A method and apparatus for providing welding-type power that alternates between at least a hotter and a colder process is disclosed.

Disclosed example power supplies, user interfaces, and methods are provided for intuitive or automatic control of welding parameter output ranges. The disclosed systems and methods provide tools for setup of configurable and/or default settings for a welding power source and/or wire feeder. Weld settings include upper and lower limits for an operating range corresponding to one or more welding parameters, such that a welding parameter value is bound by the upper and lower limits during a welding operation. In some examples, the operating range, and the corresponding upper and lower limits, are calculated or determined based on a selected range tolerance.

An example welding-type power supply includes: power conversion circuitry configured to convert input power to welding-type power having at least one of an alternating current (AC) waveform or a pulse waveform; and control circuitry configured to: determine an amperage parameter of the welding-type power; based on the amperage parameter, determine a frequency of the AC waveform or the pulse waveform; and control the power conversion circuitry to output the welding-type power at the determined frequency and based on the amperage parameter.

An example welding-type power supply includes: power conversion circuitry configured to convert input power to welding-type power having at least one of an alternating current (AC) waveform or a pulse waveform; an interface configured to receive an input representative of a selected frequency of the AC waveform or the pulse waveform; and control circuitry configured to: determine an amperage parameter of the welding-type power; based on the amperage parameter, determine a range of frequencies of the AC waveform or the pulse waveform; control the interface to output an indication of the selected frequency with respect to the determined range of frequencies; and control the power conversion circuitry to output the welding-type power at the selected frequency and based on the amperage parameter.

A method and apparatus for providing welding type power is disclosed. The output is cyclical, and is a controlled voltage output during the background and/or peak and a controlled current output during the transition up and/or down. During the controlled current portion the output is responsive to output voltage.

A method and apparatus for providing welding type power includes receiving input power and pulse width modulating a first forward converter and a second forward converter so that they operate as a pulse width modulated double forward converter to provide a welding type output. A phase relationship between the first forward converter and a second forward converter is selected from at least two available phase relationships using a controller. The controller includes a pwm module, and the pwm module includes a phase relationship module. The at least two available phase relationships are at least two of variable phase shifting, fixed phase staggering and locked in phase. The selected phase relationship is maintained over a predetermined range of outputs.

Embodiments of welding systems and methods with coordinated dual power outputs supporting a same welding process or a same AC output process are disclosed. One embodiment of a welding system includes an engine and a generator operatively connected to the engine, where the engine is configured to drive the generator to produce electrical input power. The welding system also includes a power supply operatively connected to the generator and having at least one controller. The power supply is configured to convert the electrical input power to form two power outputs that are coordinated with each other, at least in time, via the controller to support a same welding process. The same welding process may be, for example, a hotwire welding process, a tandem metal inert gas (MIG) welding process, or an alternating current (AC) output process.

Provided is a system for providing pulsed arc starting phase, where the system comprises power conversion circuitry configured to convert input power to welding-type power and output the welding-type power, and control circuitry configured to control the power conversion circuitry to output the welding-type power. The control circuitry is configured to control the power conversion circuitry to output a plurality of welding current pulses during at least a portion of one or both of a run-in period or a ramp period for wire feeding of a welding wire ends, where each of the plurality of welding current pulses is associated with a respective pulse period and a respective pulse duty cycle.

A modular direct current power source is provided. One welding power supply system includes a plurality of hysteretic buck converters coupled in parallel. The hysteretic buck converters are configured to receive a common input and to provide combined output power to a common load based upon the common input.

Embodiments of systems and methods for supporting weld quality across a manufacturing environment are disclosed. One embodiment includes a manufacturing cell supporting welding of a sequence of welds to manufacture a workpiece. The manufacturing cell includes robotic welding equipment to make robotic welds as at least a portion of manufacturing a workpiece. The manufacturing cell also includes non-robotic welding equipment configured to allow a human operator to make non-robotic welds as at least a portion of manufacturing the workpiece. The manufacturing cell further includes a weld sequence controller configured to control timing associated with making the robotic welds and the non-robotic welds as a sequence of welds to manufacture the workpiece.