Finally broke down and bought one of these for my Hobart 210 mig welder. Installation was a breeze. Getting a good bead was another thing. Played with wire speed and voltage till I got a semi crappy weld that I could at least grind down into something palatable. After destroying some aluminum stock I decided to weld a pipe to a plate and see how well I could clean it up. A rough test go wasn't so bad. Definitely won't be able to do anything requiring finesse, more like brute welding force. Part of my problem is my welder is saying 100% argon for aluminum and I run a 75% mix.
Get a small tank of argon its worth it. Clean Clean Clean the aluminum before welding.
What wire are you running 4043 is best 5356 is hard to weld and makes a lot of black soot.
Make sure you are running correct polarity Torch positive. But it should already be set for that if you normally use shielding gas.
Spool guns are a little hard to get the hang of. Aluminum in general has its challenges but after some practice you can make some nice spool gun welds.
Aluminum takes way more amps than you think a 200 amp machine will just do 1/4"
I'm actually not sure which wire, whatever generic spool came with the gun. A small tank of pure argon is a good idea. My welder cranked up high will blast holes through this 1/8" plate. I had good luck on setting 4 out of 6.
I am about to pull the trigger on a tig welder, want to try doing some panel repair using silicone bronze filler for better malleability and/or super tight fitting filler (no gap) panels using no filler rod at all. And yes you definitely need 100% argon for welding aluminum.