I will need to weld a nickel plated terminal (0.035" thick) to an 18 AWG 19 strand copper nickel alloy wire. What size welder is the best kind to use.

-- Jesus Hernandez (JesusHernandez@eaton.com), April 16, 2002

Answers

What type of welder is best depend on a lot of things. When considering a resistance welding process, the following things should be considered: What quality requirements will I need? Am I interested in reporting weld quality (data) out? Am I interested in measuring the displacement (height) of the weld? Do I need to completely encapsulate the wires? What is my production rate? Do I want a completely manual or automated process? And finally, how much do I want to spend? In a wire application, we most often recommend a High Frequency Inverter, coupled with a weld head that will measure displacement. This allows you to weld in a "constant voltage mode", which means the current will change during the weld cycle as the resistance changes. As the wire "sits" its resistance changes dramatically, therefore, the amount of current required completing the weld changes dramatically. The head measuring displacement allows you to ensure all the wires are encapsulated, and a consistent height (quality) is achieved. This is a well-proven application in the small-scale automotive terminal assembly market. Good Luck. Kurt Tolliver

-- Kurt Tolliver (kurt@unitekmiyachi.com), April 16, 2002.