Ac Or Dc For Welding Sheet Metal

For example welding visible car panels will be quite difficult.

Ac or dc for welding sheet metal. When it comes to welding most high powered machines are run on dc or have the ability to change from dc to ac current like some professional tig welders. When you start tig welding the first major setting you have to set up is the current. In this article i will give you a best practice guideline that should help you make the right choice for your welding tasks in the future. Figure 1 is a graph of dc welding output vs.

First of all it is very difficult and will take considerable practice. Whether it is dc electrode positive or reverse polarity or dc electrode negative or straight polarity dc produces smoother welding output than ac. For many people ac dc gets them reminiscing about a certain era of rock music but for welders it means polarity. Distinct contrasts between ac vs dc welding.

Most of all metals and metal alloys except aluminum and magnesium are welded with dc especially when wedding higher strength and low alloy steels. In addition to that arc welding creates lots of heat and will in almost all cases create heat distortion. Using ac or dc has a hugh impact on your weld results. Don t attempt to weld thin materials like sheet metal with flux cored wires which put more heat into the base metal.

Just grab a piece of sheet metal to get the heat set correctly and go to town. Welding involves creating an electric arc between an electrode and the metal that is being welded. Forget the larger 1 8 inch tungsten electrode and use a smaller one. First let s talk about size.

In most cases dc is the preferred welding polarity. A good heat setting for 1 8 6011 rods on thin material is about 80 90 amps. Tig welding can be done with both alternating current ac or direct current dc. Don t expect smooth cut as dc.

The 6013 rods are all position ac or dc polarity for welding new clean sheet metal applications because they penetrate less but don t burn through the metal. There are some big differences that have a big impact on whether the ac or dc welding is right for you. The 7018 welding rods are used for pipe welding and structural steel welding and repair welding. Disadvantages of ac welding.

Ac machines are small in size. For 3 32 7018 s it s about the same. Everyone is different but those settings will get you in the right ballpark to weld sheet metal. Your question leads to a more general discussion of dc vs.

Tig welding sheet metal. Ac vs dc welding.