ESAB Origo Mig C340 Pro, used MIG/MAG welder

ESAB Origo Mig C340 PRO is a compact MIG/MAG welder on a transformer, with the power source and a four roll feeder in one housing. You set the current from 40 to 340 A, at a 30% duty cycle the machine gives 340 A, at 60% it gives 250 A, and in continuous work 195 A. You set the voltage with two switches, which together give 40 steps.

What this machine is for

This is equipment for steel and for thicker sections. The manufacturer states that at 340 A with the edge bevelled properly you fuse material from 12 to 15 mm thick in one pass. The machine welds carbon and stainless steels and structural aluminium, it feeds solid wire from 0.6 to 1.2 mm and typical cored wire 1.2 mm. The settings are manual: you pick the voltage step and the wire feed speed, without synergic curves, so the operator has to know what he is setting, but nothing stands between him and the parameters. Forty voltage steps is a dense scale for a stepped power source, in practice the difference between neighbouring positions is small enough to hit the parameter without a compromise. Two switches split this scale into a coarse and a fine range, which speeds up the search for the right setting when the sheet thickness changes.

The power block is a transformer one, with a minimum of electronics. In a dusty hall and under thermal shocks such a build takes more than an inverter power source, at the cost of weight and of the lack of stepless control. On top of that comes inductance switching, with which you shape the arc: harder and more concentrated for thicker sections or soft, with less spatter, for thin sheet in the MAG method.

The manufacturer aimed this model at metalwork and production plants welding heavy steel structures, at heavy industry, where resistance to dust and loads counts, at companies working with aluminium and cored wires and at welder training centres. The uses listed are continuous production of light and medium machine parts, car and sheet metal workshops, assembly of railings, pipes and steel structures under gas shielding. In training centres this build has an extra advantage: it takes the setting mistakes of a student better than a machine with elaborate electronics, and a repair after a mistake is cheaper.

Features and equipment

• Transformer build in a compact housing: the power source and the feeder in one body, less electronics to damage in a hard hall.
• Current range from 40 to 340 A with a duty cycle of 340 A at 30%, 250 A at 60% and 195 A at 100%: a reserve for thick sections and a real current for continuous work.
• Voltage control with two switches, 40 steps in total: a dense scale of settings for a stepped power source.
• Inductance switching: you set the character of the arc from hard and tight to soft with limited spatter.
• Four roll 4WD feeder built in at the factory: four rolls press the wire over a larger area, so soft aluminium and cored wires run without slipping, also in longer torches.
• Wire feed speed from 1.9 to 20 m/min: the full range for thin sheet and for fast welding.
• Creep-start: after you press the trigger the wire comes up more slowly, and the full pace starts only after the circuit closes, so the wire does not bounce off cold material.
• Burn-back adjustable from 0 to 0.5 s: the source delays the cut off of the voltage after the feed stops, so the tip of the wire stays clean and does not weld itself to the contact tip.
• On board transformer 24 V and 80 W: it supplies an external heater for the gas regulator connected permanently.
• Digital voltage and current meter: you see the real values instead of guessing them from a scale.
• Running gear with a shelf for a cylinder and a housing rated IP23: you roll the whole station together with the gas, also outside the roofed part of the hall.
• Welding of carbon and stainless steels and of structural aluminium: one power source handles the typical range of a workshop.
• Fusion from 12 to 15 mm in one pass at a current of 340 A and with a properly prepared edge: fewer layers on a thicker joint.

Technical data

What to watch out for

The supply is 400 V in three phases at 50 or 60 Hz, with a 16 A time delay fuse, so the machine fits a typical workshop installation without rebuilding the switchboard. The duty cycle at 340 A is 30%, for work without breaks 195 A is left and you plan the output of the station for that number. Class IP23 means protection against solid bodies larger than 12.5 mm and against water sprayed at an angle up to 60 degrees, that is work under a roof and not in open rain.

A weight of 114 kg and dimensions of 840 x 425 x 830 mm mean transport on a pallet, around the hall you roll the machine on its own running gear. The drive rolls and the liner are matched exactly to the diameter and the type of wire, otherwise you lose the advantages of the four roll drive. The settings are manual and stepped, so a return to earlier parameters rests on written down positions of the switches. The torch is cooled by the shielding gas, for long work at a high current pick a torch with a suitable rating. Correct the burn back time after every larger change of feed and voltage, otherwise the tip of the wire is left with a ball or sticks to the contact tip. A regulator heater connected to the 24 V socket makes sense with a high use of gas, when the regulator cools down.

How we sell used machines

This unit was checked in our service workshop in Krotoszyn with measurements to PN-EN 60974-4 and a load test. The price includes the first year of the basic service package: an inspection with cleaning of the machine and a validation measurement. Further years can be added. We ship across the European Union, collection in person by appointment.