CABLE INDUCTANCE AND ITS EffECTS ON
WELDINg
Excessive cable inductance will cause the welding performance to
degrade. There are several factors that contribute to the overall
inductance of the cabling system including cable size, and loop
area. The loop area is defined by the separation distance between
the electrode and work cables, and the overall welding loop
length. The welding loop length is defined as the total of length of
the electrode cable (A) + work cable (B) + work path (C) (See
Figure A.5).
To minimize inductance always use the appropriate size cables,
and whenever possible, run the electrode and work cables in close
proximity to one another to minimize the loop area. Since the most
significant factor in cable inductance is the welding loop length,
avoid excessive lengths and do not coil excess cable. For long
work piece lengths, a sliding ground should be considered to keep
the total welding loop length as short as possible.
REMOTE SENSE LEAD SPECIfICATIONS
Voltage Sensing Overview
The best arc performance occurs when the POWER WAVE® S500
has accurate data about the arc conditions.
Depending upon the process, inductance within the electrode and
work cables can influence the voltage apparent at the studs of the
welder, and have a dramatic effect on performance. Remote
voltage sense leads are used to improve the accuracy of the arc
voltage information supplied to the control pc board. Sense Lead
Kits (K940-xx) are available for this purpose.
The POWER WAVE® S500 has the ability to automatically sense
when remote sense leads are connected. With this feature there
are no requirements for setting-up the machine to use remote
sense leads. This feature can be disabled through the Weld
Manager Utility (available at www.powerwavesoftware.com) or
through the set up menu (if a user interface is installed into the
power source).
If the auto sense lead feature is disabled and remote
voltage sensing is enabled but the sense leads are
missing or improperly connected extremely high welding
outputs may occur.
General Guidelines for Voltage Sense Leads
Sense leads should be attached as close to the weld as practical,
and out of the weld current path when possible. In extremely
sensitive applications it may be necessary to route cables that
contain the sense leads away from the electrode and work
welding cables.
Voltage sense leads requirements are based on the weld process
(See Table A.2)
CAUTION
FIGURE A.5
B
A
C
WORK
POWER
WAVE
S500
Process
GMAW
GMAW-P
FCAW
GTAW
SMAW
Electrode Voltage Sensing
(1)
67 lead
67 lead required
67 lead required
67 lead required
Voltage sense at studs
Voltage sense at studs
Work Voltage Sensing
(2)
21 lead
21 lead optional
(3)
21 lead optional
(3)
21 lead optional
(3)
Voltage sense at studs
Voltage sense at studs
TABLE A.2
(1)
The electrode voltage sense lead (67) is automatically enabled by the weld process, and integral to the 5 pin arclink control cable
(K1543-xx).
(2)
When a work voltage sense lead (21) is connected the power source will automatically switch over to using this feedback (if the auto
sense feature is enable).
(3)
Negative polarity semi-automatic process operation WITHOUT use of a remote work sense lead (21) requires the Negative Electrode
Polarity attribute to be set.
A-10
INSTALLATION
POWER WAVE
®
S500
