What is a spotter? This is a device/mechanism for reliable connection of thin-sheet metals. Basically, it's welding. The function of the spotter is welding of thin sheet metals. A pulse with a high current strength is applied to a metal section, the surface heats up and instantly melts, the sections are fused, connected and solidified. The spotter is used mainly for car repair, work with thin metals.
In this article we will analyze how to make a spotter for auto repair with your own hands.
The content of the article
- Why is a spotter used for car repairs?
- How is a spotter set up? How to use a spotter for auto repair?
- How to make a spotter gun from a screwdriver
- Making a spotter for car repair
- How to make mass for automotive work
- How to use homemade mass
Why is a spotter used for car repairs?
To fix dents. The car gets dents that cannot be accessed from the other side. Do you have to dismantle the car? Not if there is a spotter. With its help, studs / nuts / washers are spot-welded to the damaged area. They are pulled, pulling the body and correcting the dent. Next, the welded element is cut off, straightened, and the surface is ground.
The spotter can also be used for soldering metals. Often it is used to heat up, process the material / workpiece.
How is a spotter set up? How to use a spotter for auto repair?
The standard spotter consists of:
- Power source (transformer, rectifier, inverter, battery).
- Pistol grips.
- Connecting welding cables.
- Masses.
- Nozzles (sting, reverse hammer).
Clean up the welding area. Connect the spotter to the mains. Connect the mass to the cleaned place. Insert the electrode or nut/nozzle into the work handle. Start the spotter. Give a short but powerful impulse. The nut/tip of the jackhammer will be welded to the surface of the body. Pull on the handle to straighten out the dimple.
The spotter is one of the best tools for all sorts of jobs in the garage. Below we will tell you how to make a spotter with your own hands from improvised means.
What do you need to build a spotter?
You will need:
- 12 volt battery
- Terminals
- Cable lugs (5 pieces)
- Ground clamp
- Welding cable (3 pieces, thickness +8 millimeters - otherwise it will overheat)
- Spotter gun (can be made from a screwdriver)
- Screeds
- flat connectors
- Two-core wire
How to make a spotter gun from a screwdriver
First you need to disassemble the screwdriver. Unscrew the housing screws, disconnect the motor with the gearbox, screw the screws back.
Then unscrew the screw inside the chuck/bit cavity with a screwdriver. It is right hand threaded. Next, unscrew the cartridge itself - insert the hexagon into the screwdriver, clamp it and rotate it. The chuck has a left hand thread. If it does not go, hit the hexagon with a hammer.
A piece of steel tube must be welded to the drive shaft from the cartridge. A cut from one edge should be cut in half by 3-4 centimeters. In the cut off half, you need to drill a hole for the bolt. This will be a kind of clamp for the welding cable.
Check with a tester the wires from the start button of the screwdriver for a short circuit.
Make a hole in the body of the screwdriver. It should be in the center of the air outlet grille.
Connect the welding cable to the wires of the start button, connect all the elements and thread them through the hole made.
The end of the cable must be threaded into a steel tube of a suitable diameter. Clamp the structure in a vice. Take the bolt, install it on the tube. Hit the bolt several times. Step back 1-2 centimeters and again make a dent in the tube. Repeat the same on the opposite side of the tube. Three or four such dents are enough to hold the cable.
Making a spotter for car repair
Next, you will need a starter from a car, even a faulty one will do. From it you need to get a retractor. You won't need a spring - pull it out and install the anchor in the starter. To prevent it from falling out, weld a metal plate to it, while leaving a small gap.
Connect the welding cable from the screwdriver / gun to one of the two contact bolts of the retractor. Together with the cable from the gun, you need to stretch the two-wire wire from the button, but do not connect it anywhere yet.
The second segment of the welding cable must be drawn from the remaining contact bolt to the positive terminal of the battery.
The third piece of cable must be connected to the negative terminal of the battery. It will be a mass.
One of the wires from the power button must be connected to the retractor. The second, longer, connect to the negative terminal of the battery.
Instead of stings, you can use scraps of copper tubes. Cuts from old faucets are perfect.
Advantages of a homemade spotter:
- Stings change quickly.
- You can connect a reverse hammer.
- Manufacturing cost.
- Power.
- Efficiency.
How to make mass for automotive work
On such a homemade spotter, you can also put the usual mass from inverter welding - it will work properly.
If you want the mass not to overheat, then it is better to make it yourself.
You will need:
- Strong brass nut.
- Steel bolt nut.
- Smaller nut.
- Cable lug (we recommend copper).
Sharpen the end of the bolt and thread it through the end of the cable. Screw a small nut onto the bolt. Screw in a larger nut. The length of the bolt must be greater than the height of the nut.
How to use homemade mass
Install the nut on the working part. Connect it and the mass to the same material. Turn on your homemade spotter. The mass and nut will stick to the material. Next, tear off the additional nut and start unscrewing the large one. A large one will increase the ground area, because of this it will heat up less.
