I am trying to weld a nickel alloy wire to a tinned copper wire. I am wondering what type of electrodes I should use. (Copper tungsten alloy? copper cobalt beryllium alloy?

Thank you for your help

-- Alan Faszholz (alanf@facnd.com), September 11, 2001

Answers

In general the rule of opposites applies to electrode material selection. If welding conductive materials select resistive electrode tips to provide external additional heating. Resistive metals general their own heat and therefore conductive electrode materials are commonly used. See Unitek Accessories catalogue or “slide rule” for more information.

-- Kurt Tolliver (kurt@unitekequipment.com), September 11, 2001.

I agree with the previous response concerning the “rule of opposites applies to electrode material selection”. To take the statement just a step further. I would suggest as a starting point for your selection of electrode materials the following.

Electrode against the tinned copper wire. Molybdenum based material. Often used for welding or brazing copper conductors to nonferrous terminals. RWMA Class 14 copper alloy. Electrode against the nickel alloy wire. Chromium Copper alloy type electrodes are used for spot welding of coated materials and nickel alloy materials. RWMA Class II.

Again these are only recommended starting points. The type of tinned surface, and the thickness along will have effects on electrode sticking and longevity of service.

Experimentation with other electrode alloys could produce longer serviceability prior to dressing the weld faces.

-- Bob Balla (bobballa@tjsnow.com), September 12, 2001.