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13th Feb 2018, 03:22 PM #1
Check, Repair or Replace your Earth Clamp regularly
I was reading a post of a few days back.
A point made about cleaning the end off the electrode to allow it to start caught my eye.
Working in an industrial situation people do not file ends off their electrodes to get them started.It is simply not time efficient.
Instead what occurs is a regular and ongoing maintenance of their equipment and the ancillaries.Once an earth clamp unit is noticed giving problens it is simply replaced. On a lesser budget you and I can't afford that, so a strip down of said clamp is usually necessary. If your clamp or any part of the earth cable /connections becomes hot it is a dead giveaway that there is a resistance present.
A squirt of WD 40 won't usually do, so a check of the cable to ferrule crimp and the integrity of the bolted and screwed connectors and their associated washers is in order. A buff off of any built up crud / corrosion will restore your electrical conductivity back to what it should be.
Although it is an infomercial there is to be some very good information re earth clamps to be gleaned from the following: https://www.weldclass.com.au/blog/9-...th-a-bad-clamp.
It will probably amaze some, how much conductivity is lost through a poor connection.
Grahame
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16th Feb 2018, 02:56 PM #2Most Valued Member
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Thanks for that Grahame, it's probably a good point for the person who uses their welder occasionaly, a bit like having the earth clamp on a rusty bit of steel, it won't work.
KrynTo grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
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21st Feb 2018, 05:09 PM #3Golden Member
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Good post Grahame. In fact I bought some of these very clamps a couple of years back and they are very good value. I got the 500A versions for my three 240V machines. Possibly overkill, but I've have never had an issue since.
I bought them after I looked over one day and saw my little cheap earth clamp glowing red hot. The hotter a clamp gets, the worse it gets as a conductor, so it doesn't take long to really cook a clamp if it hasn't got a clean connection.
Cheers
Mick
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23rd Feb 2018, 09:32 PM #4Diamond Member
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- Aug 2006
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- Melbourne
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I've always preferred to use the solid brass g clamp style clamps. Very little to go wrong with them and they don't come off when someone is not looking where they are going and trips over the lead.
ECG60.jpgEW131550.jpg
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24th Feb 2018, 05:25 PM #5Banned
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- Jan 2018
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When I was working in the industry we had strips of 1"x 1/8" steel running across the floor from welder to bench, striking was never a problem, we were using Ferrocraft as well which helped an enormous amount. I have a similar system on my welding table now, inverter under the bench and earth cable bolted to the table.
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