The ESAB Aristo Mig 400A is an industrial inverter MIG/MAG welder for 3 x 400 V, with the MA6 digital panel. The source gives 400 A at a 60% duty cycle and 300 A at a 100% duty cycle, and the whole set weighs 120 kg.
What this machine is for
This is a power source for heavy production, not for occasional repairs. At a 100% duty cycle it holds 300 A, so in an assembly hall you weld with it without breaks for cooling, and the peak of 400 A at a 60% duty cycle gives a reserve when you melt in solid wires of thick cross sections. The maker points to heavy industry and shipyards, to the production of trailers and to the welding of aluminium alloys. The design rests on digitally controlled inverter circuits, so the electronics answer jumps in the resistance of the arc without delay, and the source itself is lighter than transformer machines of a similar power.
Typical uses are the prefabrication of large, thick components in shipyards, the welding of pipelines of acid resistant stainless steel with pulse programs, the putting up of storage halls, where you join trusses and spans of mild steel, the production of truck trailers and tippers with a memory of synergic curves, the joining of aluminium plates for rail vehicles without burning holes and undercutting the edges, and the mechanised welding of low pressure tanks whose welds are examined by X ray. In each of these uses the same thing counts: the current is to be stable through the whole shift, and the parameters are to come back in the same shape on the next part.
The heart of the set is the ESAB MA6 panel. It digitises the choice of parameters and gives control over the dynamics of the face, the behaviour of the arc at ignition and the filling of the crater at the end of the run. The display and the keypad are legible also in a dark hall, and you correct the parameters while welding, without putting out the arc. The panel also handles specialised processes, for example the joining of stainless sections with pulsed current and work on synergic curves prepared for mixed alloys. You save jobs in memory banks, so the process engineer keeps control over the WPS procedures and the operator loads a ready program instead of setting the machine from scratch.
Features and equipment
- Digital inverter block. Digitally controlled transistors answer at once to a change in the resistance of the arc, and the board is lighter than a transformer, so the trolley under the source carries less. The machine gives 400 A at a 60% duty cycle and 300 A in unbroken work. The maker aims this model at steel fabrication plants working three shifts, where the power is to go without breaks.
- Liquid cooling module. The pump forces the coolant through the interconnection cables as far as the handle of the torch and takes the heat from the copper joints, so the consumable parts do not melt at loads close to 400 A. Thanks to that you lay multi run welds without breaks for the cable pack to cool. The maker states plainly that without an active take off of heat the copper nozzles would melt in a few minutes, destroying the cable pack and the sheath with its insulation.
- The MA6 panel with navigation through the menu, a read out of the set volts and amps and correction of the parameters during work. The display and the keypad are legible in a darkened hall, but the menu is wide and moving through the nested layers takes practice.
- 2T and 4T modes. In four step you release the trigger right after the arc is formed and the voltage holds until you press again, so on welds a dozen or so metres long the hand tires less. Two step is left for short tacks, where you cut the arc at once.
- Job Mode program memory. You save sets of settings together with the pulsing, the type of wire and the gas flow, and then you load them with one move, which shortens the setting up after a change and cuts mistakes at the station. Work on saved blocks does force you to keep to the guidance of the process engineer and makes it harder to tune single values on the fly.
- Synergic curves for popular gas mixtures and materials. You give the wire diameter, the grade of the filler and the base material, and the algorithm matches the voltage to the feed, so you correct the process with one knob. A synergic curve is a saved relation between the wire feed and the arc voltage for a given gas and filler, so you do not balance these two values by hand. The maker points to this solution at makers of stainless railings, fork lift trucks and trusses with sections of changing thickness.
- Welding with pulsed current. Each pulse tears off one drop of filler, and the base current phase leads the heat away from the edges of the joint, so the stresses and the distortion of thin sheet drop and stainless tubes get no discolouring at the root. The pulse mode runs slower than a short arc and works louder, which is worth knowing when you plan time norms.
Technical data
| Brand | ESAB |
|---|---|
| Architecture | inverter, digital control |
| Supported processes | MIG/MAG, pulse |
| Supply voltage | 3 x 400 V |
| Current at a 60% duty cycle | 400 A |
| Continuous current at a 100% duty cycle | 300 A |
| Operator panel | ESAB MA6 |
| Dimensions | 120 x 80 x 100 cm |
| Total weight | 120 kg |
| Cooling | gas |
What to watch out for
The product record gives gas cooling and the description of the maker lists a liquid cooling module and a water cooled torch, so confirm what the set holds before collection, because the choice of the torch and the cables depends on it. The 3 x 400 V supply needs a three phase socket, and the description gives no value for the fuse. The set weighs 120 kg at dimensions of 120 x 80 x 100 cm, so take a pallet truck for unloading and prepare a fixed place. When you work on liquid, watch the strength of the coolant and the state of the filter, because a circuit with air in it chars the inside of the handle in a few minutes. The set is meant for a fixed station and not for carrying between halls. The description does not give what the set holds, so confirm the wire feeder, the torch and the cable pack before collection.
The synergic curves hold the parameters only for the alloy and the gas they were saved for, and with another pair you have to correct them by hand. The menu of the MA6 panel is wide and a new operator needs a moment to learn the navigation. The pulse mode runs slower than a short arc and works louder. Keep the housing away from grinding stations, because the fan draws metal filings into the inverter. In the mechanised welding of tanks and pipelines the MA6 panel is often the deciding core of the whole station, so plan time to move the programs over and to check them on samples before you start production.
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