Welding power supplies, wire feeders, and systems to measure a weld circuit resistance via communications over the weld circuit

1. A welding-type power supply, comprising:

a power converter configured to:

convert input power to output a current pulse via a weld circuit; and

convert the input power to output welding-type power via the weld circuit;

a voltage monitor configured to measure a first voltage measurement corresponding to a power supply output voltage of the current pulse;

a receiver circuit configured to receive, via the weld circuit, a first communication comprising a second voltage measurement following transmission of current pulse; and

a controller configured to:

determine a resistance of a portion of the weld circuit based on the first voltage measurement, the second voltage measurement, and a weld circuit current measurement; and

control the power converter to convert the input power to output the welding-type power based on a weld voltage setpoint and the resistance.

2. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , further comprising an auxiliary power circuit configured to output power via the weld circuit.

3. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , wherein the power converter is configured to generate the current pulse having a predetermined current and a predetermined duration.

4. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a current monitor configured to obtain the weld circuit current measurement in the weld circuit in response to the current pulse.

5. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the power converter to increase a voltage of the welding-type power from the weld voltage setpoint based on the resistance.

6. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the power converter to output the current pulse in response to initialization of the welding-type power supply.

7. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a transmitter circuit to transmit a second communication via the weld circuit, the controller configured to control the power converter to output the current pulse in response to the receiver circuit receiving a third communication via the weld circuit.

8. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , wherein the receiver circuit is configured to receive a second communication via the weld circuit while the welding-type power is flowing through the weld circuit, the second communication including weld voltage feedback information measured at a device remote from the welding-type power supply, and the controller is configured to control the power converter to output the welding-type power according to a voltage feedback loop using the weld voltage feedback information to adjust the modified weld voltage setpoint and to regulate a weld voltage at the remote device based on the adjustment to the modified weld voltage setpoint.

9. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to subtract a second impedance associated with a voltage sense lead in the weld circuit to determine the resistance of the portion of the weld circuit.

10. The welding-type power supply as defined in claim 1 , wherein the voltage monitor is configured to sample voltage measurements to determine at least one of a peak voltage, an average voltage or a root-mean-square (RMS) voltage, the controller configured to determine the power supply output voltage as the average voltage or the RMS voltage.