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What Is A Welding Machine?
Welding is rightly considered one of the most reliable ways to connect two metal parts together. At the same time, welding equipment is a huge class of equipment, which includes numerous varieties with different technical characteristics and device.
Considering that you can use welding for your own needs even in a personal garage, many people consider it necessary to buy such a device, but first you need to figure out how to choose it correctly.
Varieties and rules of choice of welding machines:
It would be wrong to call welding machines a specific type of equipment, since the working scheme of individual varieties may vary markedly, but at the same time they have quite a lot in common to give them a single name.
Any welding is a process of spot melting of low-melting metal (solder), which is applied in liquid form to the site of the future seam. Solidifying, the metal binds the individual parts, making them a single whole, thereby achieving high strength of the finished product and impressive durability of the structure.
Ordinary people often perceive welding machines as small hand-held equipment, which is used mainly in the semi-amateur segment of work, but in fact the scope of welding is extremely wide.
If wiring in electronics is most often cooked in everyday life, then even multi-ton structures can be connected in this way on an industrial scale. Welding is highly valued as not only highly efficient, but also fast, as well as a relatively inexpensive way to connect metal structures to each other. At the same time, many units of this type are more versatile – they can not only “glue”, but also cut metal sheets.
To date, welding is gradually getting rid of the signs of purely mechanical equipment – more and more electronics appear in new models, which facilitates the unit, making its work more advanced.
It is quite difficult to talk about the device of all best welding machines in general, precisely because different types may have different operating principles and, accordingly, do not have the same set of parts.
To get at least a general idea of the filling of the welding machine, consider the anatomy of the two most popular varieties.
The classic inverter works on the principle of energy conversion. Taking electricity from the grid with standard parameters, it lowers the voltage, but increases the current strength so that it can melt metal.
The inverter unit can change the frequency of the current and make a constant current from alternating current.
The semi-automatic machine works on a different principle – it feeds a wire into the work area, which will act as a solder. For this function, a separate mechanism is provided, consisting of a motor, a gearbox and rollers pushing the wire in the right direction.
In the welding zone, the wire is coated with a protective gas, which is most often inert, and, as an exception, carbon dioxide.
This treatment does not allow the molten wire to react with oxygen, so that the metal connection is reliable, without foreign impurities in the form of oxides.
All that we have considered above are the so-called main groups of welding units used everywhere and widely. At the same time, there is also more specific equipment, the use of which can be invented only in individual industries. Let’s consider a few tasks that require a special technique.
Spot welding:
The device clamps two work pieces between the electrodes, simultaneously heating the metal and compressing the two parts with significant pressure.
In this case, welding does not take place with a seam in the usual sense of the word, but with separate points. The technique is good for the economy of consumables and good quality of the seam, coupled with the simplicity of its creation, but of course there can be no question of any tightness.
Gas welding and cutting:
From a technical point of view, this method is not at all similar to classical welding, because the equipment does not need to be connected to any electrical network at all.
The heating of metal billets to the molten state is carried out by gorenje gaseous fuel – hydrogen, acetylene or ordinary natural gas. It is quite easy to cut (and cook) with such equipment, and it is inexpensive, but such an assembly is definitely not suitable for wires – it will not weld them with the necessary accuracy. The performance of the device also leaves much to be desired.
Plasma welding:
As in the previous case, another question is how to call the equipment for this procedure – a welding machine or a cutter.
The technique works on the principle of creating a flow of charged particles in a gaseous state, which also conduct current.
As a result, the plasma flow heats up to tens of thousands of degrees, washing out the cutting line, but at the same time melting the edges. It is the latter process that makes it possible to weld parts, but, again, there can be no question of any accuracy.
In addition to all of the above, we note that in some cases, the definition of the exact type of unit depends on what you will cook. For example, for polypropylene, which does not have the properties of any of the metals and requires much less effort to melt, separate welding machines for pipes are produced.
Semi-automatic welding:
Semi-automatic welding is perfectly demonstrated by the example of equipment, which is called a semi-automatic welding machine
. We have already considered it above, saying that the wire is fed automatically using a special mechanism – this is the part that the unit takes over, without human intervention. In all other respects, it is still manual, which is why it is called a semi-automatic.
Main Features:
For home use today, they mainly take cheaper and light inverters, therefore we will start from those characteristics that are important for their work.
- Voltage: Household models usually work from an ordinary outlet. There will be 220 or 380 volts to choose from, but in our reality it is the first option that is preferable.
- Power: An important indicator for any electrical appliance, it shows how much energy the unit consumes per hour, directly affects the current strength in the arc.
- Diameter of the electrodes: It depends on what the future owner plans to cook, but it is important to choose the equipment so that suitable electrodes are available on the market.
- The output current range: The wider the value, the more versatile the unit is – it will be able to work with both fine matter and coarse, heavy parts.
- Weight and size: The smaller these indicators are, the more compact and convenient the equipment will be, but at the same time, because of this, it loses functionality, power and amperage.
Conclusion:
When working with welding machines of any type, it is fundamentally important to comply with safety regulations. For each type of aggregates, it may differ slightly, but it is definitely prescribed in the instructions – carefully study it before the first connection to the network and strictly adhere to it.
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