Inverter welding for beginners

Among the available welding machines for purchase and initial practical training, self-taught welders are the most suitable will be inexpensive, reliable, lightweight and reliable models that have the main and indisputable property - convenience in work.

Such almost ideal properties are possessed by modern electric arc welding machines, created using new technologies, and incorporating almost all the most significant innovations - welding inverters.

Like any other electric welding, the welding inverter is used for simple and reliable interconnection of metal structures.

It is rather difficult to delineate more precisely the field of application of this technology, since welded connections - in construction, mechanical engineering, agriculture and everyday life, in general, where it is necessary to easily and simply connect between a metal.

Required materials / tools / protection

Directly for work, a novice welder will need as tools:

1. Welding inverter with a set of wires (with terminal "Masses" and an electrode holder.
2. Expendable materials - welding electrodes for manual electric arc welding (for a start, a diameter of 3 mm is suitable as a training).
3. Metal brush.
4. Small hammer (as a rule, such a hammer is included with the inverter, but it is better to buy a special welder's hammer - with a spring-loaded handle and pointed ends with a flat and pointed).
5. Clamps for pressing the parts to be welded.

Suitable materials for initial training are:

1. Metallic iron items - pipes, metal strips, construction fittings.

Attention! Taking the first steps, it is important to know that for welding aluminum, cast iron, stainless steel, you need special electrodes and very confident welding skills.

Well, and most importantly, special protective armor is needed to carry out the work:

1. A mask with a special filter is requiredblocking bright light from the welding arc.
2. Protective gloves - you have to deal with molten scrap metal.
3. Special suitpreferably made of fire-resistant tarpaulin.
4. Work boots on a thick and durable sole with high ankle boots - a simple and reliable way to keep your feet from burns.

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Step-by-step instructions for performing work

Preparatory steps:

1. Step one - to begin with, you should prepare the workplace, remove the room from unnecessary items and flammable materials and liquids;
2. Provide normal lighting for the place creative research.
3. Prepare material for welding and the necessary tools.
4. Check if the cables are connected correctly and securely in the case of using electrical extension cords.

As for the works themselves, here you need to once and for all learn the sequence and order of actions, this should become the rule and develop all movements to automatism:

1. The welding cables are unwound and straightened, connects to the sockets of the inverter.
2. The parts to be welded are laid out, the correctness of the connections is checked, if possible, they are fixed in a vice or clamps.
3. Dress up protective equipment, the mask is being prepared.
4. Earth terminal - a clamp with a plus sign to one of the surfaces to be welded.
5. The electrode is inserted into the holder.
6. The connection of the device itself is checked to the electrical network, without turning on the power supply button.
7. Power turns on, after 15-20 seconds the device is ready for operation.
8. The electrode is brought to the place of the intended seam, the protective mask is brought to the face, the arc is ignited.
9. The formation of a weld pool is formed with light movements, and a seam is formed.

When joining small parts where the seam is short, it is recommended not to turn off the device during quality control and removal. slag deposits, for large volumes of work, it is recommended, despite the presence of forced cooling, to turn off the inverter and do a small break.

At the end of the work, it is recommended:

1. Remove hand with holder, stop the formation of an electric arc.
2. Power off apparatus.
3. Let the seam cool for 3-5 minutes, and lightly tap the slag and check the quality of the seam - ideally, it should look like laid scales, like on a fish - one should seem to be superimposed on the other.

Safety engineering

The welding inverter is an electrical device, and therefore it is forbidden to carry out work in high humidity, in the open air during rain.

It is necessary to work only in a protective mask, in a special fire-resistant suit and shoes, in welding gloves-gaiters. The workplace should be spacious, the workplace should be free of flammable and explosive materials, liquids, cylinders.

It is forbidden to carry out welding work with objects that have dangerous contents - in cans, gas tanks, various ammunition.

Arc gap monitoring

It is possible to speak with confidence about the initial skills of the welder when the skill of the correct formation and retention of the arc gap - the welding arc - is developed.

In fact, this is a simple process, the main thing in it is the understanding that the arc will be constant and melt the electrode in the best quality with the correct, slightly slow movement of the holder.

In many ways, this is achieved by trial and error - a fixed skill will appear when, when the electrode moves, a homogeneous seam begins to form, connecting both parts to be joined.

Rules for the formation of a weld

Getting a strong and reliable weld joint is largely the result of correct movement of the electrode in the weld pool. Quite primitively, this can be roughly described as the process of learning to write.

The movement of the hand with the holder resembles a first-grader's prescription, when the skills are rather weak and you have to display either zigzags, or circles, or oblique lines. But at the same time, in addition to movement in one plane, when welding, you need to either bring the electrode closer, or vice versa, remove it.

Such movements allow the formation of metal layers in the weld pool, as it were, overlapping each other, and this ensures a perfectly formed joint seam.

Forward and reverse polarity in inverter welding

The usual connection of the welding cables of the holder to the "minus", and the clamp "mass" to the "plus" of the inverter allows you to easily weld all permissible joints, while this polarity allows you to increase the amount of heat generated during welding.

Reverse connection of cables, and the inverter has such an opportunity, a "plus" is supplied to the electrode, and to the welded parts "minus" allows you to reduce the amount of heat, and, accordingly, to connect parts made of thin metal without the formation burns.

The option of working with an inverter with a thin metal is not possible for beginners the first time, but professionals do not always succeed.

However, you should know:

1. When welding thin metal reverse polarity is recommended.
2. When joining thin metal and thicker, to achieve the result, you need to tightly press the thin metal against the thicker one and weld "from thick to thin" to prevent overheating and burning.
3. Both parts must be well cleaned, rust must be removed to avoid the formation of additional slag.

Advantages and disadvantages

When starting to work with an inverter welding machine, it is useful, in addition to the operating instructions, to familiarize yourself with even deeper publications on electric welding equipment, in any case, you need to clearly understand all the pros and cons of such tools.

The "pluses" of welding inverters clearly include:

1. Light weight.
2. Ability to operate at fairly low mains voltage, electronics perfectly keeps the arc even at 160-180 volts in the mains.
3. Smooth regulation of electric currentissued by the device.
4. Opportunity to work with almost all types of electrodes.
5. Easy and efficient arc ignition.
6. The ability to customize to work with different materials, both in the thickness of the spliced ​​metal, and with various metals - for example, aluminum, cast iron.
7. Virtually no power surges when working even on congested networks.

Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages, but most of them are not related to the direct operation of the tool:

1. High price in comparison with transformer models.
2. Demanding working conditions - positive temperature, acceptable humidity, low dust content.
3. High cost of repair - used electronic components are most often repaired either in specialized service centers, or it is cheaper to buy a new inverter.

The essence of the welding inverter technology is that the alternating current of the electrical network through the operation of electronic components is converted first into direct current, and then another one once per alternating, but already with other quality indicators - high frequency (about 20,000-50,000Hz) and high current strength - 100-200 Amperes, but at the same time with a low voltage of about 60-90 V.

Tips and Possible Errors

Starting to use a welding inverter, the most important thing is to be patient, more than one pack of electrodes will go away before a really beautiful seam is obtained.

But you need to strive for this from the first turn on of the device and here the following points will help a lot:

1. Initially it is enough to learn how to hold the arc so that the electrode warms up evenly.
2. In the first lessons it is recommended to first learn how to form a horizontal seam, and only then diversify the tasks - by welding vertical and ceiling elements.
3. It's important to get into the habit clean the joints from rust and plaque.