Can You Build a Spot Welder with a 12V Battery?

When making DIY battery packs, a spot welder is often needed to attach nickel strips to cells. But can we replace a commercial spot welder with a simple 12V battery? Is it really possible? In this post, we’ll explore the theory, test conditions, and real-world applications to find out.     How Spot Welding Works and What It Requires Spot welding fuses a nickel strip to a battery cell by passing high current for a very short time, generating enough heat to bond them. The core requirements are: High current output: More than 50A in a short pulse Short contact time: Ideally 0.1 to 0.3 seconds Proper conductors: Thick copper wires or silicone cables are necessary While a 12V sealed lead-acid battery isn't optimized for high current bursts, it may still be suitable for small-scale tasks like welding just a few cells.     What Makes 12V Batteries Viable for Spot Welding? Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries have higher inte...