Initial observations on the design, function, and operation of AMI's new flagship product for orbital tube welding.

Boise, ID -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/16/2015 -- Arc Machines (AMI) in Pacoima, Ca. has long been a market leader in the field of orbital welding. Beginning with the Model 107 fusion tube welder in 1979, and the Model 207 in 1989, AMI set the industry standard for reliable commercial orbital fusion welding systems for over 30 years. Because of their simple robust designs, ease of use, and ability to consistently deliver quality welds, AMI has owned the lion's share of the orbital welding market.

Recently, AMI introduced its replacement for the Model 207 -- the M217 WDR. They're calling it "The New Workhorse of the Orbital Welding Industry" and provided it with many new features. The big questions are: 1. Will the M217 really measure up to the reliability and quality of the M207? 2. Do all the new 'bells and whistles' make the power supply more effective and easier to use?

As both a customer and a partner with AMI, Critical Systems, Inc. (CSI) has a fleet of AMI equipment for our leasing division, and is AMI's only outside authorized repair center in the USA. We have worked with AMI from the design phase through the beta testing of the M217 over the past 18 months, and have purchased and performed in-house testing on a significant number of M217's. The purpose of this article is to provide some straightforward information and share our perspective on this new power supply.*

*NOTE: Arc Machines did not ask Critical Systems to write this article, however they have provided some information as requested.

ENGINEERING AND DESIGN
The first thing a new user will notice about the M217 is how similar it appears to the M207. The familiar 'red box' has the same foot-print to match up with existing coolers, and the lid and case close together with the splash resistant seal. The M217 is 13 pounds lighter, with a textured finish that resists stains and fingerprints. Connections remain the same to match up with existing weld heads and accessories, although they have been moved around to better facilitate spacing.

Opening the lid reveals the first major difference of the M217. In place of the failure prone membrane switches and often cryptic dual-line display windows, is a 12.0" high-resolution color touch screen (Figure 1). To its right are two USB ports, with a new thermal printer to the left. Another smart design feature: AMI eliminated the openings on the top surface of the M207 that allowed small items (tungsten electrodes, for example) to fall into the printer or CPU section.

Opening up the case is a simple task, with a shouldered socket-cap screw at each corner. Once removed, the upper section folds back, revealing the computer section in the top, and the majority of the electronics in the lower case (Figure 2).

With a lease fleet of over 160 AMI power supplies, and having repaired 100's of customer's systems as an AMI certified repair shop, we know what has a tendency to break, and how difficult and costly these repairs can be. With that mindset, CSI examined the guts of the M217 to determine if it truly will replace the M207. Here is what we found:

- The component layout appears to be very serviceable. All components are easily accessible, without the need to remove non-affected parts. Diagnosis and replacement, should a failure occur, is going to be a much simpler task than with the M207.

- As Figure 3 shows, all the sub-systems are arranged horizontally and firmly mounted to metal plates and brackets. This allows for complete airflow and prevents heat from building up. In addition, the primary heat load, the main power unit, is shielded from the rest of the system, and cooled by a pair of high volume fans in a push-pull arrangement. While noticeably louder than the cooling in the M207, this design should keep heat (the root cause of most electronics failures) to a minimum.

- The M217 contains far fewer individual connections than the M207, resulting in less potential failure points. All major sub-systems are wired with robust industry standard connectors. Fewer pass-thru style interconnects, board to board headers, or wire screw clamps, can only improve reliability.

- The power unit is designed exclusively for the M217 by AMI, and manufactured to their specifications in the USA. Its design criteria matches the M207 in most categories, and exceed it in one. While both are capable of 5-150A of welding power, only the M217 is capable of auto-switching between line voltages of 110V and 220V. Both units are 100% duty cycle rated. Why is this important? A power system that is 100% rated means that it was designed and specified for full power usage, and is not being pushed beyond its limits when operated there.

- Another area where the M217 improves upon the M207 is the DC voltage supplies. Based on CSI's experience, the most common system failure in the M207 is the Low Voltage P/S. For the M217, AMI has chosen a quality third party supplier who has engineered and manufactured power supplies completely in the USA for almost 30 years. The units included in the M217 have an MTBF rating of 100,000 hours. Fully certified, including UL and CE, they are also qualified for use in the medical industry.

- Also notable, and we believe a first of its kind for welding systems, is the M217's controller/interface. The combined touch-panel/PC is NEMA IP65 rated against moisture and dust, and designed for use in rugged and demanding environments. The elimination of the mechanical key pads used in the M207 can only improve reliability. Containing an Intel® processor and running embedded Windows 7®, the M217 controller should be a stable platform for the long run.

THE M217 IN USE
Hooking up the M217 is simple. Facility requirements are the same as the M207, except the fittings for the purge gas lines are compression style, instead of flared. The unit is switched on with its main breaker, in the same location as the M207. Power-up takes about 50 seconds, and displays the M217 home screen when complete (Figure 4).

The look is all business, with buttons for the four main functions in the center. Navigating through the various screens and operations is very intuitive, and after some initial assistance from the owner's manual, anyone experienced with the M207 will have no trouble operating the M217.

One function worth mentioning here is the M217's auto-generated recipe capability. The user enters four parameters (tube diam., wall thickness, tube material, and the model of weld head) and the M217 pulls all the remaining schedule specifics from an on-board library containing AMI's best practices. Select the type of weld you want to perform from the four choices (Auto-pulsed, Auto-step, Auto-tack, and S³) and the M217 creates and loads the new recipe -- a far cry from the labor intensive and error prone process of the M207. Should a user wish to customize specifics or fine tune a weld, simply touching the schedule field relating to a particular parameter brings up a menu, and allows on-the-fly editing.

Another clearly observable improvement over the M207 is in how smoothly the M217 runs the various weld head motors. During all CSI's testing, rotor operation was quieter, smoother, and homing more accurate. The M217 also performs a two-step speed calibration that checks both the low and high speeds of the weld head. We suspected this would contribute to a more precise speed control. As a test, using auto-generated recipe times and the M217's speed calibration, we ran a number of different cycles against a stop watch. All times were correct, as closely as could be visually confirmed.

Operations are performed from the Weld screen (Figure 5).
Individual displays provide constant feedback as the weld is occurring. Monitoring of the actual tungsten position as the rotor turns, the output current versus programmed current, weld step countdowns, purge pressure for both lines, and more, are all viewable in easy-to-read, real-time from this screen.

There were a couple areas that did not work as expected. One of the new features of the M217 is the capability to operate other manufacturer's weld heads. To test this, CSI connected up an older model Swagelok 5H fusion head. While the M217 could jog the rotor in both directions, it failed to successfully run speed calibrations and homing operations. In addition, on its current model line-up Swagelok has changed the motor cable connector, and the connector on the M217 does not match. An adapter will need to be sourced for this mixed tool application.

The second issue occurred while testing the Weld Data Recording functionality. Several errors prevented correct operation and data retention and retrieval was 'hit or miss'.

NOTE: Regarding these issues, AMI has informed us that the newest software release (ver. 1.51) has addressed the speed calibration/homing issues on Swagelok heads, and the WDR functionality issue. Our follow-on review indicates these indeed are very likely resolved. CSI will pursue in-depth testing related to them in the near future.

Regardless, neither of these issues prevented the M217 from performing all normal operations. In fact, the quick resolution of these issues was further confirmation of AMI's commitment to addressing concerns as they surfaced.

WELDING
So how does the M217 weld? Using a variety of AMI heads, from the 9-500 to the 9-7500, as well as the 8-2000 and 8-4000, CSI made welds on SS tube diameters from 0.25" to 6.0", and wall thickness's from 0.035" to 0.120". Using the M217's auto-generated four level weld schedules, results were mostly excellent, with a few examples benefiting from small primary amp adjustments to the AMI library values. Bead uniformity, fish-scale, penetration, and color were as good as the best we had ever seen from a M207, and often better.

Another advanced feature examined during weld testing was the capability to perform Single Slope Single Pass (S³) welds. S³ welding is a more precise type of weld than the current industry standard four-level fusion welds. The four-level weld schedule lowers the weld current every 90o of rotation in an attempt to keep the heat in the work piece constant. But the heat buildup actually occurs in a linear fashion, not in steps, and can result in what is called the 'Christmas tree effect' as the weld bead narrows and widens. By reducing the weld current in a linear fashion designed to match the heat build-up, S³ welds should be extremely consistent from start to finish. Test coupons using this type of schedule on the M217 looked even better than the four level ones, and might easily become the industry standard as more organizations become familiar with this technique.

FINE TUNING THE M217
In addition to CSI's in-house testing, CSI provided M217's to some external customers, requesting any and all feedback. The majority of feedback was positive, however, there were some minor requests related to features and usability comparisons to the M207. Small adjustments to the user interface, added content and form of weld print-outs, durability of painted surfaces, and other enhancements were noted. This feedback, along with CSI's, was passed along to AMI. Their response to these 'market' requests was positive and effective, which will serve them well as they continue to refine the M217.

SUMMARY
For 25 years the AMI M207 has been the system of choice for many of the world's leading mechanicals. Its robust design, ease of use, and long legacy all contribute to its place when looking for a professional grade orbital fusion power supply.

But technology has not stood still, nor have the requirements for equipment that can provide high quality results while meeting today's challenging project timelines. Based on the results CSI has experienced, as well as feedback from some of the world's most demanding mechanical contracting and engineering companies, the AMI M217WDR will likely be that worthy successor.

About John Throngard
John Throngard is the Senior Technology Specialist for Critical Systems, Inc., which specializes in providing Gas Cabinet, Valve Manifold Boxes & Gas Abatement Systems (Gas Cabinets and Gas Scrubbers, etc.), and Orbital Welding Rental, Lease, Repair and Training Services related to process tool facilitation for Semiconductor, Biotech, Pharmaceutical and related industries. He is the author of this article. He can be reached at jthrongard@criticalsystemsinc.com or 866-229-2291.

This article was first published on the Critical Systems website found in the Orbital Welding Products & Services section.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Pacoima, CA and Boise, ID -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/30/2013 -- Arc Machines, Inc. (AMI) announced today that it has entered an agreement with Critical Systems, Inc. to be its exclusive Sales Representative for AMI's Southeast & Mid-Atlantic Regions. Critical Systems, Inc. (CSI) now carries the full AMI product line in NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TN VA, MD, DE, and the District of Columbia.

Critical Systems' business model – direct sales of AMI orbital welding equipment coupled with the rental, lease, repair and maintenance of AMI ORBITAL WELDING EQUIPMENT – further enhances AMI's ability to serve customers in those regions. CSI's eastern operations is housed in Charlotte, NC alongside the AMI Integrated Solutions Division, which specializes in the design, development and production of advanced welding solutions.

"We are pleased to be partnering with the Critical Systems team", said Stephen Ripp, CEO of Arc Machines. "Their experience in providing orbital welding products and services, and deep knowledge of AMI welding equipment make them the ideal extension of our business. We look forward to a long and trusted relationship."

Ted Jones, President of Critical Systems, Inc. remarked, "Over the years, we have found Arc Machines welding equipment to deliver superior performance and meet or exceed our customers' operational and safety requirements. Critical Systems is excited to partner with AMI in this manner as we continue to build our presence in the East."

CSI is also an AMI Authorized Service Center, and performs AMI warranty and repair work out of Charlotte, as well as its Boise, ID location.

About Arc Machines, Inc.
Arc Machines, Inc. has been setting the standards for automated orbital welding technology since it was first established in 1976. The company has the largest product range on the market and a reputation for the highest manufacturing standards, technical strength, customer service and quality of materials which have made it the first choice for nuclear, power generation, oil & gas, semiconductor, bio-pharmaceutical, aerospace, and other industries.

About Critical Systems, Inc.
Since 2000, Critical Systems, Inc. (CSI) has been providing both large and small organizations with products and services that 'surround the process tool'. From orbital welding to complex gas delivery and abatement systems, CSI supports the breakthrough technologies of our customers every day with practical, cost effective solutions.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Burnsville, MN -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2013 -- For Fab Managers and Facilities Engineers who have a Delatech gas abatement scrubber, periodic maintenance is often overlooked – until it the scrubber alarm goes off. Then, the time-consuming and costly task of troubleshooting the issue begins, not to mention potential downtime, abatement efficiency loss and environmental implications.

The Critical Systems, Inc. abatement team has developed two practical and inexpensive component modifications to improve operational efficiency and mean time between maintenance (MTBM) on Delatach gas scrubbers.

U Drain
Sediment buildup in the drain leads to the need for frequent PM's, and is the most common cause of inefficient scrubber operation. CSI's "U" shaped design provides a continuous 4" diameter transition section allowing for better drainage of liquid and sediment into tank. It is constructed of highly corrosive resistant 316L stainless steel, and treated with a proprietary blended Teflon coating to further resist corrosion and sediment buildup.

Additionally, the new drain incorporates cooling nozzles into the drain assembly, eliminating the need for the old nozzle assembly altogether. These new nozzles are more robust, and offer higher flow than standard drain nozzles. They are also positioned much closer to the low point in the drain, maximizing flow and cooling at the most needed point in the system. Finally, these nozzles can easily be removed for cleaning or to be replaced if necessary.

Cooling Nozzle Assembly
Another related problem lies in the standard nozzle assembly itself. Old style nozzles eventually clog at the 90o bend near top of nozzle assembly. That nozzle is not removable (like the other two) and requires replacement of entire assembly once it becomes clogged. CSI's new nozzle assembly uses more durable, higher flow nozzles, and all can be easily removed for cleaning or to be replaced if necessary. The new nozzle assembly is used in conjunction with the standard style drain.

These components are inexpensive and easily installed; especially in light of repair costs and the environmental costs of an inefficient Gas Scrubber. Both products are immediately available.

Critical Systems can be reached by phone at 866.229.2291 or online at www.CriticalSystemsInc.com

About Critical Systems, Inc.
Since 2000, Critical Systems, Inc. (CSI) has been providing advanced technology organizations with products and services that 'surround the process tool'. From reconditioned gas delivery and abatement systems to orbital welding services, CSI supports the breakthrough technologies of our customers with practical, cost effective solutions.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm