AccuLock™ Consumables Save Time and Money in MIG Consumable Changeover   

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

They may seem like small pieces of a welding operation but when consumables aren’t properly installed or maintained, big problems can result — from poor wire feeding to weld quality issues. Related troubleshooting and rework cause costly downtime and lost productivity. 

Consumable changeover can also be a time-consuming part of the welding process, especially if it’s necessary to do it frequently or if less experienced welders install consumables incorrectly. 

Choosing the right consumables can help reduce or eliminate these hassles. Learn how AccuLock consumables can be used for Bernard^® BTB MIG guns and Tregaskiss^® fixed automatic and robotic MIG guns to help operations save time and money and improve efficiency. 

The benefits of AccuLock consumables 

AccuLock consumables are designed to address common challenges faced in both semi-automatic and automated MIG welding operations. A switch to AccuLock consumables can help operations: 

• Increase consumable life while reducing costs and improving productivity. 
• Reduce consumable replacement errors and the time and money spent on troubleshooting, rework and downtime.
• Simplify consumables replacement, improving accuracy and reducing employee training. 

The AccuLock consumable family for industrial welding applications includes AccuLock R and AccuLock S systems, two options that are designed to deliver timesaving benefits and optimized performance in automated and semi-automatic welding applications. 

Load and lock for increased productivity and throughput 

The AccuLock S (Semi-automatic) consumables system features liners designed to resolve issues and errors with liner trimming and installation as well as erratic wire feeding problems. Because AccuLock S liners are locked and concentrically aligned to both the contact tip and the power pin, they offer a flawless wire-feed path and error-proof liner replacement every time. In addition, a steel retaining ring on the diffuser helps keep the threaded nozzle in place during use and cleaning. 

The AccuLock R (Robotic) consumables system offers front-loading QUICK LOAD^® liners that require less than half the time and effort to replace compared to conventional liners and can be changed from a safe zone in a robotic weld cell. Upgrading to AccuLock HDP contact tips can extend life by 10 times or more in pulsed welding applications. In addition, operations currently using TOUGH LOCK® consumables in robotic and fixed automatic MIG guns can easily upgrade to AccuLock R consumables without affecting TCP or requiring programming changes. 

Choose according to your needs 

When deciding between the two types of AccuLock consumables for industrial welding applications, there are several key factors to consider. It’s important to think about the type of welding being done in the operation and what current issues or challenges need addressing. 

AccuLock S consumables are best suited for operations with the following issues or characteristics:  

• Primarily focused on semi-automatic welding with little to no automation. 
• Dealing with decreased productivity due to liner installation errors, burnbacks, bird-nesting and erratic arc.
• Wanting to reduce the time and costs of troubleshooting, downtime and rework. 

AccuLock R consumables are best suited for operations with the following issues or characteristics: 

• Primarily focused on robotic or fixed automatic welding with few semi-automatic guns.
• Having a complicated and costly consumables inventory that may be the root cause of frequent consumable replacement errors. 
• Experiencing issues with contact tip cross-threading and want increased tip life. 

Choosing between AccuLock S and AccuLock R on semi-automatic MIG guns  

Customers who are currently using TOUGH LOCK consumables on Bernard BTB MIG guns can upgrade their guns with either AccuLock S or AccuLock R consumables. Although AccuLock S consumables offer many benefits specific to semi-automatic welding applications, in some cases it can make more sense for these welding guns to be upgraded to AccuLock R consumables instead. For example, if a complex inventory of MIG gun consumables is the primary root cause of high carrying costs and consumable replacement errors in a given facility, AccuLock R consumables may offer a better ROI.

Switching existing Bernard BTB MIG guns to AccuLock R consumables is an easy change to make, requiring only an AccuLock R diffuser and an AccuLock contact tip — with no need to switch the liner, power pin, power pin cap or nozzle. 

Successful welding operations simplify inventory 

Both AccuLock S and AccuLock R systems share a common contact tip to simplify inventory management for facilities that choose to use both. AccuLock contact tips last longer due to increased mass and being buried within the diffuser, away from the heat of the weld. Coarse threads work in tandem with a long contact tip tail to concentrically align the tip within the diffuser prior to thread engagement, ensuring quick, accurate replacement without cross-threading.

Getting the most out of MIG gun consumables 

AccuLock S consumables solve many of the issues that can be traced to MIG gun liners that have been trimmed to an incorrect length or that pull out of position inside the MIG gun, creating gaps along the wire feed path. They are a good fit in most semi-automatic applications. 

In fleets with a lot of automated welding, AccuLock R consumables can extend contact tip lifespan (especially in pulsed welding applications), eliminate contact tip cross-threading issues, alleviate excessive downtime for consumables replacement and limit safety issues related to climbing up to access robots or wire feeders for gun liner changes. 

Although small in size, both AccuLock R and AccuLock S consumables can deliver sizable time- and cost-saving benefits by reducing troubleshooting and downtime in industrial welding applications.