Welding Equipment Meter Calibration

1 Welding EquipmentMeter CalibrationArticles from the TechLineService NewsletterMiller Electric Mfg. , information in this booklet began as articles in the Miller Electric TechLinenewsletter, in 2000. A large number of follow-up requests led to the preparation ofthis booklet. We hope that these articles will help you understand what is needed tosuccessfully provide a Calibration /certification in mind that these articles give examples for instructional information document contains information about factory Calibration procedures using certi-fied Calibration instruments, and we are not responsible for usage outside MillerElectric Mfg.

2 Co. If after reading this material you still have questions on specificMiller machines, please call 920-735-4505 during business hours. The calibrationforms and certificates used are not supplied by Miller Electric - you will need to pur-chase or create your own forms that are customized for always, when working on Welding Equipment , follow all safety precautions in theOwner's and technical Manuals. Have only qualified service technicians calibratewelding you,Miller Electric Mfg. NEWSLETTER FOR MILLER SERVICEAGENCIESIn this issue and the next issue,we'd like to discuss the variousaspects of meeting customer'sneeds concerning Meter calibra-tion.

3 Have you received ques-tions from your customers con-cerning ISO 9000, and the accura-cy of the customer's meters? It'spossible you may be asked just tocalibrate meters so that the customer knows theirmeters are accurate. Or, your customer may beconcerned with ISO 9000 purpose of ISO 9000 standards is to ensurethat customers purchase products that aredesigned, built, tested, and sold under controlledconditions by trained people. Any customer,whether they represent a small company or a largemultinational company, minimizes their purchasingrisk by dealing with internationally recognized, ISO9000 registered 9000 audits are concerned with the documen-tation that businesses have, and whether they arefollowing that documentation in their work proce-dures.

4 It's up to the business to be responsible forthe step-by-step procedures of their documenta-tion. Providing Meter Calibration services can be easierthan you think, and the goal of these articles is tohelp you provide this service to your 'll begin by laying some of the groundwork tohelp understand what we are trying to accomplish with Meter Calibration . Four topics will be coveredat this time:1. Calibration vs. Certification2. How often is Calibration necessary?3. Resistive load vs. a Welding arc 4. Calibration Equipment SourceCalibration vs. CertificationWhen you calibrate a Meter , you are simply verifyingthat the Meter is accurate within tolerances, and ifnot, you adjust it to make it accurate.

5 Certifying themeter means supplying a "paper trail" showing thatthe calibrated Meter can now be traced back to theNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),through your testing Equipment . This simply meansthat you need a source to certify your Meter often is Calibration necessary?When do you calibrate the customer's machinemeters? We recommend every year, hopefullycombined with a preventive maintenance pack-age. Remember that for the procedures for ISO9000, you can make this interval any time periodyou want. The actual procedures made for ISO9000 documentation can come from a couple ofsources: the customer could give you the procedure,they may ask you to provide a procedure, or you may workon the procedure together with the customer.

6 ContinuedAPRIL, 2000 What You Need to Know about Meter Calibrationby Stan Hischke, Product Testing Calibration TechnicianDigital MetersStan HischkeAnalog MetersWhat You Need to Know about Meter CalibrationContinued from Page an article to follow, we will provide a sampleprocedure form that can be used as a "bottom line" with a procedure is - make sureyou do what you say you are doing in the procedure.(If you say you are going to test the meters every twoyears, make sure you have a system in place toremind you when two years are up.)Also keep in mind that the time interval you andyour customer develop can be changed.

7 Forexample, if you find that the meters are stayingaccurate and don't need to be adjusted year afteryear, there is nothing wrong with extending themeter Calibration interval to every two years. Andthe opposite is also true, that if the meters areneeding Calibration more often, you can changethe interval to every six load vs. a Welding arcA Welding arc is often referred to as a dynamicload, which simply means it is a changing , do not calibrate meters while strongly recommend using a resistive (constant)load. Both Miller Load Banks are excellent examplesof resistive loads. The LBP-350 Portable Load Bankwas specifically designed to help you calibratemeters in the field.

8 (It weighs only 46 pounds.) Calibration Equipment SourceSome of you may already have a company that youpurchase your Calibration Equipment from, andthat's fine. If you do not have such a company,we'd like to introduce you to Transcat, a companythat we are very familiar with. Transcat calibratesand services all brands of Calibration , test, andmeasurement instruments. They are headquar-tered in Rochester, New York, and have many loca-tions across the nation. They can be reached at:Phone: 800-828-1470, or 716-352-9460 FAX: 800-395-0543, or 716-352-1486 Website: : not only sells test Equipment , but willalso supply you with the "paper trail" you need foryour testing Equipment certification.

9 Transcat canalso calibrate your previously owned test also can recommend a source, Q-Cee's ProductsDivision, that can supply you with the actual stick-ers you apply to the meters. These stickers will haveplaces for you to fill in the information needed, suchas the date calibrated, due date for the next calibra-tion, and the calibrating person's identification. Q-Cee's is located in Houston, Texas, and can be con-tacted by phone at 800-950-4922, or 's Note:Hopefully this first article raised yourinterest in calibrating and certifying Welding equip-ment. In the next issue of TechLine, we will go intomore detail on Calibration test Equipment , and wewill provide information on a sample calibrationprocedure.

10 If you have questions on the informationprovided here so far, or something else you'd like tosee in TechLine, please don't hesitate to drop us afax at TechLine, 920-735-4013. We appreciate yourinput!Miller Load Bank#902 804 LBP-350 Portable Load Bank#043 329 Sample Stickers from Q-CeeTechLineTMA Newsletter for Miller Service : When working onwelding Equipment , follow allsafety precautions in theOwner's and technical only qualified service tech-nicians calibrate Welding this follow-up article on Meter calibrationand certification, we want to show you a sam-ple procedure you might follow. Please locatethe insert page and keep it handy, as we'll bereferring to 's say for example that your customer hasasked you to calibrate/certify their Miller CP-302 Welding power source.