We are welding 16 ga. galvaneal steel with a spot welder in the manufacturer of stepside pickup truck beds. Presently, we are not satisfied with th tips that we are using. They are burning up far to rapidly, so we are insearch for better quality, and hope that you may have some information on better quality products. Would you please send us information on the products that you carry, to include prices.

-- (), April 13, 2000

Answers

Response to Spot welding tips

It was a real pleasure talking with you on the phone. To re-cap our converstation. I suggest that you consider switching to a different copper alloy electrode material. There are several new alloys now available that are designed for spot welding coated material like your galvaneal.

I understand that you are presently or ordering a #3124 straight tip. I will ask Chris Collis to look into changing this to the same length and shape in a "cap and shank" type electrode combination. He should be able to send you a sample to try. This combination allows you to replace only the end "cap" of the tip and re-use the "shank" over and over. This change alone will save you lots of money!

My other suggestions center around the welder you are using. The Miller MPS-10T (220V) portable spot welding gun you presently have is a nice little unit for occasional use, but it is not well suited for high speed industrial production line spot welding. An undersized welder results in "weld times" that are too long. This results in big, ugly spot welds, excessive finishing, and poor tip life.

We have several other "industrial strength" alternatives available, such as an ARO portable spot welding ugn. I will mail you some literature on that welder, which is much leavier duty than the Miller.

Also, you might want to consider purchasing a water recirculator and chiller. If you are using "tap water" at present, you're spending a lot of money on a one-time use of water. I will also enclose some info on Schreiber chillers.

Please let me know how we can help you futher.

PS--We are the nation's largest distributor of spot welding supplies. Please THINK SNOW year round!

-- Tom Snow (tomsnow@tjsnow.com), April 13, 2000.