Arc Welders

Arc Welders

Arc welding, often referred to as MMA (Manual Metal Arc) or Stick welding uses a power supply to create an arc of electricity between the base material being welded and an electrode to melt the metals at the welding point and create a bond. Arc welding kit can use either direct (DC) or alternating (AC) current, and consumable electrodes, depending on the metal being welded. The area of weld is usually protected by some type of shielding gas, vapor, or slag. In stick welding, the shielding gas is generated from flux being burnt away from the rod during the weld.  This effective way of welding without a gas cylinder, makes stick or MMA welders, very versatile bits of kit.  Stick welders are perfect for on site repairs, in outdoor environments for example.  Simply turn up with the arc welder machine and some PPE and away you go, no need to carry large bottles of gas etc.  With the advent of inverter welders this is even more true than ever before.  Many inverter arc welders are extremely light and small, making them highly portable.

BUYING GUIDE

A few questions to ask yourself when considering purchasing a stick welder:

• What power supply do you have available?
  • If you have a 13A standard domestic 230V plug, the limitation to the rods you can use will be due to your power supply.  The higher the amperage of the machine, the bigger mains input supply it will require.
  • Most industrial welding power sources will ideally run from a 32A 230v power supply.  Bigger machines will generally need a 3 phase 400V mains supply.
• What rod size will you be using?
  • The stick welding rod type and size will determine the amperage required to burn it.  For example, a 3.2mm stick welding rod typically needs somewhere in the 130 amp range.
• Duty cycle:
  • A welding machine will be assigned a duty cycle.  This is the percentage of time in which it will weld at a given amperage before needing to cool down.  This percentage is usually out of 10 minutes.  For example 130A @ 60% tells us you can weld for 6 minutes out of 10, at 130A before it would need to cool down.
  • A working example of how this may effect your buying choice of an MMA welder:
    • You will be using a 3.2mm rod for long welds – the rod requires 130A
    • You are considering a 140A welding machine
    • Duty cycle of said machine is 140A @ 35%
    • In this case, it would be worth looking at a larger machine with a higher duty cycle to allow for longer use of 3.2mm rods running at 130A (if mains input supply is sufficient)
  • NOTE:  Quality of the welding machine generally has an effect on duty cycle.  Cheaper welders tend to have very low duty cycles – one to watch out for!

Whether you need a portable stick welder for on site repairs or heavy use fabrication in a workshop we have the machine for you.

TBWS have a wide range of arc welding machines available.  We specialise in good quality equipment which is built to last and with great product aftersales service from our brands.  Have a particular machine in mind which is not on the site?  Please let us know as we have links to many brands not listed.