Hello everyone, I have a really nice HTP brand mig welder which is a igbt inverter circuit design. Previously I had a transformer/ bridge rectifier welder that I used a cast brass/copper ground clamp which in the professional welders arena is superior to a stamped steel alligator with braided copper strap clamp. The welder came with this stamp steel clamp and I replaced it with the cast copper/brass clamp thinking that the welder will function better(better arc quality). I was wondering that the path for the ground clamp would have a different resistance because of the larger mass of the cast vs stamped clamp. I recall resistance is proportional to the cross sectional area of the conductor. Anyway would I have any risks to damaging my welder which I hope never breaks as it’s a delicate and complicated inverter circuit vs a much simpler heavy transformer/rectifier type welder. I’m really rusty with my electronics from my school days, I’m just trying to visualize what could happen. Also, I see people using this same welder with the stock clamp included with the unit and it appears to be working well to the masses.
Did I get fooled into believing this gimmick if you will. These types of upgraded clamps could be made out of cheap pot metal and brass/copper coated. I have have attached some pics and would greatly appreciate some suggestions.

 

Interesting question here.. Neither clamp should cause any damage to the welder when used correctly, as intended. That particular construction of steel and copper ground clamp, when used with an adequate cable properly terminated, is probably a bit better then the brass clamp. The steel clamp with the heavy copper inserts probably is able to provide a better connection to some work pieces, and it has the potential to provide a better connection to some work pieces than the brass clamp.

 

Get a large "C-Clamp" from Harbor-Freight and attach your Ground-Cable to it with a Bolt and Nut.
Sand the contact surfaces when they start to look dirty.

This will end the frustrations of a marginal / unpredictable / loose Ground-Connection.

If You have a Steel-Fixture-Table to do set-ups / fixtures on,
where your work-pieces are normally clamped-down to the Table,
You can simply leave the "C-Clamp" attached to the back-corner of the Table, out of the way.

For Welders with a "High-Frequency-Start" Circuit, and low to moderate Amperage,
You can probably get away with not needing to clamp the work-piece to the Table at all,
just start with the part laying loosely on the Table and weld.
This is not adequate for Stick-Welding with an old-skool Transformer-Welder though.
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