what is duty cycle of welding machine?

[FusionKing]

I think the beauty of fan on demand is it reminds you know that duty cycle is something of a factor at the time your least thinking about it.

[Jim-TX]

We've worn this out on Hobart for mr. windson. windson, are you Andrew, aka Clintonwelding that is bannned from every welding forum? This sure looks like his work.

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtal...ad.php?t=29259

[fun4now]

But, what are we to say about windson's 6 on, 12 off scenario?
it dose not work like that. at 60% duty cycle the welder will only need 4 minuets to get back into operating temps. this is with the fan keeping it cool both during the 6 and during the 4. shorter times in the high heat range means faster cool downs.
Machine can weld for 6 minutes, but requires much more than 4 minutes to cool. Such a machine can't exist?
they are not cooling it to room temp, just to operating temp. 4 minuets with no heat, just cooling fans can cool a great deal. if you are welding on an assembly line or long 6 minuets + strait weld beads you should not be calculating duty cycle. you need a welder with 100% at the needed weld current. most weld situations requiring long beads will be done by welders with 100% at that amp. its a 10 minuit cycle because that give ample time to cool a welder from over heating to operating temp, not lets hold the transformer in our bare hands temp.
don't make it so hard, just use the info as give. trying to find a way around it means you need a larger welder.

[Synchroman]

For what it's worth. This is from the Resources tab of the Miller Website - Key Words "Duty Cycle".

7. Why is welding power source duty cycle important?

The duty cycle of a welding power source is the amount of time you can weld at a given output without having to worry about overheating or burning up the power source. In the United States and some other countries, duty cycle is based upon a 10 minute period of time. For example, if a machine is rated at 300 amps/60% duty cycle, it can weld at 300 amps for six minutes. For the remaining four minutes, the power source needs to idle and cool. The duty cycle for many machines goes up as the amperage goes down.

A typical duty cycle for a hobbyist-type TIG welder would be 20%. An automatic setup for TIG, on the other hand, can require a 100% duty cycle because of the long weld times possible. Duty cycles of about 40% - 60% are often sufficient for many handheld TIG applications in construction and industry.