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.

[hooda]

If I was in your shoes, a little experimentation would be in order. Got any scraps to do some practice on? The first thing I'd try is pulse. That gives you enough heat to blast through the anodizing, while restraining the HEAT involved with straight amps. (Jody specifically mentions this in one of his older videos, and explains the advantages of pulse for blasting through anodizing, and how in the old days, he'd use the pedal to "pulse" his arc manually to essentially accomplish the same thing). I have NO experience with the PP series, but just from the info I've gathered, which is substantial, why not try 125 amps, 30% on time, 120 pulses/second. Balance@40%DCEP(I may have that backwards, most people seem to run 30%, but what I'm getting at is a little more cleaning action) AC freq. @120 to match your pulse, or try 240, since ya got it to try. I wish I had the same machine to try, and give you my results, but I need ONE more thing to happen to take delivery on my new EXT. Good Luck, and keep us posted!

Edit: By the way, Jakeru ROCKS!! What he can do with his old, MOSFET Everlast, I only aspire to, even once I have the greatest and newest on hand!

[Buggy Chief]

Thanks Hooda for the tips. I am experimenting and have found my torch angle has been to much as my filler rod balls up. In addition I am at 50 amps and still putting holes in the .063 anodized aluminum. I will try to pulse it and let you know.

[Jason]

When I moved to welding aluminum I found that I started melting the edges away. Using the foot pedal I was able to let off a little before the ends keeping them from melting the edge off. I also found that just a couple of amps seemed to make a noticable difference. I think I was using about 46 amps for the same size material as you are welding on.

[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.

[Buggy Chief]

Thanks for the tip as I am finding the same that a little amperage change is making a big difference. Being new to welding and new to aluminum welding, it sure has been fun and frustrating at the same time.

Keep the tip coming.