Need Experienced TIG welder's oppinion Aluminum Intercooler Piping

[lewis15498]

Planning on piping in a universal greddy intercooler i bought for the supra. Was planning on using a universal piping kit off ebay cutting it up and welding it up to fit my application properly.
Problem is I dont have a TIG welder, had looked around before and determined that they were out of my price range. then I saw this unit in a harbor freight catalog.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91811
my question is: is this welder capable of doing this kind of work?
thanks for your input
Jeff

 

[IJ.]

No.

 

[funky_monkey58]

To be honest I would just cut up the pipe and make markings where they need to go together and pay a welder to weld them up for you.

A $250 tig welder I can guarantee is junk. Welding aluminum is by far different in the impurity levels of the materal and shielding gas at hand.

 

[lewis15498]

Figured it was too good to be true.

 

[IJ.]

<psst> it's a DC only machine

 

[C.44]

Yup basically you need an AC tig to weld Aluminum. It's not impossible to weld Al with a DC welder but it will make a bloody mess of your welds.

 

[figgie]

Yup basically you need an AC tig to weld Aluminum. It's not impossible to weld Al with a DC welder but it will make a bloody mess of your welds.

actually, without the reverse polarity of the AC wave form, it is imposible to weld AL with DC. Al oxide takes about 3000f worth of heat unlike the 1800f for AL.

 

[lewis15498]

<psst> it's a DC only machine

So i can just hook it up to my car battery then right? jk

 

[figgie]

So i can just hook it up to my car battery then right? jk

well,

to tell you the truth there are welders out there that WILL use the cars alternator as it's engine.

The difference with a welder is that even though it is DC. It is pulsed DC. Usually set at 60hz for the cheapy stuff, configurable for the high end TiG/GTAW and even MiG/GMAW.

 

[C.44]

actually, without the reverse polarity of the AC wave form, it is imposible to weld AL with DC. Al oxide takes about 3000f worth of heat unlike the 1800f for AL.

That's what i said it'll make a bloody mess (no i'm not being ignorant, i know that once you break through the oxide layer the aluminum will just fall apart )

 

[williamb82]

this makes me wish my tig was hooked up(sitting in storage as i have no where to hook it up at home, i need a garage). its an antique but works great. miller 320 a/b p. a/c and d/c, high freq built in, water cooled torch, etc... machine is huge though. lol. as i recall the dial goes to 300 amps on it. way more then ill ever use.

 

[shaeff]

I would mark the pipes where you want them welded and bring them to an experienced TIG welder.

 

[Furyian]

finally something I can be useful with on this site ... I'm a salesman at a welding supply store and the smallest tig machine that can aluminum with Lincoln is an Invertec V205-T AC/DC ... I can get it for 2845.57 ... Unless you were looking to do this as side work it's best to find a shipyard or something and let them do it. Aluminum tig rods alone are pretty pricey considering you will probably need a 1/16 or 3/32 to make the weld

 

[IJ.]

William: Beautiful old machine

 

[williamb82]

yes indeed . i need to rewrap the outer insulation on the wires though. the wires inside that are individually insulated and are fine.