Memory card slot in a welder?

[chevy2]

The long awaited (in the USA) release of the new Miller dynasty 280 has been announced and as expected it comes with a memory card slot in the front panel,
apparenty for the newest software to download onto the card and then update the welder?
will the welders of the future need anti-virus installed!
Heres the spec on the new Miller....
http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/spec_sheets/AD4-9.pdf

 

[shenion]

Probably also for saving settings so you can move from machine to machine and keep the same settings.

 

[AndyStobbs]

I wonder how long it'll be until my computer can be plugged in to a welder to diagnose it?

 

[matt1978]

Memory card & USB slots are now becoming the norm, it's much easier for upgrading the software inside a machine or for transferring synergic lines and personalised settings (jobs) from machine to machine.

Computers connected to machines is quite old now. It's been possible with some manufacturers since digital power sources were launched at least 10-12 years ago.

New models from various manufacturers that have recently been or are soon to be launched now have the possibility of Bluetooth, RFID, NFC and WiFi connectivity.

Our new Micor mig range has RFID to reduce/increase the level of access a production welder has to setting of the machine. At Essen we previewed our next gen Pulse mig range with Wifi connectivity. We was changing the parameters of the machine 20 meters away on a ipad via the wifi connection on our stand. This now makes the possibilities for diagnostics and upgrades/downgrades endless because the service engineer doesn't even have to be in the same room or even country to access the diagnostic data of the machine for fault finding or updates.

 

[AndyStobbs]

Oh. Think I will stick to car diagnostics then haha

 

[pedrobedro]

You need administrator privileges to perform this function, did you really mean to press the trigger. Click yes to continue. It's the start of a long downhill slide I tell you.

 

[AndyStobbs]

You need administrator privileges to perform this function, did you really mean to press the trigger. Click yes to continue. It's the start of a long downhill slide I tell you.

Echoing my thoughts.

 

[chevy2]

Dynasty's prior to the 280 already show an error code if you try an incorrect function.

 

[matt1978]

If you think of it for very large production lines such as Automotive etc you wouldn't believe the amount of downtime they get because of welders messing with/ interfering with the settings on there machines. It causes them tens of thousands in lost time every year.

Also production welders are notorious for adjusting the settings that suit them rather than what suits the application, so in the cases where WPS are to adhered too you can lock out the welder so the operator can only adjust the parameters within the tolerances laid out in the WPS

 

[AndyStobbs]

could lock it out by locking it in a cabinet. Sounds like a solution looking for a problem to me.

 

[matt1978]

Nice idea but it's not very practical for changing spools of wire or the gas bottle or something as simple as a burn back to the tip.

But something along your idea that is possible due to the new technology is machines without any front panel or adjustment knobs at all. All setting is done when a remote is plugged in or via the wifi connection.

 

[chevy2]

If you think of it for very large production lines such as Automotive etc you wouldn't believe the amount of downtime they get because of welders messing with/ interfering with the settings on there machines. It causes them tens of thousands in lost time every year.

Also production welders are notorious for adjusting the settings that suit them rather than what suits the application, so in the cases where WPS are to adhered too you can lock out the welder so the operator can only adjust the parameters within the tolerances laid out in the WPS

I can see that, as although us welders like to tailor our own settings i'm sure that if in a production envoironment where a consistently strong and similar appearing weld is important this feature would work well as any welder worth his salt will be able to adjust to suit a pre-programmed near perfect setting.

 

[matt1978]

Yeah Chevy, sometimes it's the case in high pressure production environments especially when productivity bonuses are paid that the welders weld everything on max power just to get the parts through the door even if it's at the detriment of the quality of the component.

 

[Robotstar5]

We had resistance (spot) welders that could be connected to a host computer since late 70's although very basic, weld parameters could be changed/recorded remotely, later versions had ethernet connections.

 

[Sean]

Think my Sip 130 has had some design input from Microsoft,

you regularly have to switch it on and off before it'll start properly

 

[Justme]

Have you tried turning it off & on again?

 

[G19Engineering]

I'd love to try one of these but are they in the UK yet?

When i looked into buying a dynasty 350 before i couldn't find somewhere to try one and miller sales were pretty useless.

 

[chevy2]

I'd love to try one of these but are they in the UK yet?

When i looked into buying a dynasty 350 before i couldn't find somewhere to try one and miller sales were pretty useless.

Earlier this year i bought a dynasty 200dx from Empire welding who were way cheaper than anyone else,
it wasn't a stock item and took a few days to come over from Miller/Holland,

would have been nice to have tried one out but with Miller not being one of the big players in the uk market i doubt any dealers carry demo machines,

diid plenty of research before buying mine and that model ticked all the boxes for me,
one is i didn't like the european style of front panel where you have to go through a series of steps to change one perameter and as the vast majority of stuff i do is one off and settings need constantly changing,
I couldn't be more pleased with the machine and although the dynasty range aren't cheap i'd imagine that in a workplace envoironment they'd pay for themselves with cheaper electric bills compared to the old transformer type machines.

 

[MattF]

Echoing my thoughts.

Makes you wonder where they'll stop with regards to adding pointless technology to everything, doesn't it. I'll honestly be surprised if some people can even remember how to scratch their **** in twenty years time if they don't have some gizmo doing it for them.

 

[matt1978]

I don't mean to be disrespectful so please don't take offence but this sort of technology is not aimed for DIY/ Hobby machines in DIY or car repair scenarios, a lot of what was discussed is aimed at high capacity production environments.

I can't see how in that sort of application this sort of technology and all of the possibilities it brings can be described as pointless