Maybe some of ya'll have had this happen before. I was going to weld rails into a couple receivers today and for some reason i could not get the rails in either to actually weld in,the outside of the receiver would get hot and red but soon as i would take off the clamp the rails would fall right out. I have not had this happen before so i really don't have a clue as to what it would be. Thank's if anyone has a clue.
Spot welder not welding in rails?
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
Joined
·
621 Posts
I had this problem and returned several HF spot welders until I smartened up and had a dedicated line installed in my home-shop. The long and short of it is that I did say 3 rifles and then what is happening to you happened to me. First thought was the welder, but like I said it was the power source. I was basically wearing out the circuit breakers, more like making them tired out so it would heat up my welder but not weld. You need a dedicated circuit from breaker box to shop, nothing else running off it unless you are not running your welder. This circuit will carry all the power you need for the job, like a wet dream come true! Hope this helps, look up my early threads other members helped me out then and the thread may prove useful to you as well. Any other questions PM me and I will do my best to help you out. I know this problem can be frustrating!
Joined
·
965 Posts
I run my HF 115v welder from a basement wall outlet through two different extension cords and at least one strip and have no problems. It might be that you are inadvertently allowing the copper tongs to touch the receiver or rail somewhere other than the spot you want welded. In order to weld, only the two tips should touch. If something brushes up against the copper at any other point, the weld will not take. Especially watch to make sure the end of the tong does not touch the top part of the rail you are welding. Very easy to let it touch if you aren't watching.
G
Guest
·I've had that issue before, Are the welding tips clean? lightly sand them and then try it.
Joined
·
621 Posts
I would like to begin saying that I respect and admire "Morningwood," in a plutonic builder way of course, but.....Running the spot welder has more to do with breaker size and quality, rather than extention cords and power strips. If the copper tongs were touching anything else attached to the receiver there would be an electrical arc which would vaporize the point the tongs were errantly touching. I have had that happen before, during the learning process. If your breakers are staight then you will be straight, whether or not you are using extention cords and power strips. Breakers, breakers, breakers..........
Joined
·
552 Posts
Good power is required. Some use extension cords to load down their spotwelder and make it a bit more controllable. I plug DIRECTLY into the outlet. Takes me two seconds to do a perfect weld. Your mileage will vary, depending on your circuit, as well as how far the outlet is from the panel (more wire, more load). Practice on scrap. I used old tapco recievers to get the hang of it. By the third one I had the process down.
Others mentioned SERIOUSLY cleaning the parts to be welded, as well as keeping the tong tips clean for each weld. Listen to them, they are absolutely on the money with these tips/tricks. Clean inside the reciever, outside, inside the rail, and outside. I use surgical gloves during cleaning/prep, and a new set afterwards to prevent the oils from my skin contaminating the weld areas. I use 3M red scotch brite pads to scuff up the spots I'm welding. Plus it works VERY well at getting into the channel for the lower rails with a small screwdriver. Get them at the auto parts store near the paints.
The BIG thing nobody really talks about is proper adjustment of the spotwelder tongs themselves. Too tight = too much resistance = bad weld. Too loose = not enough contact = bad weld. The tongs should be just a little snug, NOT super tight. Let the c-clamps do the gripping, NOT the spotwelder. Read up on the Miller web sight, especially the spotwelding pdf. A TON of important info for using spotwelders there.
Check sections 4-8 and the appendix for setup of your spotwelder.
http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/Resistance.pdf
Others mentioned SERIOUSLY cleaning the parts to be welded, as well as keeping the tong tips clean for each weld. Listen to them, they are absolutely on the money with these tips/tricks. Clean inside the reciever, outside, inside the rail, and outside. I use surgical gloves during cleaning/prep, and a new set afterwards to prevent the oils from my skin contaminating the weld areas. I use 3M red scotch brite pads to scuff up the spots I'm welding. Plus it works VERY well at getting into the channel for the lower rails with a small screwdriver. Get them at the auto parts store near the paints.
The BIG thing nobody really talks about is proper adjustment of the spotwelder tongs themselves. Too tight = too much resistance = bad weld. Too loose = not enough contact = bad weld. The tongs should be just a little snug, NOT super tight. Let the c-clamps do the gripping, NOT the spotwelder. Read up on the Miller web sight, especially the spotwelding pdf. A TON of important info for using spotwelders there.
Check sections 4-8 and the appendix for setup of your spotwelder.
http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/Resistance.pdf
Joined
·
1,810 Posts
Read this thread. It seems the most common problem is weld time. Most people are holding the weld on for 4-5 seconds. You only need to hold it for 1-1.5 seconds. Its not as important that the welding surfaces be super clean. You do want the outside surfaces that the tips contact to be clean. You want resistance between the two surfaces to be welded. If you clean them like crazy and then clamp too tight you have very little resistance and dont get a strong weld.
Again, read this thread....good stuff in here.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=126406
Again, read this thread....good stuff in here.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=126406
Joined
·
552 Posts
Great thread, read it a few times already and good info in there for the 220 guys as well.dr1553 said:
dr1553, In my experience, it IS important to clean ALL the surfaces, and not just the clamp points. Without cleaning them,(inside of reciever, outside of lower rail) it weakens the weld point between the mating surfaces of the components being spotwelded. Typically welding without proper metal prep, the rail pops off with only a slight amount of pressure, or even when you open the spotwelder tongs (dont ask how I know :doh: ). Cleaning all surfaces also provides better contact, as most sheet metal has a LOT of gunk on it that we typically cant even see, or even rust preventative coatings that should be removed before welding.
But I agree, clamp pressure has a LOT to do with it as well. Miller's .pdf has all the info on how to set em' up.
Joined
·
1,419 Posts
Who checked your welder? I may have to do this someday...
A friend of a friend that is a welder by profession,he said he could have fixed it but if i was able to get it replaced do it. I really have no idea on how they work internally so i can't desribe the issue but he said he would have had to take it all apart in order to get it fixed.HobbyMachinist said:
Joined
·
1,419 Posts
thanks
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
