An apparatus comprising: a resistance spot weld (RSW) head configured to define a parallel gap RSW (PGW) configuration and an opposed welding configuration, the RSW head comprising: one or more processing circuits ; and a first electrode and a second electrode, the apparatus further comprising a third electrode , a first base and a second base , wherein the second base comprises the third electrode , wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are configured to execute a parallel gap RSW (PGW) on a first set of components secured to the first base when the RSW head is in the PGW configuration, wherein the first electrode is configured to execute an opposed RSW (opposed weld) with the third electrode of the second base on a second set of components secured to the second base when the RSW head is in the opposed welding configuration, and the RSW head further comprising an accelerometer securely attached to the first electrode at a location adjacent to the first electrode, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to cause the accelerometer to gather a PGW set of acceleration data of the first electrode during the PGW and gather an opposed weld set of acceleration data of the first electrode during the opposed weld, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine that the PGW set of acceleration data indicates a first welding defect based on the PGW set of acceleration data including at least one acceleration value outside of a first threshold acceleration range, and wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine that the opposed weld set of acceleration data indicates a second welding defect based on the opposed weld set of acceleration data including at least one acceleration value outside of a second threshold acceleration range. one or more processing circuits ; and a first electrode and a second electrode, the apparatus further comprising a third electrode , a first base and a second base , wherein the second base comprises the third electrode , wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are configured to execute a parallel gap RSW (PGW) on a first set of components secured to the first base when the RSW head is in the PGW configuration, wherein the first electrode is configured to execute an opposed RSW (opposed weld) with the third electrode of the second base on a second set of components secured to the second base when the RSW head is in the opposed welding configuration, and the RSW head further comprising an accelerometer securely attached to the first electrode at a location adjacent to the first electrode, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to cause the accelerometer to gather a PGW set of acceleration data of the first electrode during the PGW and gather an opposed weld set of acceleration data of the first electrode during the opposed weld, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine that the PGW set of acceleration data indicates a first welding defect based on the PGW set of acceleration data including at least one acceleration value outside of a first threshold acceleration range, and wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine that the opposed weld set of acceleration data indicates a second welding defect based on the opposed weld set of acceleration data including at least one acceleration value outside of a second threshold acceleration range. <EOS>