341P161262 - ESAB M8 x 30mm Aluminum Contact Tip for 1.6mm Wire

Smooth Aluminum Welding with ESAB's Specialized Contact Tips

Welding aluminum can be a frustrating experience if you don't have the right consumables. One of the most common issues welders face is wire feeding problems—burn-backs, stuttering feeds, and the dreaded bird-nesting at the feeder. Often, the culprit is a contact tip that is too tight or not designed for the material. The ESAB M8 x 30mm Contact Tip for 1.6mm wire is engineered specifically to solve these headaches, giving you a smoother, more reliable welding experience.

Why "Alu" Matters: You might wonder why you can't just use a standard 1.6mm tip designed for steel. The answer lies in how aluminum reacts to heat. Aluminum expands much more than steel when it gets hot. If you use a standard tip, the wire expands inside the bore and gets stuck, causing friction. This friction disrupts the wire speed, causing the arc to sputter or burn back into the tip. This ESAB tip is marked "Alu" because it has a slightly larger internal bore tolerance. This extra room allows the wire to expand freely without jamming, ensuring that your wire feed speed remains constant and your bead profile stays uniform.

Material Benefits: This tip is made from Ecu (Electrolytic Copper). While some tips use harder alloys for longevity in steel welding, pure copper is often preferred for aluminum because of its incredible conductivity. Better conductivity means less heat build-up in the tip itself and more efficient energy transfer to the wire. This results in a crisp, clean arc start every time you pull the trigger.

Compatibility and Use: This tip fits MIG guns requiring an M8 thread and a 30mm length. It is the perfect match for heavy-duty fabrication jobs where you are running 1/16" (1.6mm) aluminum wire. Whether you are building boat hulls, trailers, or working on aerospace components, swapping to a dedicated aluminum contact tip is one of the cheapest and most effective upgrades you can make to your setup. Keep a pack in your toolbox so you are never caught off guard by a clogged or worn-out tip.