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In This Issue

1  Happy New Year
2  Tip Wear and Feedability
4  Featured Product Postalloy® 2828 FCO
5 Humor: News Headlines

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Happy New Year

The greeting sounds a little strange coming to you in early February, but this issue is our first of the year. So it seems appropriate to wish you all a prosperous and healthy new year. I can hardly believe we are into our 4th year of the new century. It seems like just yesterday that we were all concerned with Y2K computer attacks on New Years Day, 2000.

I am looking forward to this new year with enthusiasm. Postle is busy planning new products, new applications and new projects. It is our intent to keep you informed of our activities through this newsletter and of course, our website (www.postle.com). This newsletter and archives can be found on the website at www.postle.com/Newsletter . And since we are talking about the website, you might want to check out our newest additions on Agriculture Components Applications at www.postle.com/Applications/Agriculture/Ag_3.html . The page requires you to have Macromedia Flash Player installed on your browser. Practically all browsers have this installed but perhaps you don't have the latest version, which is Player 7. You can download it free at www.macromedia.com and click on "Download Player". It's easy and quick and allows you to take full advantage of what the web has to offer. We are planning more of this type of display on our website, since it gives us the opportunity to enhance our message and better serve you. You can easily check to see what version player you have by scrolling up to the top banner of this newsletter and right-clicking on the animated "Postle Newsletter". At the bottom of the popup menu you will see "About Macromedia Flash Player (your version number). I would encourage you to get the most recent version (7) because occasionally I embed Flash elements into the newsletter and you will need it.
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Tip Wear and Feedability

It has been my experience that over 70% of hardfacing problems can be related to feedability and perhaps as much as 33% is related to tip wear. There are two mechanisms by which the tip wears, (1) through the sawing action caused by a scored wire (2) small micro-arcs or plasma between the wire and tip. The former is by far the most predominate wear mechanism. So, lets talk more about this.

Cored wire can be difficult to feed at times because of it's inherent soft nature and the fact that it has a softer core. When feeding gets difficult for whatever reason, there is a tendency to tighten down on the feed rolls. With V-Shapped groove rolls, this invariably leads to a flattening or ovaling of the wire, which usually leads to further feeding problems. For this reason I like the U-Shapped cogged rolls. If the correct size rolls are being employed for the wire size, ovaling cannot take place. The down side of this selection of roll type is that it can severely mark the wire. This leads to excessive tip wear through a sawing type action. To hedge this problem, I often suggest the use of a Copper Beryllium contact tip. While more expensive than pure Copper and less conductive, it will extend tip life.

As a contact tip wears, it tends to wallow out on the exit side. This causes the actual contact between the tip and wire to work its way up into the tip, thus increasing the electrical stickout. This in turn causes current to drop and fuel a host of other problems, such as cold shuts, lack of penetration, erratic arc, and porosity in some cases. It is therefore essential to employ good QA checks of tips and tip life. The savings in downtime while chasing problems can be significant.

I mentioned earlier that micro-arcing can occur inside a tip and contribute to tip wear. While this is a minor problem, it most likely will occur when an oversize tip is used or the right size tip becomes excessively worn. The wire tends to rattle around inside the tip, and as it does, micro-arcing can occur. This is exaggerated when a improper cable liner is used. Too large a cable liner will allow the wire to drift and rattle.

So the next time you change wire diameters for a job, remember that changing the feed rolls, cable liner and tip are also necessary to ensure good, sound deposits. It is time consuming to do all this changing, but the benefits will be rewarded.
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Featured Product - Postalloy® 2828 FCO

Humor - News Headlines

I'm not sure these are all valid, but it does give me a chuckle to read them. Enjoy.

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

Prostitutes Appeal To Pope

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over

Teacher Strikes Idle Kids

Miners Refuse To Work After Death

Juvenile Court To Try Shooting Defendant

War Dims Hope For Peace

If Strike Isn't Settle Quickly It May Last A While

Cold Wave Linked To Temperatures

Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge

New Study of Obesity Looks For Larger Test Group

Astronaut Takes Blame For Gas In Spacecraft

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

Chef Throws His Heart Into Helping Feed Needy

Local High School Dropouts Cut In Half

Hospitals Are Sued By 7 Foot Doctors