder" machines

The hobarts seem like ok machines in the 135-175 amp type range

and they make a 200 and 250 which is more than the retail shops will touch but form looking at the collection of semi junk kicking around places liek the algonquin shop a lot of the no name 135 ampers are in use int he autobody classes too (BLue point and Canox)

Brent Stittsville with a miller XMt 304 >In all seriousness, I'd like to know as well. I started the earlier

Reply to
Brent Philion

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