#1
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Resistance spot welding, amps required?
I need to spot weld together 2 pieces of 16 gauge. Drilling a hole and welding it with the mig is getting old now that I need to make many of the same part. I have been looking at resistance spot welders but I am having a hard time finding information on the amps needed. I need to use 18 inch tongs with a 3/16 tip. I can purchase a miller spot welder used locally that is sec. Amps 3600 with 18 inch tongs but I am not sure if that is enough.
How can I figure out what size welder I need? Thanks
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kenny.E ,southern PA |
#2
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Not sure of the amp but I do know from experience that a 240 volt will be needed. 120 volt is about 2 pieces of 20 gauge. Just keep reading the specs until you find up to .125" of welding thickness (.1196 to be exact)
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John Phillips "bustin rust and eating dust" |
#3
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Quote:
I have a Miller MSW 42 spot welder with 18in tongs and the 12in tongs. It is 240V. It will barely do 20 ga at the 18in distance... with all connections tight, the tips clean, bright and tight, and dimpled sparkling metal. The 12in tongs will do 18 ga. I can spot-preheat 16 ga and get it to weld, with the 12in tongs. Good Luck,
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Kent http://www.tinmantech.com "All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919. |
#4
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I've got quite a bit of experience using several "Pro-Spot" spot welder models in collision repair. Voltage is Three Phase 480. Total amperage of the machine is over 12500 amps. They are also expensive over $25000. These units have the power both in amperage and clamping force to make OEM like spot welds. The little hand held units do not. The size of the spot weld with the hand held units is much smaller than what the OEM's do. If that suits your job great, but if you are expecting a spot weld like on a vehicle then you will be disappointed.
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Chris (trying to be the best me I can be) |
#5
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Marc Last edited by Steve Hamilton; 02-25-2022 at 09:47 AM. |
#6
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Yes, the math really does work. $$450. = small portable that will do 20, 22, 24, 26 ga. or $$$$$25,000 that will do commercial grade components. Spend more $ = get more machine. Every time. (or... spend cheap... and add buckets of extra shop time to modify UP - at 25cents/hour ... like doing the cheap bandsaw mods, Wheel mods, beadroller mods .... and etc. ... .... I had to add 7 hours to modUP a Chi-Mig weldr, and finally got it to do overhed and vertikal on 1/4 in plate, in 19second runs! - then quench torch in water bucket, add nozz'l dip, run again ... 18% duty cycle or sumpin' ...? )
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Kent http://www.tinmantech.com "All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919. Last edited by crystallographic; 02-25-2022 at 01:23 PM. |
#7
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This is a good alternative to the conventional Miller type spot welder. Pretty decent little machine for the money. Italian made. A full line of tongs are available as well.
https://usaweld.com/products/quick_spot_ii
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Chris (trying to be the best me I can be) |
#8
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two piece of 16 gauge with 18" of electrode depth? you're going need a very serious professional-grade machine, there are no hand held machines on the market that will do a weld like that sufficiently. You may get it to stick together, but it would not pass a proper destructive test or last for many years.
as for exactly how many amps, that is dependent on many factors like electrode pressure, cap size, current duration, etc. so...there isn't really a good answer
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Jake Miller - Miller Metalwork |
#9
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Not sure on policy, but I found this while looking for different ways to "spot weld". I've since found another post on the same process. I'm planning to use this process on my current project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2CYL-1W7Fw
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Norm Henderson Last edited by norson; 03-05-2022 at 05:40 PM. |
#10
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Kenny, does it have to be a handheld unit, or can you take the part to a static welder?
How many welds do you have to do overall? And over what timeframe?
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Richard "I know nothing. I from Barcelona" (Manuel - Fawlty Towers) Link to our racecar project https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elan-...ab=public&view |
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