ESAB Marathon Pacs
Simply Endless - Endless feedability.
MARATHON PAC™ - endless feedability For many customers, Marathon Pac bulk drums for MIG/MAG and FCAW are key in maximising production efficiency and quality; in manual welding and especially in mechanised and robotic welding. Marathon Pac can cut the time taken by spool changes and maintenance by almost 95%.
A bulk wire delivery system with non-stop productivity in robot applications. Zero downtime for spool changes. A system that folds flat for easy storage and recycling after use. And the widest range of wires ever - mild steels, stainless and aluminium.
With the launch of the ESAB Marathon Pac Endless system, the term uninterrupted welding takes on a new meaning. Precision butt welding of the wire ends of in-series Marathon Pacs makes it possible to provide a genuinely continuous supply of wire to an automated welding process. As a result productivity
is enhanced as down-time for wire change and lost production following run-out is eliminated. Run-out weld defects and wire wastage resulting from ‘just-in-case’ wire changeover are also avoided.
ESAB Marathon Pac’s have for some years provided industry with lengthy periods of uninterrupted welding on automatic and robotic MIG installations. The pre-twisted wire emerges straight from the welding nozzle, is easy to feed and has established a well earned reputation for reliable starts and weld quality.
Until now there has always come a time when the Pac is exhausted and the process of replacement and re-threading must be entered into. On a multi-robot cell this can absorb a large amount of production time as it is rarely the case that every robot will need replenishment simultaneously.
For end users who are increasingly dependent on minimally manned automatic production systems, the opportunity to schedule maintenance tasks rather than react to breakdowns is increasingly valuable.
Marathon Pac Endless version addresses this aim, as the most frequent maintenance task on MIG equipment is wire changeover. It utilises a two-Pac stand incorporating a wire conduit mounted on a swing arm to switch between empty and full Pacs. The wire ends are buttwelded together using a purpose made machine which cuts, aligns and welds the wires together, then grinds away the welding burr. This process can be carried out without stopping the machine or cell.
Marathon Pac comes in three sizes - the standard version, the jumbo version and the mini version - and is available for non- and low-alloyed MAG wires, stainless MIG wires, aluminium MIG wires, MAG-brazing wires and cored wires. In addition, there is an ''endless version'', which makes it possible to combine the content of a series of Marathon Pacs to form a continuous in-line supply source, thereby necessitating no stops whatsoever for wire exchange. this is ideal for multi-robot stations. A special wire resistance welder is available from ESAB for this purpose. Availability and content weight are given in the table below. Perfect delivery to the welding head The special coiling technique that is used when packing the drum ensures that the wire is never twisted or warped, which would otherwise cause arc wander. Welds are well positioned and perfectly straight. The unwinding process from the drum is automatic, so no separate de-coiling equipment is needed and no addition forces are required, like those that are needed when pulling a traditional revolving spool. This translates into a lower wear rate for the wire feeder.
The easily recycled Marathon Pac comes in octagonal cardboard drums that can be folded flat after use for easy storage.
