Differences between AC welding and DC welding
S.NO. AC WELDING
1 Power Source: Transformer or Motor or
Engine driven alternator
2 The current flow in an AC welder goes
back and forth from the electrode to the
parent metal usually at 60 cycles per
second.
3 Due to pulsing of the current the arc (Heat
input) is harder to control
4 When AC current is used for welding, we
get a base metal cleaning action that
cleans on the alternating phase of the
current, another words the current cylces
up and down thru the frequency and the
base metal is cleaned and filler metal is
deposited in both directions. This works
well in the flat position and when the base
metal hasn't been prep'd as it should be
and where the molten droplets has a
chance too fast freeze to the base metal.
5 When welding with DC, magnetic fields
are setup throughout the weldment due to
flow of the welding current. This causes
‘arc blow’ resulting in deflection of arc.
This problem is more severe when
welding on strongly magnetic materials
6 AC welding due to pulsing makes the arc
harder to control and hence is preferred
for horizontal welding positions
7 AC is less expensive
DC WELDING
Power Source: Transformer with DC
rectifier or Motor or Engine driven
generator
DC current flows in only one direction
The flow of electrons in DC welding
circuits is from negative to positive and is
called straight polarity.
When we reverse the welding leads then
electron flow is from positive to negative
also called reverse polarity.
Heat input can be effective controlled to
weld different types of metal thickness
When DCEN is used for welding the
most of the cleaning action stops as
far as the frequency is concerned as
DC current only flows along the
surface of a line and doesn't
alternate thru the base metal like the
AC current did
With AC this problem never arises
because of the rapidly reversing magnetic
field produced due continuous change in
polarity
DC arc welding is generally preferred for
difficult tasks such as overhead and
vertical welding, since it can maintain a
stable arc and may be operated at lower
welding currents
DC more expensive than AC