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Calibrating Modern Welding Power Sources - Necessity or Necessary Evil?

15 March 2021 | 

Welding power sources fundamentally pose a high potential electrical danger due to the high welding currents and voltages. The risk is reduced to a minimum by compliance with current electrical engineering standards right from the development stage and the use of high-quality electrical components.

Welding power sources fundamentally pose a high potential electrical danger due to the high welding currents and voltages. Nevertheless, the risk is reduced to a minimum by compliance with current electrical engineering standards right from the development stage and the use of high-quality electrical components, especially in the case of systems intended for commercial use. Reputable power source manufacturers and professional service technicians can provide more detailed expert advice on the subject.

REGULAR CALIBRATION OF WELDING POWER SOURCES

To ensure work is carried out in accordance with the applicable standards, regular calibration of welding power sources, generally once a year, is necessary, even though modern power sources very rarely show any unacceptable divergence from the specified values. In practice, however, it has been shown that annual inspections frequently reveal safety-related defects on the welding power sources that could certainly pose a danger to the welder. For that reason alone, it is an obvious step to have the inspections regularly performed and documented by qualified service technicians, even if it may not appear necessary for high-quality welding power sources at first sight. Only in that way is it possible to sustainably ensure that all health-and-safety and quality-related aspects are complied with, which in turn contributes to the safety of the welder, customer satisfaction and financial success.

Do you want to know more about technical standardsmeaning and definition of calibration or the necessity and benefits of calibration? Download the full article about "Calibrating modern welding power sources - necessity or necessary" right here:

Articel: Calibrating modern welding power sources - necessity or necessary evil? (English (American) | pdf | 3,83 MB)

STANDARDS THAT DEFINE ELECTRIAL SAFETY AND THE CALIBRATION OF POWER SOURCES

STANDARD DESIGNATION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

EN IEC 60974:2018
Arc welding equipment

  • A European standard implemented in the various countries with corresponding prefix (e.g. DIN, OVE, etc.)
  • Subdivided according to subsystems (e.g. power sources, liquid cooling systems, etc.)
  • Individual parts are identified by a dash followed by part number

EN IEC 60974-1:2018
Arc welding equipment - Part 1: Welding power sources

  • Applies to welding power sources for arc welding and related processes for commercial use that have a power supply voltage up to 1000V, are battery-operated or mechanically driven.
  • Deals with safety and performance requirements for the construction of welding power sources and during regular maintenance or repair

OVE EN IEC 60974-1:2019
Arc welding equipment - Part 1: Welding power sources

  • Current edition of Austrian version of relevant standard EN IEC 60974-1

DIN EN IEC 60974-1:2018; VDE 0544-1:2018
Arc welding equipment Part 1: Welding power sources

  • Current edition of German version of relevant standard EN IEC 60974-1
  • Corresponds to VDE 0544-1:2018

DIN EN IEC 60974-14:2019; VDE 0544-1:2019
Arc welding equipment Part 14: Calibration, validation and consistency testing

  • Applies to checking the performance of arc welding equipment built according to the safety requirements of IEC 60974-1
  • Currently applicable and replaces DIN EN 50504:2009; VDE 0544-50:2009
  • All national standards that conflict with this standard must be withdrawn by 23/11/2021

DIN EN 50504:2009; VDE 0544-50:2009
Validation of arc welding equipment

  • This (old) standard laid down validation procedures for arc welding equipment.
  • This standard has been withdrawn and replaced by DIN EN IEC 90974-14:2019; VDE 0544-14:2019

ECONOMIC ASPECTS

Welding power source manufacturers can significantly influence the quality and safety of a system by various means such as the use of high-quality electronic components and comprehensive quality controls. That is why, at voestalpine Böhler Welding for example, every circuit board in a welding power source is manufactured on the in-house PCB production line in Cittadella, Italy, checked by a 3-stage quality assurance process and sensitive electronic components are protected by an extra coating of lacquer. What is more, every single power source is put through a static and dynamic end-of-line test before shipping.

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