Anodized Aluminum Diamond Plate

[Buggy Chief]

I just bought a PP 205 and have some .063 anodized aluminum diamond plate to weld together. Does anyone have any suggestions on settings with a foot pedal. I know the anodized coating needs heavier penetration and melts at about 3k degrees as opposed to the aluminum melting at about 1.2k degrees.

To get a more concentrated arc, I am thinking 200 HZ on AC Frequency and 30% DCEP for some cleaning action for the anodized.

Any Argon flow suggestions?

I am completely new to welding and am having a lot of fun learning and progressing. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

[sportbike]

Why not just grind the anodized area off at the weld joint. Anodizing is essentially just aluminum oxide. You will be better off cleaning the parts thoroughly prior to welding.

[Buggy Chief]

Good point...especially on the leading edge of the corner welds.

[Buggy Chief]

The only problem with this is that with the technology of inverter machines, that the pp205 should be able to accomplish this with not problem without grinding the anodized portion off. Jody on WTT on youtube seems to have no problem with anodized aluminum diamond plate.

Any other suggestions for settings?

[jakeru]

Is the diamond plate you are welding pretty much like the stuff in this thread?
http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...t-(jakeru-s-10)

I don't recall that stuff being anodized, but perhaps if it was, it just had a very thin layer, so as to be almost not noticeable. Shouldn't pose much of a problem.

[Buggy Chief]

Yes it is. Nice work Jakeru! I am going to experiment with it next weekend and see what my PP205 likes. Thanks for the comment.

[peterwyman]

I need some help.The diamond plate on some of our older trucks has accumulated a great deal of hard water deposits that will not come off. We have tried steel wool and 3M pads but they scratch the aluminum. Rubbing compound, aluminum polish, orbital buffers have all been tried with very limited success. Any suggestions?

[Buggy Chief]

I have diamond plate on my enclosed utility trailer that I try to keep in tip top shape. 2 things I use are Mothers metal polish with 0000 steel wool.

The other is MetalWax (see you tube videos). The MetalWax is a 2 step process that strips the aluminum back to the appearance of the bottom of a soft drink can. you then come back with their wax and it will look back to a mirror finish.

I must tell you there is no quick fix. Any metal polish requires elbow grease. Good Luck.