axis a x of the motor 10 rotating the snap rings 18 42 is prevented by contact between ends of the snap rings 18 42 and the welds 50 52 because the thick end laminations 20 44 are coupled to the housing 12 by the welds 50 52 the thick end laminations 20 44 also cannot rotate or spin preventing the stator 30 and individual stator laminations 32 from spinning thus can advantageously prevents premature failure of the esp motor during operations including at start up in example embodiments of fig6 and 7 the area of the welds 50 52 is less than the area of the snap rings 18 42 by welding the end laminations 20 44 to the inner portion of the housing 14 the possibility of the stator stack 30 spinning is dramatically reduced because spinning tends to occur at the interface of the snap rings 18 42 with the end laminations 20 44 further welding the end laminations 20 44 does not adversely affect the integrity of the individual stator laminations 32 as the epoxy and windings in the stator slots 22 are sufficiently strong to prevent the individual stator laminations 32 from spinning under start up conditions in an example embodiment the welds 50 52 are formed using a metal inert gas mig welder for housings 12 formed of carbon steel a 7018 electrode or 7018 mig wire the 7018 electrode or.