Body Shop
Choosing a Spot Welder 101 By Shawn Hart
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n today’s modern body shop, quite a few pieces of capital equipment are necessary to stay on top of the vehicle repair game. Every facility in the market will have a repair bench, paint booth and a wire feed welder, but many are lacking Squeeze Type Resistance Spot Welding (STRSW) equipment. This is typically because STRSW equipment is very expensive and most don’t see the benefit it would bring to their shop. There are many factors to consider when purchasing STRSW equipment. Yes, cost is a big factor to consider when making an equipment purchase, but what good is a piece of equipment, whether expensive or not, if it doesn’t do what you want or need it to do? Before you simply review prices and choose the lowest priced machine, you should also consider these criteria: • Specifications • Service • Ease of Use/Efficiency • Approvals Specifications Look at the specifications of the machines you’re considering; don’t just rely on the sales representative’s opinion that “it can do it all”. Compare the specifications to the requirements of the vehicle manufacturers for the cars your shop works on. Many of these specs result from advancements in vehicle body construction, like the use of High and Ultra High Strength Steels, and affect how the welder operates when welding on each of the different manufacturer’s vehicles.
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What specifications should you look for? You want to look at things like: • Air Pressure/Squeeze Pressure (at the tips) • Power output (amps at the tips) • Power input (what’s necessary to run the machine) Air pressure is pretty simple. I don’t know of any collision shop that doesn’t have air. However, if there’s not enough air coming into the machine, it will not produce the necessary squeeze pressure between the tips. Many manufacturers specify how much pressure is necessary to produce a proper spot weld; typically between 75 and 120 psi.
Power input is one of the specs that gets overlooked the most, but is probably one of the most important. Even if you get a machine that meets all of the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications, if you cannot make it work due to inadequate power, then it’s worthless. I know a number of shops that spent a fair amount of money on STRSW equipment only to discover they couldn’t run it in their shop because they didn’t have the right power. This is something that should be checked out by the representative of the STRSW company and taken into consideration before anything is purchased.
“Look at the specifications of the machines you’re considering.” Power output is very important, especially when working with newer vehicles that incorporate High and Ultra High Strength Steels. These types of steels require a high amount of amperage output between the contact tips in order to produce a quality weld. Most manufacturers will specify this; typically they are looking for a minimum of 10,000 amps output.
May / June 2012
Fixed Ops Magazine
Service One very important consideration when choosing a spot welder is the repair service offered after the sale. When making a purchase of expensive capital equipment, most people have a tendency to figure it won’t break, but let’s face it -- things happen. The worst situation when a piece of equipment breaks is not always the fact that it is broken, but how long it will take to get repaired. If the spot welder you purchased doesn’t have a good support network, it will impact the time it takes to get the equipment serviced and/or parts to repair it.
“Listen to your technicians!” Ease of Use/Efficiency I don’t know how many times I have heard a technician say, “the spot welder works great, but I hate using it because it’s too heavy”. The spot welder you choose to purchase may meet all the specs in the world, but if it’s not easy for your technicians to use, then your large investment will get pushed into the corner to collect dust. Make sure your technicians can not only use the machine, but also enjoy using it. They will need some training on how to use it properly; often, that’s the key to understanding the benefit of having it. Listen to your technicians! They’re the ones using the equipment day-in and day-out. If they’re comfortable with it, they will use it, become more productive and it will be a good investment. Also consider that the technician’s handling and use of the equipment will have a direct effect on the efficiency of both the technician and the shop. If it’s complicated to use (meaning there are lots of adjustments to be made when welding) or if it’s difficult to change the arms on the spot welder, the result will be a loss of productive work time. There’s no doubt that changing from MIG welding to spot welding will instantly make a technician more ef-
ficient, but don’t overlook these other factors that contribute to the technician enjoying – and therefore using – the equipment. Approvals If you ask any collision center Manager/Owner in the industry today if they want to grow and increase their business, they would all say YES! One of the best ways to do this is to align your shop with an OEM Certified Program. A number of OEM’s have put together programs that will bring business into the shop. Many of them specify approved equipment, including a spot welder. Ensuring that you have a spot welder that is approved by as many OEM’s as possible will allow you to do business with multiple manufacturers’ certified programs. There’s a reason why certain spot welders are approved and others are not. Many OEM’s conduct enormous amounts of testing on equipment so they are certain it will perform as needed on their vehicles before they give an approval. Don’t simply take the word of the salesperson. Do the research, ask for proof -- whatever it takes to validate that the spot welder you are considering has the approvals you are looking for.
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I’ve heard many Managers/Owners of collision centers say, “We’ve been fixing cars without it so far. Why do we need one now?” The fact that almost all of the OEM’s require certified equipment, along with the efficiencies that STRSW equipment offers, make it a must in today’s collision center. Shawn Hart is the Director of Technical Services for Wixom, Michigan-based Car-O-Liner, where he has responsibility for the Car-O-Liner Training Academy. He has been in the auto industry for 15 years, starting with Toyota Motor Sales in the Body Group. He transitioned to the Technical Training Group where he developed and delivered collision repair and refinish training for Toyota and Lexus technicians. In 2003 he joined BMW of North America as a Body & Paint Training Instructor / Developer, while also acting as a liaison between BMW, insurance providers and collision repair technicians.
May / June 2012
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