AN fitting on valve cover

[Gamble97]

When you guys weld AN fitting onto the valve cover I'm assuming you use AC since it's pot metal correct? Also what filler and how many amps is needed? I tried this tonight with AC and 4043 filler and 110amps and it didn't seem like enough.

 

[turboglenn]

They're not pot metal, just cast aluminum, cast AL is always "dirty" meaning you'll cook black deposits that form as holes in the weld and other uglyirregularities in the weld. The only thing to do and common practice is to clean the hell out of it first with wire brush (dedicate one to aluminum only, only need the small toothbrush sized ones, keep one for every metal type) then clean it with acetone or lacquer thinner andlet it dry..

Fire up an AC arc on it and run a couple passes back and forth around the area you intend to weld, this will use the + side of the AC wave to "pre-clean" the area and bring some of the dirt/deposits to the top where you can clean them off with brush and acetone again, then do a bead with 4043 filler (and you're gonna neem more amps, 110 might do it but slowly, try at least 125 - 140 AMPS) the first bead will be dirty but just grind it down and clean it and run another one on top of it..eventually you'll end up replacingthe dirty metal with all new filler material is basically what happens as you boil the dirty cast metal and impurities to the top adn grind them away and re-weld it.

Not all cast will be the same, some will do a good bead on the first run, but anything like a Valve cover that's been in oil and heat has got crap deep inside (clean the inside well too, the oil/crap will boil up from everywhere, you want to clean at least an inch further than the area you itend to weld)

But you're on target, cast just takes practice and several beads at times. If you can adjust the balance on your machine turn the amps up a tad and send balance up to about 80% (80% + wave time) and if you have frequency i like 130-145'ish on most cast, but 60hz is just as good if it's all you have.

the main thing about aluminum is clean, clean, clean and then when you've got it clean...clean it once more... you should also know that aluminum oxidizes faster than most any other metal out there, it's forming from thje moment you wire brush it and melts at higher temps thanthe aluminum it's self, making aluminum tricky as it is. You should wire brush ANY aluminum cast or not right before welding and wipre with acetone, i didn't see wire brush marks on your catch can so that may have been some of your irregularities on there as well.

read up on Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info (google welding tips and tricks if that link isn't correct, it's ran by a guy name jody and he's a good person who'll help you via email if you need it as well) but there's good aluminum info on there and charts for fillers you can print off for refference on metals/fillers in the future.

best of luck!

 

[Gamble97]

Ah good to know. Maybe I'll try to preheat it and use it at 110 amps. Machine maxes out at 125 on 110v and I don't have a 230v in the garage and can't go over 110 for more than a few seconds without blowing a fuse. My house is wired 4 rooms on 1 15amp breaker. I know it's terrible, but I'm working with what i have.
Good idea to use the torch to clean it with no filler. I will try that.
The miller diversion 180 I can't adjust the balance or frequency. The balance is set to 80% already so that is good
I have emailed jody a few times and his videos have helped me so much.

 

[99gst_racer]

How are you cleaning the aluminum?

 

[Gamble97]

On the valve cover I hit it with a grinding wheel until it was shiny.

The catch can I cleaned with a wire brush and acetone.

 

[nightmares GS-T]

Also make absolutely sure your aluminum cleaning brush is a stainless steel brush. Local shops will probably call them scratch brushes. A regular steel brush just wont cut it. And as turbo glenn said only use this brush for cleaning aluminum. This way you dont contaminate it with foreign metals.

 

[99gst_racer]

Also, try denatured alcohol to clean aluminum. Any of the aluminum stuff on a DSM will weld like crap, but getting it really clean will help quite a bit.

 

[turboglenn]

If your fuse box isin your garage you can get some ROMEX wire (stuff used in walls) and make yourself a 220 breaker box with a 50 amp breaker in it for about 25-30 bucks. IT may not meet building "code" but it's what i do, I run a ground and a lead to each leg of the 220 feeds, then bring that out to a small breaker box with a 220 plug on it where ever i setup.

Or you can add a breaker to your current box for about 15 bucks and for about 5 dollars more you can run a couple feet of wire off that outside the box and put a female 220v receptacle on it... I've had to do this in every house i've had to get the service for my machines in the garage. reasoni say it's not to code is romex isn't supposed to be ran exposed outside a wall, but it's 1000 times cheaper than a good pipece of 220v extension cord wire even in raw form, it's just not flexible. If you don't know AC power that well it's super simple and some one you know can show you i'm sure.. My dynasty will max out and pop breakers over 110 AMPS on 110v service too, but hell you can even make a dual 110 plug, run 2 x 110v leads from sockets and tap into the "hot" (white) wire on each one (make sure they run off seperate breakers) thenwire those two into one 220v female receptacle (dont forget ground)

this way you have 220v at the combined amperage of the two breakers you're pulling from (tere's a lot of ways to get 220v... I have only a 220v plug on ymy dynasty but since it auto senses voltage i have adapters to go to 110 and almost any type of 220 plug you will find on a job site or in a home

 

[Gamble97]

Also make absolutely sure your aluminum cleaning brush is a stainless steel brush. Local shops will probably call them scratch brushes. A regular steel brush just wont cut it. And as turbo glenn said only use this brush for cleaning aluminum. This way you dont contaminate it with foreign metals.

Yep I have a brush just for aluminum. I think it's stainless, it doesn't say. My grinding wheel for my tungsten is only for tungsten as well.

If your fuse box isin your garage you can get some ROMEX wire (stuff used in walls) and make yourself a 220 breaker box with a 50 amp breaker in it for about 25-30 bucks. IT may not meet building "code" but it's what i do, I run a ground and a lead to each leg of the 220 feeds, then bring that out to a small breaker box with a 220 plug on it where ever i setup.

Or you can add a breaker to your current box for about 15 bucks and for about 5 dollars more you can run a couple feet of wire off that outside the box and put a female 220v receptacle on it... I've had to do this in every house i've had to get the service for my machines in the garage. reasoni say it's not to code is romex isn't supposed to be ran exposed outside a wall, but it's 1000 times cheaper than a good pipece of 220v extension cord wire even in raw form, it's just not flexible. If you don't know AC power that well it's super simple and some one you know can show you i'm sure.. My dynasty will max out and pop breakers over 110 AMPS on 110v service too, but hell you can even make a dual 110 plug, run 2 x 110v leads from sockets and tap into the "hot" (white) wire on each one (make sure they run off seperate breakers) thenwire those two into one 220v female receptacle (dont forget ground)

this way you have 220v at the combined amperage of the two breakers you're pulling from (tere's a lot of ways to get 220v... I have only a 220v plug on ymy dynasty but since it auto senses voltage i have adapters to go to 110 and almost any type of 220 plug you will find on a job site or in a home

None of those are an option for me
Romex is not code inside/outside any walls around here. I have no problem bending conduit however I can't do that either. As my box is in the back of my room in my closet on the other end of my house. I also have a vaulted ceiling 16feet on one side and 11 feet on the other side. Only about 2' of crawling space above that at most. I would have to shimmy from one end of the house to the other end of the house and I'm a little claustrophobic. No open conduit pipes that are empty either.
I can't do a cheater cord either because when my house was built (only 20 years ago) they wired my garage, kitchen, family room and dinning room on 1 15amp breaker. I had a little space heater on and welding at 60amps and the fuse broke. I can't have the tv/dvd player on and turn on the air compressor or the fuse will blow.
I am not going to run new conduit as I won't be in this house much longer. I am thinking of tapping into the gas line which is in my garage already so I can hook up my heater to natural gas so I don't freeze my ass off welding or wrenching.

So I just have to work with what I have for now until I move and will see where I end up.

 

[bastarddsm]

Try using a propane torch to preheat/burn some oil off of it. That's how I have. I dunno if it helps, but I doubt it hurts.

 

[Gamble97]

Actually I did think about trying to preheat it. I'll take a pic of the tack weld I have on the valve cover and you guys can tell me, but I don't think it has much penetration at all.

 

[nickk90]

Would out gassing or baking the part like you would before powder coating help get welding cast alum.?

 

[Gamble97]

Preheating helps yes.
Can you mig the valve cover or is a spool gun needed? I thought there was a type of wire that was aluminum that would not kink and go through a mig w/o a spoolgun.

 

[99gst_racer]

The only aluminum MIGs that I've seen had a spool gun. I also think it would be incredibly difficult to MIG a small, tight radius bead around a bung/fitting. Why aren't you using your Diversion 180 for it?

 

[Gamble97]

Just curious.

 

[gixrman]

I have a Miller MIG 180 Auto-set w/AL spoolgun and it doesn't like thin stuff (below 18guage?) i'm guessing becuase i'm not home to check it. I also have a Miller 200 syncrowave which I use for TIG'n and Glenn is correct on the process for TIG'n cast AL. And 4043 filler is the correct rod. I've made several pass's and gone back and used a die grinder to remove the junk before going over it again.