Semi-automatic burner: features, maintenance, selection criteria

Semi-automatic installations always require a little different equipment than "manual" or fully automatic devices. Welding machines are no exception . For many of them, a special torch for the semi-automatic is needed. Such a device has several fundamental differences from its "hand" colleague, which can not be ignored in the selection and operation.

Features of the burner for semi-automatic

Burners of semi-automatic welding equipment can be classified as consumables. The average period of their service (with due regard) is no more than six months. The main difference of the specimens from the "hand brothers" is the presence of a cooling system, as well as the mechanism of feeding the welding wire. The nominal values of the devices depend on the type of cooling, the type of connector for connection to the welding machine and the welding current. The semi-automatic burner is actively used for work in hard-to-reach places. One of its key features is the way to protect the weld pool - the place of joining the two metal surfaces. This process is carried out without gas.

Design of burners for semiautomatic devices

The burner forms a gas-welding flame, in the jet of which the material melts.

This problem is solved by three basic elements that make up the design of the device:

1. Train, or sleeve. The burner for the semi-automatic machine, with its help, connects to the welding machine, "receives" gas and wire during operation.
2. The burner itself, which serves to communicate with the welding process, also provides wire, coolant, electric current and shielding gas, flux.
3. The component of the contact connection connects the device to the welding equipment.

Directly the burner for the semi-automatic includes in its design a handle, a gas fitting, a uniform wire feeder and a tip. The last element is made of various materials, but the most durable are the tips of tungsten or copper.

Features of servicing semi-automatic burners

The peculiarity of welding torches is that their constituent elements need periodic replacement. The nozzle is the first detail that needs close attention. During the welding of the material, droplets of molten metal remain on its surface, which must be removed.

This can only be done mechanically, which leads to the appearance of microscopic cracks. It is because of them that the burner for the semi-automatic machine lasts about 6 months. But if you periodically change the nozzle, then this period can be doubled. Contact elements are the second part of the mechanism that need special attention. They operate in the short-circuit mode, which causes them to warm up to a temperature close to critical, and burn out. This leads to a decrease in their performance.

The average life of these elements is about 200 hours of continuous operation. Usually they are included in the repair kit, which is assembled with the burner itself. Detailed information can be obtained from the technical data sheet of the device.

How to save money when choosing a burner?

Selecting devices is necessary based on the requirements of the welding equipment, as well as on the basis of the expected scope of work and their complexity. But first of all the welding torch for semiautomatic devices should be comfortable, having small dimensions and small mass. This can be achieved by choosing a device with a smaller welding current than required by a semi-automatic machine. You can do this for several reasons:

1. The welding current indicated in the documentation reflects the maximum temperature value above which the handle or cable will fail, but not the burner itself.
2. Durability is calculated at 100% loading of the device, which in practice is extremely rare.

In accordance with the foregoing, it can be concluded that a burner for a semi-automat, for example, with a maximum current of 300 A, can work without problems with the welding machine, in which this value reaches a level of 400 amperes.

So, choosing a model with lower technical characteristics, you will win in price and at the same time be able to create optimal conditions for work.