TPi January 2020

Tube welding technology

HFT introduces new grinder made with diamond wheel

Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT ® has introduced a new tungsten electrode grinder which has been manufactured with a diamond wheel. The TEG-1000 has been designed to ensure the grinding of each tungsten electrode results in clean and smooth finishes, with no splintering and to eliminate arc jumping. Luke Keane, technical sales manager for HFT ® , said: “It is very important to have a dedicated grinder for tungsten electrodes. This will help to ensure that the wheel and tungsten tip do not become contaminated during the grinding, which can possibly transfer foreign material to the weld. “An incorrectly ground tungsten electrode tip may drop into the weld pool and create a tungsten inclusion that could lead to a weld cut-out or reject, either way, leading to additional welding costs and lost time. It can also result in a huge reduction in tip life and changes in arc voltage.” HFT ® ’s TEG-1000 grinder will give repeatable tungsten electrode points every time, enabling consistent arc performance and welding results. The THE Troxel Company has been producing HF welded tubing for more than 50 years. Solid-state, high- frequency induction welding expert Thermatool has been supporting Troxel since the start. Troxel has multiple Thermatool solid- state HF welders on its tube mills, the first being installed in 1995 and the most recent in 2018. All of the welders are still delivering reliable performance, and Thermatool supports each model with spare parts and technical service for the life of the machine. Troxel’s latest upgrade is a new Thermatool CFI (current-fed inverter) 200 solid-state HF welder. It uses

design of the TEG-1000 is such that the diamond wheel grinds the tungsten electrodes longitudinally, preventing arc flicker or wander caused by circumferential lines or ridges found on electrodes which have been ground incorrectly. Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT www.huntingdonfusion.com Thermatool chosen by Troxel again

The HFT grinder

scrap and increase yield. In addition, the Thermatool current-fed HF welder enables Troxel to ensure the first tube is prime all the way through to the end of the production run. Thermatool customer service helps make sure that Troxel gets the most out of its multiple generations of machine. “Thermatool’s technology has made our transition to solid-state equipment extremely smooth,” said Mr Bowen. “All of our solid-state welders, regardless of the age, are fully supportable with spare parts, and even our welders older than 20 years are fully serviceable – nothing is obsolete.” Thermatool Corp www.thermatool.com

Thermatool’s patented AutoMatch™ power and frequency matching and stabilisation features, which ensure production performance and efficiency. Craig Bowen, technical service manager at Troxel, reported that upgrading to Thermatool solid-state HF welders from vacuum tube designs has been a great benefit to his shop. “We get better uptime, and the CFIs are more energy efficient,” said Mr Bowen. “Our welding process is all- around better with the CFI solid-state HF welders.” The AutoMatch feature ensures full power output over a wide range of product sizes, which helps reduce

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TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL January 2020

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