Spot-On: Spot Welding Washington DC

Squeeze Type Resistance Spot Welding (STRSW) offers many advantages over MIG welding. But there are pitfalls to watch out for, which I have painfully experienced myself so you don't have to.

By Mike West
6/4/2008

It has been four years since my last article in BodyShop Business regarding the practice of Squeeze Type Resistance Spot Welding (STRSW). The process is still the same, but let’s talk a little about it and try to understand how it works.

First off, keep in mind that this information is coming from a collision repairer, not an electrical engineer or metallurgist. For sure, I am not an academic. I’m a hands-on craftsman with an interest in the technical aspects of anything, or any process, in the collision repair industry. I’ve found, however, that when I understand how something works and why it works, I have a greater chance of achieving a positive result. And when something goes wrong, I’m much more successful at recognizing what happened and adjusting to correct it.

It’s All About Resistance

No, I’m not talking about your wife’s attitude when you ask her if she would mind if you bungee jumped off a bridge in British Columbia (I actually did this, and fortunately my wife was OK with it and happily watched me from the adjacent cliffs). I’m talking about the actual resistance created when an electrical current flows through steel.
Steel will conduct electricity, but not as well as, sa...