gasless to gas conversion

Hey guys, i'm new to the welding industry and bought myself a gasless wirefeeder from sears on christmas.

I've been practicing on scrap metal and wanted to try aluminum but have heard that i need argon for that and my welder does not have a plug or anything for gas.

Is there a kit out there that i can hook up to my welder?

It's a craftsman gasless wire feed MIG welder Model 20568

Any ideas?

probably have to change the torch depending on the model, the gas is controlled by a gas valve inside the torch, which is connected directly to a gas bottle, so the welder has no say on the gas side of things, you might have to change the polarity too, from what I heard.

Looks like sears does not sell a gas conversion kit for that model.

Welding Al is difficult with MIG. I have fought mine. The wire is soft and does not feed well. The best option is to use a spool gun. Really for AL, TIG is the best option.

What do you need to weld that is Al? I have used AlumniWeld with good results (needs careful use and practice.)

You would probably want a higher-end welder that already has the gas option.

To weld aluminum the torch has to be positive polarity and earth return negitive pure argon gas or boc alushield must be used.Best to use a teflon liner,aluminum mig wire push the torch forward when welding .

Craftsman are made in the same factory as Clarke, can you show a picture.

A lot of people may recgonise it to a familiar Clarke model.

Originally Posted by Alex Craftsman are made in the same factory as Clarke, can you show a picture. A lot of people may recognize it to a familiar Clarke model.

When I checked Sears, they showed extra tips that were labeled Clarke.

Look inside, if the wires from the gun and the ground come to terminals that can be swapped, then it can probably be converted.

Post some picts of the inside and gun. I bet weldequip would recognize it and may be able to find the appropriate Clarke gas conversion.

It looks real low-end, many of those do not support conversion.

Originally Posted by arceye To weld aluminum the torch has to be positive polarity and earth return negitive pure argon gas or boc alushield must be used.Best to use a teflon liner,aluminum mig wire push the torch forward when welding .

And use an oversize tip. 0.6 will need a 0.8 tip, 0.8 will need a 1mm

wow, i didn't think i would get so many responses

I will borrow my girlfriends camera and take some pictures.

I wanted to weld aluminum intercooler pipes and suchs for my car. Would be extremely awesome to build things for my baby.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

Here is the welder i bought from sears. I will take pictures of the inside later tomorrow or today.

Looks like the 85EN.