With the upgrading of consumption nowadays, consumers' awareness of the importance of appliance safety continues to rise. Meanwhile, supported by national policies, initiatives such as "trade-in" and "replace old with new" in the home appliance industry have been progressively promoted, bringing consumers high-end and diversified experiences and igniting vitality in the stock market of electric water heaters. According to relevant data, in the new era of consumption upgrading, large capacity is the biggest consumer hotspot for electric water heaters.
The internal structure of an electric water heater consists of an inner tank, magnesium rod, safety valve, electrical insulation wall, and heating rod. Among them, the inner tank is used for water storage purposes and is the most core component of an electric water heater. Essentially, the water heater inner tank is a type of pressure vessel, and for pressure vessels, welding is of paramount importance. As one of the subdivisions of pressure vessel industry, the water heater industry has gradually entered the path of "lean production".
Challenges in Welding Water Heater Inner Tank
The inner tank of a water heater comes in several types: titanium inner tank series, crystalline silicon inner tank series, stainless steel inner tank series, and enamel inner tank. The most common is the stainless steel inner tank, which has the advantages of good material, high strength, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, stable performance, and rust resistance. However, it is difficult to weld, with the major risk lying in the weld seam.
Traditional welding production of water heater inner tanks faces several problems: traditional manual TIG welding is mainly used for circumferential seam welding of water heater tanks, but its welding quality is greatly affected by the welder's skill level. Moreover, due to cost and efficiency issues, this method is rarely used for water heater tank welding. It suffers from low efficiency, low output, high labor intensity, requires a large workforce, and cannot achieve automated, integrated operations, which are not conducive to standing out in t