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• AC TIG Welding on Aluminum The aluminations series of technical articles provides answers to commonly asked questions about TIG welding aluminum.
• Applications Engineering Q & A. When trying to find the least expensive way to add a gas tungsten arc welder there may be some factors to consider.
• Burnback Wire Stubbing Porosity Q & A Problems when MIG welding aluminum often result from an inadequate or improperly adjusted wire feed system.
• For the last 20 years For TIG welding aluminum, the best results might come from an inverter-based AC/DC TIG machine that incorporates advanced Squarewave technology, such as the Dynasty™ DX.
• Microprocessor Q & A Most of us don't realize that many items we use every day have a microprocessor chip inside. This Q & A section answers the most common questions.
• More....

Selecting the Right Wire Feeder for Your Welder

Flux Cored

A further advantage is that the same equipment used for MIG welding also performs flux cored welding. Rather than running a solid wire coupled with a shielding gas, flux cored welding uses self-shielded wire with flux inside.

The advantages of flux cored welding are:

• Less affected by drafts, so better suited for outdoor work.
• Works as well as Stick on rusty or dirty material.
• Continuous wire feed, which minimizes starts and stops.
• Deep penetration for welding thick sections.
• Increased metal deposition (two or three times that of Stick welding), which is beneficial for hardfacing.
• Can eliminate need for a shielding gas bottle, which increases portability.

Between its MIG and flux cored capabilities, a wire welder can perform any task a Stick welder can, and do it more efficiently. While a good quality wire welder costs $450 to $2,000 (depending on its size), the costs for wire and gas are much less than that for Stick welding rods. Coupled with the ability to weld aluminum and sheet metal, a wire welder can pay for itself very quickly.

Information courtesy of Miller Electric

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