"Welder" or "welding machine": what does "arc" mean, ditto "plasma"?

Question

Chekcing ebay and craigs list ads for a friend, for welding machines, I see on the well known brands like Lincoln, Miller, Hobart that some are "arc welders." What does that mean, exactly? Or "plasma," what's that mean?

And are the lesser known brands just as reliable?

Any help appreciated!

Right, I know nothing about this. Was asking question for a "not on line" friend. down in Baja, just across the border from San Diego.

Met him 15 yrs ago when living in Baja, a very honest auto mechanic. Highly competent too in all phases of that. Could join million of others in entering US illegally, and has skills, but as a matter of principle won't "break the laws of another country." And his youngest son has autism, something I know a bit of. I was just trying to help him out.
A cousin told him he could make money with a welder. MOSTLY WELDING ALUMINUM. So he wants to buy one, thinks he needs a Tig, but isn't sure. Thus my question. I should have mentioned some of this in my original question,as no one can reply twice.

Answer 1

you can weld aluminum in many ways, stick(arc), mig(with aluminum wire) and tig, and heli arc(which provides, the best looking and strongest weld)

Welders- you have arc, which uses stick electrodes aka welding rods
mig and tig, which uses a wire fed through the lead into the tip
and heli'arc, which uses a hand held filler rod and a gun that makes the arc.

as a beginner you will mant a miller, or lincoln mig setup. preferably with the argon bottle, as argon creates a cleaner stronger weld

Plasma, is a plasma cutter, it uses the electrical arc and blowing air to cut metal

You can get one of these welders from 299-399 anywhere


And hey there bikertrash, you gave no more info than I did, and you didnt even give them a link to more useful info than your regulated insult, oh and by the way Im just a Union Boilermaker(and that means welder if you dont get it!) and have been doing metal fab work since i was 15, so check your references and take your insults back to AOL chats with the rest of the kids

Answer 2

arc is the type of welding it does it creates heat by electrical current arcing from the electrode to the metals being welded this creates heat and melts the surfaces of the rod and metal being welded. There are some differences in machines don't get a cracker box they suk. Get you a machine that you can reverse polarity on and check to see how long the machine can weld before it shuts off. Some of the smaller machines will only weld for a few minutes and the coil has to cool back down. The main thing is not to get a machine that requires you to use AC rods they are junk and don't weld well at all. As far as my preference I like Hobart, Miller is okay and so is Lincoln but for the money Hobart is a good around the house machine and can weld for a good while. They have a wire feed Hobart that is excellent. As for Plasma you are refering to a plasma cutter and it does just that it cuts steel and alloys you cannot weld with a plasma cutter. Hope this helps

Answer 3

Not to sound like a jerk but if you don't know the answer to that question you need to buy or borrow some books on welding and do some research so you don't get taken to the cleaners. There are a lot of different types of welders made for different applications. If you are a beginning welder that will be welding mostly mild steel I would recommend a MIG welder, personally I prefer the 220volt models over the 110 volt ones, I think the weld a little better. As for the brands, stick to Lincoln, Miller, Hobart or another name brand so you can find parts for it if you ever need them.

Answer 4

In general, you get what you pay for with welding machines. If you buy a $100 machine, it will probably perform poorly. If you buy a $400 machine, it will be decent quality.

Arc and plasma are two different types of welding. They both join metal together, but they use different processes to do it.

Arc welding uses a hollow tube of consumable metal to create a standing electric arc, which melts the metal. Inert gas is pumped through the hollow tube to prevent oxygen from contaminating the weld.

Plasma welding uses an electrode to generate ionized gas (plasma), which is shot out of the tip in a needle-thin spray. There is a skirt around the electrode which pumps out inert gas to prevent oxygen contamination. A plasma welder can also be used as a plasma cutter.

Answer 5

An arc is a controlled electrical discharge between the electrode and the workpiece that is formed and sustained by the establishment of a gaseous conductive medium, called an arc plasma.

Plasma may be for plasma arc welding (PAW). An arc welding process that uses a constricted arc between a non-consumable electrode and the weld pool (transferred arc) or between the electrode and the constricting nozzle (non transferred arc). Shielding is obtained from the ionized gas issuing from the torch, which may be supplemented by an auxiliary source of shielding gas.

The term plasma is also used in plasma arc cutting (PAC) An arc cutting process that uses a constricted arc and removes the molten metal with a high-velocity jet of ionized gas issuing from the constrictive orifice.

ESAB, and Red-d-Arc are excellent machines as well. While they may not be one of the big names you know, there are used extensively in the welding and fabrication industry.

What process of welding does your friend want to do?
What's the application?

Answer 6

Arc welders use flux covered welding rods. MIG welders use welding wire and shielding gas or flux core wire. Plasma is a type of metal cutting torch and isn't used to weld with.
If welder will be used infrequently around a home shop, then a lesser known brand will do.