Technology Spotlight: Could this be the ultimate in portable wire welding power?

The case for portable welding units is understood by anyone who has had to weld in a remote location. There’s the farmer who drives several miles with a huge welding machine/generator in back of the pickup just to make a field repair that might last a couple of minutes. There’s the maintenance technician on a ship who needs to make a weld in an area that won’t accommodate a traditional welding power source, so he has to run cables, creating a less-than-ideal safety environment. In short, remote welding can be a pain.

Ultratech International Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., is looking to change that with its Tactical Welder. The company calls it the most powerful battery-powered welding machine available.

The technology behind the portable welding product is an electronic battery management system that uses high-capacity lithium-ion batteries to provide consistent power and safely controls charging and discharging functions. UltraTech International, a 25-year-old company that made its name in spill containment equipment for industrial companies and later got into other areas, such as stormwater management products, is leveraging the battery technology developed by a business associate in an attempt to reinvent an industry segment.

“It’s definitely not meant to replace a full-blown stationary welder that has all the bells and whistles,” said Matt Clancy, UltraTech’s engineering and manufacturing director. “This comes with a battery-powered system, and it has a wire-fed spool gun that plugs right into it. You have the reverse polarity for MIG or flux-cored welding. You get nice, clean welds either way.”

This is possible, of course, because it can run up to 300 amps. Other portable units are on the market, according to Clancy, but they can’t generate the power necessary to do thick-wire gas metal arc welding or flux-cored welding. (Most only get up to 150 amps.) The Tactical Welder can process 0.023- to 0.040-in. welding wire.

And it all fits into a backpack. The entire package weighs 35 pounds.

“We’ve made AWS D1.1 structural steel welds using 0.035-inch flux-cored wire on 3/8-in. steel plate and root and face bend testing show no defects,” Clancy said.

The electronic battery management system and the 528-watt-hour lithium-ion battery help this portable welding product work, according to Clancy. The Tactical Welder, which can be plugged into a 110-V outlet and takes about two hours to charge, can deliver about 20 minutes of actual welding time at a 33 percent duty cycle. That’s about 0.5 to 1 lb. of welding wire being processed per charge. (You can run at a higher duty cycle, Clancy said, but you’ll reduce the expected run time.) Also, if you are running a lower amperage, such as 60 amps, a welder might get 60 minutes of actual run time.

The product can be tested at this year’s FABTECH^® event in Atlanta, Nov. 6-8. UltraTech International can be found at booth C13545.

UltraTech International Inc., www.tacticalwelder.com