Leading European shipbuilding

The welders at Meyer Turku shipyard were the first ones to test Kemppi’s Flexlite GX welding guns, which won over the industry professionals. The feedback from the test period highlighted durable consumables, efficient cooling of the welding gun, and smooth wire feed.

Meyer Turku Oy, a shipyard owned by the Meyer family, is one of the leading shipbuilding companies in Europe. The shipyard was founded in 1737 and it specializes in building cruise ships, car-passenger ferries, and special vessels. Over the years, the shipyard has built more than 1300 new ships.The Meyer Turku shipyard is a big employer in Southwestern Finland. There are thousands of employees working at the company’s 120-hectare premises, and hundreds of them are welders. Lots of people from other companies also operate at the shipyard, hailing from up to 60 different countries.

Tested by welding professionals

The cooperation between Kemppi and Meyer Turku has been going on for decades. The shipyard uses a lot of Kemppi welding equipment, and the welders have also occasionally participated in Kemppi's product development work by testing new products that are in the pilot phase. They were also the first ones to get their hands on the gas-cooled, series 3 Flexlite GX welding guns. During the three-month test period, the welding guns equipped with a 5-meter cable were tried in challenging shipyard conditions, in which steady wire feed and ease of use play an important role.

COST SAVINGS FROM EXCELLENT COOLING

The professionals at Meyer Turku used the Flexlite GX welding guns especially for horizontal and overhead fillet welds, but also in other challenging positions within the ship’s structures. In general, the GX models were received well. The welders commended the light feel of the welding gun, and many of them took advantage of the full 360-degree rotation of the gun neck to ease their work. The detachable pistol grip handle was especially handy with fillet welds, but when it came to tighter workspaces, the welders preferred to weld without it.

Welding comfort has been considered also in the internal structure of the Flexlite GX welding guns. It includes new design innovations that keep the gun neck and contact tip exceptionally cool. This was also noticed by the welders who said that the gun neck felt surprisingly cool during welding. In addition, the efficient cooling system extends the lifetime of consumables, and actually most of the welders evaluated that the consumption of consumables had decreased when the Flexlite GX welding guns were used.

In addition to excellent durability in the shipyard conditions, the welders at Meyer Turku commended the steady wire feed of the Flexlite GX welding guns. The welders, who usually cleaned wire liners with compressed air, stated that the amount of dust within the GX models’ wire liners was nearly non-existent. The new, threaded gas nozzle was also warmly welcomed.

”The threaded gas nozzle is convenient because you don’t have to use much force to install it. Traditionally designed gas nozzles also loosen quite easily. These will stay on tightly,” says Sanna Nyholm, who works as Welding Coordinator at the quality department of Meyer Turku Oy.