tigging copper

by rich tesznar
(toledo, o h USA)

I'm an electrician/welder, I've got some copper busbar 1/4"x4". I'm not sure of the amperage that will be put through the bus, its 480v bus. It wont exceed its factory ampere rating when installed but my concern is will it lose any of its integrity after being tigged? Also what fill, amperage and size tungsten should I use?


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Copper will almost always soften some from the heat of welding. depending on how much it is cold worked beforehand. heat from welding removes the cold work stress and anneals it

i would say 1/8" tungsten and if you have helium or a 80/20 helium/argon mix, that will help, it takes a lot of amperage and heat input to weld.

Its a weld engineering question as to whether it will be suitable for the design.

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