arc welding machines of the wilson welder and metals company

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Page 1: Arc Welding Machines of the Wilson Welder and Metals Company

Abstract of paper presented at the 36th AnnualConvention of the American Insstitute ofElectrical Engineers, White Sulphur Springs,W. Va., July i, 1920.

Copyright 1920, by A. I. E. E.

ARC WELDING MACHINES OF THE WILSONWELDER AND METALS COMPANY

BY ALEXANDER CHURCHWARDEngineer, Wilson Welder and Metals Co.

W HILE experimenting with alloy wire to getgreater strength than that obtained with theordinary low-carbon wire, it was discovered

that with a long arc a high-carbon content wire lostmost of its carbon while going through the arc.Having the above in view, a system was developed,

whereby a long arc cannot be drawn; 16 to 19 voltsis accepted as a normal arc. There must be enoughstabilizing resistance used to allow the arc momentar-ily to be drawn out to 22 volts, to take care of inequal-ities, of the piece to be welded, the burning off of theelectrode and unsteadiness of the operator's hand.The lowest voltage to take care of this condition withordinary resistance grids, non-automatic, was found tobe 60, but this would give too long an arc with the or-dinary welder, it gave a flexible are to be sure, butwith the ordinary welder, a flexible are is dangerous ifgood welds are required.

Therefore, to get a normal arc without dangerousflexibility, it was found that 35 to 37.5 volts was themaximum that could be used. Now, 35 volts with afixed resistance will not give a steady or constantcurrent. It had also been determined that unless thecurrent was constant good welds of the maximumstrength could not be made. It was decided to devisean automatic resistance, namely the carbon pile.The function of the carbon pile is briefly as follows:First: The carbon pile is in series with the arc.Second: A heavy spring compresses the pile to mini-

mum resistance and adjustments may be made forcurrent values required.

1409

Page 2: Arc Welding Machines of the Wilson Welder and Metals Company

1410 ALEXANDER CHURCHWARD [July 1

Third: A solenoid in series with the welding circuit,counteracts the spring pressure so that any predeter-mined current value can be maintained.The generator is of the constant-potential low-volt-

age type (35 to 37.5-volt) flat compounded. When theelectrode is short-circuited on the work the voltage ofthe generator remains constant, and does not drop tozero, to be built up when the are is started, but thesolenoid instantaneously functions, and releases thepressure on the carbon pile, thus, inserting the properamount of resistance automatically, preventing theshort-circuiting current on the surge from rising morethan 10 per cent above the welding current. As thearc lengthens and requires more voltage, the carbonpile, controlled by the solenoid, instantaneously re-sponds and the current when welding is kept constantwithin 5 per cent.

This type of control was selected because its timeelement was much less than some other types of con-trol. It has especially proved itself in multiple arcmachines, two or more welders operating from thesame machine, sometimes on the same piece of work.What is claimed for this system is that there is pro-

duced constant heat per unit area in the weld, not inthe arc.

Standard machines are made in three capacities,one-,two- and four-operator machines for all availablecircuits, both a-c. and d-c. Also gas-driven one- andtwo-operator sets, and belted machines to be driven offline shafts.