Fabricators seeking to track welding activities throughout their operations or comply with third-party quality records requirements can look to Lincoln Electric’s new portable weld performance monitoring module, Arc Tracker, to provide real-time information. Arc Tracker capabilities include: factory quality system integration; compatibility with any DC welding process power source and wire feeder; powerful software tools; digital controls to sample the welding parameters at extremely high speeds; Ethernet connection to communicate the weld data status to the welder’s network; and auto-sense on any input voltage between 120 and 230 volts AC. The unit has a plug-and-play design. Just connect the Arc Tracker module to any DC welding circuit and attach the voltage sensing leads to access a wide array of monitored data, including welding station, operator, welds performed, amps/volts information, percent up and downtime, weld fault alerts and other parameters. Arc Tracker software tools are available at powerwavesoftware.com and include: True Energy, which measures and calculates the instantaneous energy put into a weld; Power Wave Manager, which controls the settings necessary for welding and procedure control; and Production Monitoring, which analyses and manages welding operational data. Arc Tracker can be used to monitor code quality welding operations, especially applications requiring heat input records.
