At a new industrial plant there are 5 new lincoln 455m wleders. All are having software problems which lead to arc flaring. When the software is reloaded they run fine for 15 min -a day or so then start having problems. Lincoln is on site and has tried all they know to try. The power for the plant is 277/480 800 amp service, running at 284/492. There is a sag on the utility side every 6 min on one leg down to 270vac. Lincoln brought in another new unit incase it was a bad lot and it only made it 10 min before problems started. No other equipment in the facility is having issues. There is a large laser cutter on site as well as buffers, grinders, hydrolic benders and the like. Any ideas?
Welder software issues
- Thread starter shorte77
- Start date
- Status
hbiss
EC, New York NEC: 2017
- Location
- Little Falls, New York NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- EC
Sounds like Lincoln has a problem.
-Hal
-Hal
mcclary's electrical
Senior Member
- Location
- VA
What kind of software? Why are they having to RE-load software? Are they not burning it to EEPRROM? If not, any time you lose power, you lose your program. I would find it very hard to believe that they don't know that.
I'm leaning more toward there is just software problem in general. Nothing with your plant
Follow up
Follow up
It seems at different points during use and its different for each machine there will start to be issues with arc flaring. The problem gets progressively worse till the welds are not acceptable. The rep reloads the sorfware and the machine is good as new for a time; may be 10 minutes may be a day and a half.
Follow up
It seems at different points during use and its different for each machine there will start to be issues with arc flaring. The problem gets progressively worse till the welds are not acceptable. The rep reloads the sorfware and the machine is good as new for a time; may be 10 minutes may be a day and a half.
gar
Senior Member
- Location
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Occupation
- EE
100702-0907 EST
shorte77:
Apparently the program or parameters are stored in a volatile memory. This would be a memory that can be modified by an electrical disturbance in the welder. An ultraviolet erasable ROM would be the least easy to modify in conventional circuits. Since the serviceman can apparently easily reprogram the memory there is no indication that the data is stored in a UV ROM.
Dynamic memory would be the most likely to have a problem. But poorly designed static memory or EEPROM circuits could be susceptible to voltage disturbances internal or external.
I think Lincoln has a design problem.
With a UV ROM unless you go into programming mode, or expose to UV for a while, or destroy the device, or wait for 100 years there is little likelihood of any bit changes. I have UV ROMs in the field that have had no data change in 30 years. These are ones made within about 5 years of the invention of the devices. In other words early in the history of the devices.
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shorte77:
Apparently the program or parameters are stored in a volatile memory. This would be a memory that can be modified by an electrical disturbance in the welder. An ultraviolet erasable ROM would be the least easy to modify in conventional circuits. Since the serviceman can apparently easily reprogram the memory there is no indication that the data is stored in a UV ROM.
Dynamic memory would be the most likely to have a problem. But poorly designed static memory or EEPROM circuits could be susceptible to voltage disturbances internal or external.
I think Lincoln has a design problem.
With a UV ROM unless you go into programming mode, or expose to UV for a while, or destroy the device, or wait for 100 years there is little likelihood of any bit changes. I have UV ROMs in the field that have had no data change in 30 years. These are ones made within about 5 years of the invention of the devices. In other words early in the history of the devices.
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- Status