Bohler Uranos 2000 SMC

[timclaridge]

Hi im looking to upgrade my current mig welder which is the migatronic Rallymig 161i. I am specifically looking to mig weld aluminium, box section upto 5mm and some flat bar. The Bohler seems to have a good spec and seems well liked by many. The other option is the Fronius Transsteel 2200 but that's nearly £1k more and I don't think that's justified. (in mind all my welds are ground/sanded smooth). Now I know you need Aluminium rollers U shaped for aluminium to feed well, but I can't seem to find the Bohler ones on the web anywhere? Has anyone actually welded aluminium with the bohler, if so what did you do about rollers?

 

[Mark 2]

The big problem with alu mig is bird nesting at the roller or the torch, hence the spool gun.

 

[Erie Fred]

The big problem with alu mig is bird nesting at the roller or the torch, hence the spool gun.

Yes ^^
Or the more expensive option, the push/pull gun.

 

[Tangledfeet]

I've got the Bohler and it'll always be a far better MIG welding machine than I will ever be MIG welder. Yes, you'll need a spool gun; there's several on here that weld aluminium using MIG, off the top of my baldie heid @Hood is one - with any luck he'll offer advice.

 

[Hood]

You can weld alu without a spool or push pull gun, I did it for a lot of years but as has been said birdsnesting of the wire can be a PITA.
You may get away with V rollers but it would be better with U rollers and you will also need a teflon torch liner and a suitable tip which is meant for alu (slightly oversized hole) or you could go up a size in tip, for example a 1.2mm instead of a 1mm. Also use as short of a torch as you can and try to keep the lead as straight as you can.

Having said that a spool gun or push pull will make life a lot easier, the problem however may be that the welder does not have circuitry for using one and that would mean you would have to use something like the TecArc SGS 240 or 360 spool guns that have inline circuitry.

That then may bring up another problem as if the welder is synergic it might not play well with a spool gun unless you can turn off the synergic feature and just use it as a basic mig.

I used to have an R-Tech MTS 255S which worked well and did have the internal circuitry for a spool gun however the synergic lines for Alu were no use and I had to use it in non-synergic mode but as said it did work well for me.

 

[Dcal]

Fronius are planning to release a new single phase pulse multi process welder which might be worth a look if you can wait.
At that level Lorch, Kempi, ERM etc have to be worth a look.

I know @Hood changed from a RTech to EWM because I bought the RTech from him.

I'm starting to see a lot of Jasic 3 phase machines in big fabricator shops so they must be getting good enough now.

 

[Hood]

Fronius are planning to release a new single phase pulse multi process welder which might be worth a look if you can wait.
At that level Lorch, Kempi, ERM etc have to be worth a look.

I know @Hood changed from a RTech to EWM because I bought the RTech from him.

I'm starting to see a lot of Jasic 3 phase machines in big fabricator shops so they must be getting good enough now.

Yes, I went to an EWM pulse Mig, that is a game changer.

Jasic are pretty good but the problem for me is they do not, as far as I am aware, have the capability of push-pull or Spool on with their pulse migs.

 

[Turbo]

Bohler didn't really think things through when they came up with that name!
It sounds like something off the menu in a red light district!

 

[Turbo]

The rtech mig 180 has the facility for a spool gun but you might need the 250a model to weld 5mm ally.

 

[Hood]

The rtech mig 180 has the facility for a spool gun but you might need the 250a model to weld 5mm ally.

The MTS 255S is only 200amp and it was fine for 6mm and even managed 8mm at a push.