TigWiz wrote:I've played with a machine that was stable down to .5 amps, but .1 amp is very impressive. In every application requiring amperage that low I've always seen lasers being used. I'm also curious about who built this system.
Believe it or not, regular Miller Maxstar 200 DX inverter power supplies are very reliable starters with stable arcs at just 2.0 amps. Incredible performance for a $3000 welder.
Yes, for most cases, any application requiring less than 10 amps or so gets put on one of the lasers. It's not based so much on power consumption but part geometry, part thickness and how much heat the part will tolerate. Many of the non-production quantities of small items that get laser welded we simply hold by hand under the laser because there is so little heat transfer.
Most of my Micro-GTAW systems and power supplies are built by these guys:
http://weldlogic.com/
The standard power supply alone runs about $11,000 but it's the shizzle for small and tiny:
http://www.weldlogic.com/modelpa.php
They're NOT electronic inverters either, but old school copper wound construction built to last. These things run all day, every day, forever.
And, this one should look somewhat familiar:
http://weldlogic.com/mawl.php
Baffled wrote:Question - in some pics, it looks like you are dumping 100 mA into a giant block of mold steel. How is a puddle even generated? Doesn't the bulk of the metal absorb all the energy?
I can't defy the laws of physics. That steel must get to 2700 degrees at some point. The real the question is: how quickly can you get there and how long do you stay?
Correct, blocks that large definitely aren't getting welded using half an amps worth of current. You'd be surprised at how little it actually takes though. Then again, not all the parts we weld are that big.
There is no magic bean but there are some tricks and skills to using
just enough ass, and no more. Otherwise, if it were that easy then anyone could do it - and I'd have to find another line of work.
