We test and record the feeding force required to push the wire through a 15 foot MIG gun. We also test for the number of shorts per second. (The more dirt on the wire the more shorts.) The sample rate for the data is 100 data points per second.

Below is a benchmark comparison between Alcotec 4043 and Aufhauser Aluminum 4043.
Both wires had good shorts (good means below 1.0). The feeding force was the big difference when you look at the two graphs. Our wire feeds significantly better than Alcotec's.

Test Information	Aufhauser Sample	Alcotec Sample
Tested Alloys Information	4043	4043
Tested Date	6/20/2001	6/20/2001
Wire Code	17J0 128 R23	404315047
LOT #	08601	155726
Weld Time (min)	9.01215	8.862083
Average Force (lb/f)	2.271769	5.783412
Maximum Force (lb/f)	2.462685	8.208669
Force Instability (lb/f)	0.08597	0.836138
Max shorts/sec/pass*	0	0.038462

* Determines the arc instability: number of shorts per second per every pass of the test, lower number yields better porformance.

 

Aufhauser Sample

Alcotec's Sample