Spot Welding
Questions and Answers
Class 3 material is a designation of the Resistance Welding Manufacturers Alliance (RWMA). It describes a group of copper alloys with excellent strength and good electrical conductivity. Class 3 is often used to weld stainless steel, nickel alloys and other highly resistive - strong materials that require high weld forces.
Class 3 Bar Stock
Class 2 material is a designation of the Resistance Welding Manufacturers Alliance (RWMA). This is a group of copper alloys with high strength and electrical conductivity. Class 2 is the most used material in the resistance welding industry. As electrodes it is used for welding bare and coated steels.
Class 2 Bar Stock
Class 1 material is a designation of the Resistance Welding Manufacturers Alliance (RWMA) which describes a group of copper alloys with good strength and high electrical conductivity. Class 1 is often used to weld aluminum and other good conductors like brasses and bronzes which require high weld currents.
Class 1 Bar Stock
There are six standard faces designs. Shown below are female caps. The same face designs are offered in male caps and full size electrodes.
A-Pointed B-Dome C-Flat D-Offset E-Truncated F-Radiuis
The proper choice of electrode face design will depend upon your application, the material being welded and resistance welding process. If Spot welding, you might use any of the six standard designs. The “A”, “B”, “D” and “E” faced electrodes all have the same weld face if purchased in the same body size. The “C” is a flat faced electrode and the “F” is a full large radius electrode which almost appears flat.
MALE CAP & FULL SIZE ELECTRODE "A" NOSE
The choice of cap vs full size standard electrode comes down to job shop, frequent set ups and length of production runs. Caps are the choice for long runs or in highly automated facilities. Full sized electrodes are the norm in job shops where short runs and frequent job changes are the norm.
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