Providing complete welding service

Before joining SETA, Dean Shannon had worked for more than 20 years as a welder in the offshore oil and gas industry. During this time he used ESAB equipment and came to appreciate its ruggedness, reliability and performance, as well as the high standard of customer support provided by ESAB. He also used the ‘one-stop-shop’ distributor Complete Welding Services, and got to know the company’s representative, Paul Strutt. When SETA needed new welding equipment, Dean Shannon contacted Paul Strutt as part of his market research.

New welding equipment was required for training not only apprentices from the Cartwright Group and other employers, but also experienced welders wanting to up-skill. The overall package therefore had to include equipment suitable for use by beginners and all skill levels up to highly experienced welders.

For the apprentices, SETA opted for three each of ESAB’s Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC Tig welding sets with T33 control panels and Origo Mig C250 Mig welding sets; the Aristo Mig 3000i Pulse will be used to enhance the skillsets of experienced welders. Dean Shannon estimates that over the course of a year, the new welding equipment could be used by up to 250 people in total.

ESAB’s Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC Tig welding machine is rugged, portable and suitable for AC/DC Tig welding and also manual metal arc (MMA) welding. When equipped with the T33 control panel – as is the case with the SETA order – the operator simply sets the plate thickness and the machine controls the welding parameters. The ESAB Origo Mig C250 machine is a three-phase, step-regulated welding power source for MIG/MAG welding. A built-in wire feeder makes this all-in-one machine very convenient to use in a training environment.

For more sophisticated tasks, the Aristo Mig 3000i Pulse also has an integral wire feeder; with the Aristo U6 control panel, users benefit from features such as synergic MIG/MAG welding, synergic Pulsed MIG welding, QSet technology for simplifying set-ups for given combinations of substrate, welding wire and gas (including MIG brazing), and the machine is also capable of MMA welding.

Prior to placing the order, SETA had a demonstration of the Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC with a T34 control panel. Suitably impressed with both the equipment and the price, SETA included the Caddy Tig in the order, albeit with the simpler T33 control panel that was felt to better suit the needs of apprentices.

Some of the apprentices SETA trains already have their own PPE but, for those who don’t, SETA purchased ESAB gloves, helmets and safety glasses. In addition, Complete Welding Services has a contract to supply welding rods and wire on a consignment stock basis, so SETA only pays for the consumables that are used.