What is welding duty cycle

Failure to carefully observe duty cycle limitations can easily over stress a welder's power generation system contributing to premature welder failure. Many welders do not have internal protection systems that prevent this sort of over stress -- leaving the task to the owner or operator.

Look carefully at welder specifications. It is during this period that the duty cycle is often ignored and heat builds up within the machine. These figures should be considered when selecting equipment. Often a machine is selected which requires operating parameters that are within the range of the machine. But care should be taken to also ensure the machine construction is of suitable design i.

Estimating duty cycles. The following comments are from a 'rule of thumb' perspective and may be a guide on how much emphasis to place on duty cycle ratings - vs other factors and features - when chosing a suitable welding machine.

Please note that every application is different and the general comments here may not always apply to your situation. Being an automatic process eg the filler metal is fed automatically , a MIG operator has the ability to weld for long periods of time with minimal "off" or "down" time between welds.

When it comes to selecting the right welder, opting for a welder that has "too much" capacity, rather than "just enough" is a wise decision. For example, your application may involve production welding of up to 8mm steel. Often the operator may run just 1 or a few welds before having to do other taks prior to resuming their next weld. This means that duty cycle is normally not as critical as it may be for MIG.

In this case, the machine will often never even come close to reaching it's duty cycle limit However, there are some TIG applications where a high duty cycle becomes very important. One example of this is TIG welding of pipe joints where a long, continuous weld is required.

Got your own thoughts or questions on duty cycle? Using Generators to power Inverter Welders. While all care has been taken, Weldclass accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors or omissions in this information or links and attachments.

View Products. Plasma Cutters. Gas Cutting Machines. Machine Spare Parts. MIG Binzel Style. MIG Tweco Style. MIG Bernard Style. MIG Spool Gun. Most Quality machines are tested at 40C although some may be tested at 20C to try and improve the duty cycle rating.

Again try and be aware of this when comparing machines with each other. Also because of different ambient temperatures in different countries especially in colder climates , it could take longer for a machine to reach its working temperature so that the thermal trip can come into operation.

October 17, paul jones. Below you will see the relevant current reading for this A labelled welding machine. This is the number you should compare when looking at different models of welding equipment. Reading A Specification Plate The specification plate gives you lots of interesting information so being able to know what it means is important so that you don't buy a machine that doesn't fit your needs.

If you look at the top left corner you can see the symbols for a single-phase Inverter.