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Registered Member #3429
Joined: Sun Nov 21 2010, 02:04AM
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 288
I found that the easiest metal to spot weld is light guage stainless steel. Aluminum and other non-ferrous metals cannot be spot welded (that is, with the traditional methods).
Registered Member #3429
Joined: Sun Nov 21 2010, 02:04AM
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 288
By the way (in case you did not know this), the proper method to spot weld is to first apply the electrodes under pressure with no power applied. Once the electrodes are clamped and holding pressure to the joint to be welded, you apply electric power. The time period can only be found from experimenting, and is dependent on many factors such as voltage, current, thickness of base metal, type of metal, and many others. After you remove electrical power, continue holding pressure for another second or two in order to allow time for the hot joint to cool. Then remove the electrodes.
You can test a spot weld on a scrap piece of material by attempting to peel the welded joint apart. A good weld will not pull apart, but rather the base metal will tear around the welded joint. In other words, the weld should be stronger than the unwelded base metal. Also, the weld should not poke a hole in the metal. If it does, then either your current or your electrode pressure (or both) is too great.
Registered Member #3766
Joined: Sun Mar 20 2011, 05:39AM
Location:
Posts: 624
You may want to look into a capacitor discharge spot welder, it might be more effective, as in can provide a lot more energy quicker Good job so far and good luck!
Registered Member #3429
Joined: Sun Nov 21 2010, 02:04AM
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 288
magnet18 wrote ...
You may want to look into a capacitor discharge spot welder, it might be more effective, as in can provide a lot more energy quicker Good job so far and good luck!
A capacitor discharge (CD) spot welder is great for making very small welds on relatively thin metal. A typical application is for welding connecting tabs on those tiny "shirt button" batteries. The CD welder produces a high amplitude, short duration welding pulse which results in a very small heat-affected zone. What that means is, the weld heat time only lasts for a very short time period, which helps to prevent heating of the surrounding areas of the part being welded. A standard resistance spot welder would overheat a large area, possibly damaging heat-sensitive components that are attached or connected to the part being welded.
The biggest drawback with a CD spot welder is its complexity. You need circuitry to charge the caps to a desired value, and you need a means of dumping that electrical power into the weld joint with a controlled pulse width and amplitude.
I have an old CD spot welder, which has a couple of old vacuum tubes that handle charging the capacitor bank. The unit rated at a maximum of 100 watt/seconds, and has a variable control and meter which allows very precise adjustment of the weld parameters. It's great for welding very small, delicate metal parts, but for metal that's any thicker than a standard food can, it doesn't have enough power, and that's when I use my standard AC transformer type of spot welder.
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MOT Spot Welder
