Lincoln Electric IM318 IDEALARC DC1500 - Manual (Page 12)

B-3 OPERATION B-3
IDEALARC ® DC-1500
• Once the proper welding procedure is established
and if the start is poor — wire blast-off, stub, etc.,
adjust the OCV and inch speed for optimum start-
ing. In general, a low inch speed will provide the
best starting.
Adjust the OCV by making repeated starts and
observing the voltmeter action.
With proper adjustment of the OCV control, the
voltmeter needle will swing smoothly up to the de-
sired arc voltage and thus provide repeatable
starts.
If the voltmeter swings above then back to the de-
sired welding voltage, the OCV setting is too high.
This usually results in a bad start where the wire
tends to “blast-off”.
If the voltmeter needle hesitates before coming up
to the desired voltage, the OCV is set too low.
This will
cause the electrode to stub.
• For Twinarc welding, clipping both wires to equal
lengths will be beneficial to make consistently
good starts.
3. Single Innershield Wire — Procedures and tech-
niques are the same as above, except starting is
generally better “hot” than “cold”. For electrical
stickouts above 1 3/4” an NA-3 start board is
required.
4. Twinarc Innershield — Procedures and tech-
niques are the same as above, except starting is
generally better “hot than “cold”. Use of an NA-3
start board improves starting.
5. Twinarc Submerged Arc 1/16” — Procedures
and techniques are the same as above, except start-
ing is best when using CV Innershield and the NA-3
start board.
6. Use of the NA-3 Start Board — For those
processes above that recommend use of the NA-3
start board, the following method should be used to
set up the procedure.
• Set start time at 0 and start current and voltage at
mid-range. Start the weld and set the proper cur-
rent and voltage for the welding procedure.
• Turn the start board timer to maximum.
• Set start board current 1 to 1 1/2” dial numbers
below NA-3 front control settings.
• Place start board’s voltage control approximately
equal to NA-3 voltage control setting.
When set per c and d, above, the starting only
procedure will provide a current setting lower than
the NA-3 current setting and a voltage setting
nearly equal to the desired welding procedure.
• With the start board time delay set at maximum,
establish the correct arc striking procedure as de-
scribed previously by changing OCV and inch
speed.
• Now increase the start board current and voltage
to bring the start current and voltage closer to the
welding procedure. The start board current and
voltage should be as close to the welding proce-
dure as possible while still getting satisfactory
starts.
• Now decrease the start time as low as possible
for optimum starts.
7. Arc striking with the DC-1500 mode switch in VV.
• NA-3 — The NA-3 variable voltage board mode
switch should be set to the VV position.
• Set OCV control at 6.5 to 7.0.
• Other techniques recommended in the previous
sections for good arc striking apply here also.