Condenser Production Process

Indiana Tube Corporation utilizes two types of welders for the production of wire-on-tube refrigeration condensers. The first type welder is what we have termed as an automatic welder the other type is a Schlatter welder.  The automatic welders differ significantly from the Schlatter welder in that they offer high volume production with little flexibility in terms of tube and wire spacing.  The Schlatter welder offers flexibility but lacks high-production volume.

Indiana Tube Corporation does have the ability to provide scrolled, steel sheet-on-tube condensers, however, this process is not covered here due to it being a specialized process.

Wire Welder:

Automatic Welders:  Serpentines are fed through the automatic welders horizontally by the use of conveyor chains.  The conveyor chains are synchronized to guide the parts squarely through the welders and are slotted to accept the 3/16” diameter serpentine tube and spaced to accept a 1” and/or 2” pitch spacing.

Multiple wires are continuously fed off of large spools into the auto welders from above and below the serpentines.  As the serpentines travel through the welder the wires are guided into place and welder electrodes come up and down into place applying pressure and electrical current.  The electrical current heats the wires and tube at their intersection and the applied pressure forge welds the tube and wires together.

Placed at the exit end of the automatic welders is a shear.  This shear is timed so that at the correct place it engages and shears the wires in order to separate the individual parts.

Schlatter Welder:  The Schlatter welder makes use of wire that has been pre-cut to the proper length.  The pre-cut wire is placed into hoppers on both the front and back side of the machine.  A serpentine is placed into a fixture and slid into the Schlatter welder vertically.  Wires are fed from the hoppers and magnetically held in place as the welder electrodes move into place and apply electrical current and pressure to forge weld the wire to the tube.  Once the electrodes retrack, the serpentine is indexed upward a predetermined amount, and the cycle repeats.  The Schlatter welder is a very versatile machine due to independently adjustable electrodes as well as adjustable wire spacing.

Painting:

Wash:  The condensers are hung on a conveyor which carries them through a wash system which removes dirt, oil and smut.  Once washed, the condensers go through a dryer to ensure the removal of moisture prior to being coated.

Paint:  From the dryer the condensers move through a paint system.  As the condenser passes through the paint system an electrical charge causes the paint to adhere evenly to the condenser.

Upon exiting of the paint system the condensers enter an oven which is heated to 325°- 400° Fahrenheit.  The parts stay in the oven for a sufficient length of time for full paint cure.  After leaving the paint-cure oven, the condensers are off-loaded and packaged for shipment.