inductance, slope question

[tnjind]

I have an EsabSVI 450I I use with a wire feeder. The machine is pretty beat up but welds fine. My questions are about the inductance and the slope settings. The slope has three positions, medium, steep, flat. Steep seems to work the best, what is it and what is it used for?
Also what does inductance do? I was welding on a skidsteer bucket for a dairy farmer awhile back and was getting dirty welds ( couldn't clean the cracks very well). I raised the inductance and it seemed to provide a cleaning action. What is it used for?
Thanks in advance.
Tim.

[doobie]

Inductance speeds up or slows down the rate of current change to affect how the molten droplet of metal melts off the end of the wire and transfers to the weld puddle.

[tnjind]

Thanks, Dave
I am still not sure what setting would be useful under differing situations.
Tim

[Danny]

The simple answer for inductance would be it controls arc characteristics, weld puddle wet out and can have an effect on spatter level.

A low inductance level, will produce a crisp arc that has sluggish puddle that doesn't wet out quickly. Advantages to this can be for vertical up or root passes. Lower inductance levels tend to produce more spatter then higher inductance level though. A higher inductance level, will produce a softer arc, and a more fluid weld puddle that wets out quicker. Keep in mind, to high of an inductance level, can cause poor arc starts.

The above info is based on running in short circuit transfer mode.

[SignWave]

Inductance (measured in Henry's) is the result of a magnetic field that has been created by an AC current . every conductor has a Magnetic field about it when current is passed. In DC, the field is motionless and stays steady with the applied voltage/ amperage. more amps more field, less amps, less field. Keep in mind that amperage will change with the resisitance of the load.

When AC curent is passed through a conductor, a field is generated. when the AC current diminished as it aproaches the baseline (0 volts) the current that was passing through the wire diminishes as well BUT the field still exists. It too must diminish because the current that created it has become zero. this collapsing magnetic field induces a current back into the wire and this induced current tries to keep the current flowing in the conductor. the induced current is where inductance comes from. in our country every thing is 60 Hz so this is happening 120 times a second. (positve side of the wave then the negative side of the wave will provide a collapsing field to induce current back into the conductor. The math will blow you away. conversely, if you have capacitors in the circuit, they will try to keep the voltage "up" when the waveform passes the zero mark in the cycle.

I hope this little spew gives you a better idea as to what inductance really is and maybe you can use it to your advantage...

Regards, Rich

[tacmig]

Holy toe cheese

I've always knew what inductance was and pretty much how to use in my favor. But I've never been schooled on the entire issue. My lesson for the day, Thanks Signwave.

TacMig

[SignWave]

no prob Tacmig, that was just the intro. Hehehehehe.... a "basic" idea.

[bob_e95482]

When I built DC power supplies, we would have a filter choke on the pos. output. It was an inductor, DC. Saturable reactors, that provided a sloping characteristic, had a DC coil controlling the output of an AC bus.

[6010]

A simple electrical definition:

Inductor, Choke, Reactor : Resists any change in current, up or down.

Capacitor, Condenser : Resists any change in voltage , up or down.

These two components are usually used in conjunction on the output of a DC power supply to smooth out the DC pulses and minimize ripple to more closely resemble pure DC, which can only be obtained from a battery.

[tnjind]

Thank you everybody,

Can someone give insight into the slope feature?

[tnjind]

I cranked up the pig last night I ran full pwer wire speed up, appeared to turn to plasma? a 1/4 inch from to tip and "blew" onto the weld, work real nice. Possibly spray arc transfer?
I also played withe the inductance, low high and did notice some of the charicteristics mentioned. This thing is great for the big stuff. I only payed $150.00 complete. I should have bought the other 3 .
I did replace the small gun after I melted it with a 400 amp Bernard, nice gun.
Tim.