stud welding

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I got to use a stud welder on loan today for a job im doing.what easy work it made welding 60  3/8 x2" studs onto 1/2" plate! I almost had a heart attack when the rep told me how much it cost. seems to me its basically an arc welder with a timer in it.plus the special gun. my question is does any body know if there is some sort of conversion or kit for arc welders that do stud welding? thanks
Reply:There are stud welding power supplies that can run stick also.  I have never seen the stud package on a major name brand constant current machine.  One major cost is the capacitors and switching equipment Many shops just rent the units for the job then return it.
Reply:A stud welder is a cold wire welder like a mig. this allows you to position the stud apply pressure then turn on the current .  An internal timer turns off the current returning the welder to cold wire condition. You are supposed to hold the gun still untill the puddle sets.   The weld is a very high power  short duration weld . Think of your 3/8 stud as a short 3/8 welding rod. (375-450 amps)   The control electronics for studwelding is complex and expenive. Some have a bypass switch on them to allow hot wire for stick work.  To me this is not a good feature as you are using a very expensive power source were wa much simpler and cheaper one would do.   The biggest stud welder  I have worked on  was a Nelson dual output (two gun) machine welding 7/8 studs  During the weld it was a full load for a 150 kw generator.  Tthe actual duty cycle was above 28 % in use. this figure was computed from fuel consumption for the genset.  For comparison a  large sitck welder source is well under  30  kw  when  rumnning flat out. TerryLast edited by terry lingle; 01-22-2005 at 09:13 AM.