Any precision robotic welding guys here?
Tue, 31 Aug 2021 16:09:15 GMT
I run a Fanuc 100iC at work piggybacked onto a Lincoln 455m STT. We work on a very precision level were 1/2 of a MM can make or break a weld. Recently we have had problem keeping our welding wire strait, Currently running Avesta 308lsi in a 33lb spool, with a high end wire straitener. It seems that with different lots of manufactured wire, the Stiffness, and cast (free diameter of wire once ran through our welder and straitener) changes dramatically. This is causing a low accuracy and BIG torchmate adjustment's frequently, requiring touch up to positioning in the programming. We are also seeing Wire flip in the liner that is only present maybe 1% of the time. This we can live with, but we need to do something about how strait our wire is coming out!We are thinking of going over to a 500 pound drum of Avesta wire for more consistency, but want to know if we will be gaining anything with such a big initial cost. We have also used the Lincoln blue max 308Lsi with some level of success. The lincoln wire is a lot stiffer, but we are having different cast of different lot numbers as well, And it seems more exaggerated in the lincoln wire. I was wondering if anyone here has any robotic welding experience here at these levels of precision. Thanks In advanceMarc __________________
Reply:Sounds like your wire straightener is crushing the wire rather than straightening it. Are you running too much roller tension/pressure on it?MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Originally Posted by DesertRider33Sounds like your wire straightener is crushing the wire rather than straightening it. Are you running too much roller tension/pressure on it?
Reply:bump.
Reply:I worked with automated pulsed MIG for several years, Between myself and a couple other engineers we had 30 weld stations and ran 1000 lb spools of .045 Lincoln E70S-6. The guns were essentially stationary and the part rotated, so not anywhere like your robot moving and twisting the gun around, but we had to address some wire feed issues early on. We used straight neck Tregaskiss guns so we found we needed to control the cast of the wire to get good contact in the tip. We were getting wire with cast that ranged from straight (no cast) to a hoop as tight as about 24", we had problems with the large cast and straight wire. We worked with Lincoln, specified a fairly tight cast range, and they met our spec, problem solved.As you described, I guess you need very straight wire and use a curved neck gun to get contact. I think people have toyed with the idea allowing the use of straight wire and a straight gun by having some kind of spring loaded contact tip.
Reply:I would get away from the small spools and use drum wire that is intended for robotic use. Look at other wire brands. Most companies look at the wire cost and not the cost of the problems it can cause. Sanvik makes some decent wire, ESAB is not too bad, Lincoln is good stuff and Hobart is good also. I'm at a customers plant this week working on a stainless job and they have wire issues like you have. They have a wire straightener attached to the wire feeder but the wire straightness is still not ideal for the robot. You can try to use one size smaller contact tip or a slightly shorter contact tip to work distance (stick out). You may end up changing tips more often but it might help. Be careful with the Torchmate. It is a band-aid for not correcting the real problem of a worn contact tip, non straight wire, or a bent torch. I use it to only warn of TCP issues and not to make corrections. You can set it to let you know if the TCP is outside of set limits.
Reply:I will have my boss on here later tonight as well, and we can figure this out. Thanks to those that have replied
Reply:I would like to get more Information about spring loaded contact tips. We Have been In contact with ESAB about wire and have been very pleased with customer service. I think we are intrested mainly in some sort of spring loaded tip for our robot. We have been using tips that are Crome lined and have been ovaling the tips.
Reply:As far as I know, you'll have to design and fabricate your own "spring loaded" contact tip. I know I've seen research on this somewhere, but about 99.9% sure nothing is commercially available. Try Google Patent.
Reply:Fronius supplies the spring loaded contact tips you are looking for. Go to http://www.fronius.com/ and/or call them. You can also try offsetting the entire seam 1mm, it has worked for me. With the Motoman, and kuka robots you can modify all the points you have taught and offset them on the Z -1mm. I was struggling with precision welds as well when trying to weld 1/8" filets. The weld always seemed to clime up the wall no matter how precise I had the wire. If you can get your wire cast diameter larger than 2 ft, you should be fine. Just use a tapered nozzle and the spring-loaded contact tip and keep the stickout as close as possible.
Reply:I have zero experience with this but HTP offers a tip that has a cut-away and a slight tab that the wire has to ride against as it comes out of the tip. I think something like this might solve your contact problem. As far as the cast causing problems Im not sure what to do about that.Is the problem basically the weld puddle wandering as the wire twists coming out of the gun and occasionally losing contact with the tip?
Reply:When we have this issue on our .052" wire, we run .045" tips. Keeps the wire straighter. Only downside is they tend to seize after making long hot welds. Check to see how tight your wire is to your contact tip. If necessary, buy the next smaller size and ream it up in size until you get a very good fit.
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