A system to generate weld power for a welding process comprises: a power supply including a power inverter having multiple switches controlled by multiple switching signals such that each switch is alternately turned ON and OFF within each switching cycle of one of the multiple switching signals, to supply a current to an output circuit of the power supply that is configured to convert the current to the weld power, wherein the power inverter includes a capacitor and a capacitor switch connected in series with each other and across a switch of the multiple switches; and a controller to monitor a weld parameter and control the capacitor switch to either connect the capacitor across, or disconnect the capacitor from, the switch continuously across multiple cycles of a respective one of the multiple switching signals, depending on whether the weld parameter meets a predetermined operating condition of the welding process.

An apparatus in a welding or cutting system comprises: an analog comparator to perform comparing a level of a voltage that is generated by a welding power supply of the welding or cutting system against an amplitude of an analog triangle waveform, to produce a binary waveform that has a first comparison level when the amplitude exceeds the level and a second comparison level when the amplitude does not exceed the level; and a digital controller configured to perform: measuring a first interval and a second interval over which the first comparison level and the second comparison level extend, respectively; computing an interval ratio based on the first interval and the second interval; and converting the interval ratio to a digitized value representative of the level of the voltage.

In order to develop a welding process in such a way that uniform flaking of a weld seam can be guaranteed even with a higher number of short-circuit cycles, a specific number of short-circuit cycles is specified for the cold welding phase and the cold phase duration of the cold welding phase is determined for a number of short-circuit cycles that exceeds a specified limit cycle number, depending on a determined cold phase time and after the cold welding phase, there is a switch to the hot welding phase.