The welding equipment market offers a wide range of transformer, rectifier and invert equipment. Welding inverters are most widely used - they are compact, mobile, convenient to use, have an affordable cost, are easily connected and can be used by both experienced and novice specialists. A device cable is required for the device to function. About which wire is needed for the welding inverter and how to choose it, is described below.
Welding cable structure
The normal operation of the welding inverter is only possible using copper wire, since it is copper that conducts electric current best. The workflow is greatly simplified by using a flexible cable.
The welding inverter wire consists of:
- Conducting copper core made of thin wires with a cross section of not more than 0.2 mm.
- Cable coatings made of rubber or butadiene or natural rubber.
- The adhesion of the cores and the coating is prevented by means of a separation layer made of a transparent film.
Cable specifications
The wires for the welding inverter must have sufficient flexibility and meet certain characteristics:
- Resistance to mechanical stress, tearing and impact.
- Resistance to temperature fluctuations, providing the possibility of operating the inverter at low and high temperatures.
- Resistant to moisture and direct sunlight.
- Immunity to fungus, mold.
- Minimal risk of bending.
Types of wires
Especially for welding, a small number of cable brands have been created, however, only two correspond to the above requirements - KG and KOG.
Masters when answering the question of which wire is best for a welding inverter, call a flexible cable (KG). It is used to connect mobile devices to networks with a frequency of 400 Hz, a maximum alternating voltage of 660 V and a constant voltage of 1000 V.
An analogue of KG is a cable especially flexible - KOG, which is used when working in hard-to-reach places and provides the welder with freedom of action and inverter mobility. With its help, semi-automatic and automatic installations are connected to networks with a frequency of 50 Hz, a maximum direct current of 700 V and alternating 220 V.
Cable subspecies
The listed brands are divided into several types:
- KOG-HL / KG-HL. Cold-resistant wires for the welding inverter, which can be operated at temperatures up to -60 degrees.
- KOG-T / KG-T. Tropical cables resistant to mold, high temperatures up to +55 degrees.
- KGn is equipped with non-combustible insulation and is used when working in fire hazardous conditions.
- KOG-U. It can be used in the temperature range from -45 to +40 degrees.
What wire cross section for the welding inverter to choose?
When choosing cables for welding equipment, their cross section is one of the main parameters on which conductivity depends, and as a result, the quality of the weld being created and the speed of the work.
For small welding inverters, cables with a cross section of up to 7 mm 2 are the best option.
For working with inverter-type devices, cables with a cross section of 10, 16 and 26 mm 2 are suitable.
The use of wires of the wrong cross section for welding inverters can lead to overheating, short circuit or fire, which can cause the device to malfunction.
Connecting cables to the welding inverter
Connection to the equipment of wires is carried out taking into account several rules:
- Cables are connected to the inverter using special lugs, all connections are necessarily insulated.
- The wires for the welding inverter are combined by crimping.
- A mandatory requirement is to observe the polarity when connecting to electric holders and connectors.
- The power of the cables must match the welding machine.
Welding wire requirements
Cables for welding inverters must supply current with minimal losses to the place of the arc, and therefore they are made of copper, which has the highest conductivity among all metals. A large cross-section protects the wire from overheating.
During operation, the welder has to make complex movements with the electrode or hold it at different angles. Accordingly, the wire should not interfere. Often welding is carried out in hard-to-reach places at complex industrial and construction sites, and therefore the cable must be flexible and the insulation material must be resilient and elastic.
Welding is carried out among metal structures, which are excellent current conductors, which requires an insulating layer with a long service life, resistance to high temperatures and voltage. Moreover, such insulation must be resistant to aggressive conditions, extreme temperatures, torsion, squeezing and twisting.
The optimal set of wires for the welding inverter is a multicore copper cable of large cross section with an insulating layer made of oil and petrol resistant rubber. It meets all the requirements for such wires.
Marking Welding Cables
The alphanumeric designation of the wires for the welding inverter starts with the abbreviation for the category. For example, KS denotes a welding cable, while the letter K means a copper conductive core.
The KG brand has almost identical technical characteristics and is used for welding at home.
The polymer protective layer is indicated by the letter "P". Frost-resistant wires are marked with the letters "HL" and can be used at temperatures up to -60 degrees due to the additional polymer layer that prevents it from cracking in the cold.
Cables in the tropical version are indicated by the letter "T". The insulation of such wires is made of materials capable of operating at temperatures up to +85 degrees and consisting of antibacterial and antiseptic drugs. Insulation does not lose its effectiveness when operating in a wide temperature range.
By the abbreviation KOG means cables of increased level of flexibility. Thanks to such veins, it is possible to carry out welding work in hard-to-reach places without reducing the mobility of the device and comfort for the welder performing complex seams.
The cores adapted for high-frequency currents are marked with the letters HF and are used for both professional and household welding inverters.
The increased water tightness is designated by marking KG. Cables of this type allow underwater work with mandatory full waterproofing of all connectors.
Fire-resistant and non-combustible cables are marked with the letters GN. Such wires are used for "hot" work in industrial enterprises, when heat-treated parts and workpieces are welded.
The number of cores is indicated by the corresponding numbers. The cross section of the conductive core is indicated in square millimeters.
Marking of imported cables for welding inverters is carried out according to other notation systems. You can familiarize yourself with the correspondence tables of the parameters of foreign and domestic wires when buying wires.