slim pickens
Aluminum
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2005
- Location
- SW Ohio
At work, we use a small spot welder to attach EPD and thermocouple leads to test specimens. The weld produced is basically a spot weld to melt the first few thousandths of wire onto the specimen surface. The wire gages are super thin - think angel hair for some of the platinum T/C wires. The "lab grade" spot welder is on the fritz, works about 50% of the time. Replacement cost is ~$10K. Is there a way to use a power resistor (or similar device, either shop made or OEM) to get the amps from a typical TIG welder from 5 down to 0.5 or less? I was thinking of modifying the spot weld leads for use with a small TIG. Is this feasable? Is there a 'turn key' device to get the amps down to near nothing? Would it even be able to get an arc started that low?