One of the common usages for welding equipment in the mining industry is for gouging, according to Fuhai Liu, Product & Sales Manager – End Markets at Welding Industries of Australia.
“Our Big Blue Engine Driven welders are typically used on mining sites when they need to carry out repairs on earth moving equipment,” he explains. The engine driven power sources are self-sufficient without the need of onsite power supply and are often used to remove cracks or damaged parts from the equipment via a very efficient process – Air Carbon Gauging (ACG).
The Miller engine driven and multi-process invertor welding machines offer a very efficient way to remove metal from damaged or breakdown equipment on site and/or at the workshop environment, Fuhai says.
According to Fuhai, people’s view of a multi-process inverter welding machine is often that it doesn’t offer the same capabilities and quality as a transformer welding machine. However, with the Dimension 650 this is not the case. It boasts a rugged design and proven reliability within the mining MRO segments global wide.
On the Engine Driven equipment side, one of the features of the 500X, 700X and 800X Big Blue welders is the ArcReach, which allows the remote control of the power source without additional control cord, but via the welding power cable only.
“ArcReach technology uses the existing weld cable to communicate welding control information between the power source and wire feeder or stick/TIG pendant. This is particularly beneficial on a mining site as the feeder could be 50 to 100 metres away,” Fuhai explains.
In addition to the convenience of being able to adjust welding voltage and amperage at the weld, this also offers added safety benefits.
“There could be all kinds of obstacles and safety risks that would make it difficult for the welder to walk across a mining site. The ArcReach technology eliminates this risk by allowing the welding operator to change settings without having to walk across a potentially hazardous site,” Fuhai says.
There is also the added benefit of productivity gains. If a welder has to walk to the power source every time they need to change the setting, this causes a loss in production time. If an operator walks four times a day to a power source to adjust the settings, and each walk takes an average of 15 minutes, this will waste 250 hours a year per operator.
If organisations can gain back this lost welding time, then they can experience increased productivity.
Further cost benefits can be realised with regards to energy consumption, particularly with reference to the latest offering – the Dimension 650 machine.
The Dimension 650 Provides 800 amps of usable power, a full 650 amps of power at 100 per cent duty cycle.
“The Miller inverter range doesn’t use as much electricity as a transformer machine, in fact with the Dimension 650, the energy cost savings mean that the machine has pretty much paid for itself in two years depending on the equipment rate of usage” Fuhai says.
The Dimension 650 is a new offering in the multi-process equipment range and offers a lighter and easier to handle machine.
“The Dimension 650 is relatively new to the market here in Australia, and it offers significant energy savings as well as a very convenient and easy to move machine,” Fuhai says.
Miller ensures that all of its welding machines are tested extensively before rolling them out internationally, Fuhai says.
“Before any machine reaches the international market, it will have been trialled locally for an extended time period. The Dimension 650 has been receiving great feedback in the mining market and we’re excited to bring this product to the Australian mining industry,” Fuhai says.
