ERICO CADWELD PLUS Rail Track Connection Web Bonds User Manual

Refer to the mold tag for applicable instruction sheets. IPRSWCP_B

CADWELD® PLUS Rail Track Connection Web Bonds

IPRSWCP_B

I. HOW TO READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS/
WHAT THE SYMBOLS MEAN

The purpose of safety symbols is to attract your
attention to possible dangers. The safety symbols,
and the explanations with them, deserve your careful
attention and understanding. The safety warnings do
not by themselves eliminate any danger. The instructions
and warnings are not substitutes for proper accident
prevention measures.

SAFETY ALERT SYMBOL: Indicates warning or caution. It may

be used in conjunction with other symbols or pictographs.

WARNING: Failure to obey a safety warning may result in

property damage, serious personal injury or death, and the
serious personal injury or death of others. Always follow the
safety precautions to reduce these risks.

CAUTION: Failure to obey a safety caution may result in property

damage, personal injury, and injury to others. Always follow
the safety precautions to reduce the risk of fi re, other property
damage and personal injury.

NOTE: Advises you of information or instructions vital to the
operation or maintenance of the equipment.

In the following instructions, cautions and warnings, there are
two types of consequences for failure to heed:

A. IMMEDIATE, that may result in personal injury or a failed
operation that may result in a less than optimum bond and that
will not give the physical and electrical performance expected.

WARNING: The area where the bond is to be

applied must be sheltered suffi ciently if the weather is
inclement. This is to keep the rail surface, all equipment, and

materials dry until the weld is completed. Failure to do so may
result in an unsafe application with the risk of personal injury
and a less than optimum bond.

CAUTION: The work area must be well ventilated.

Workers should avoid breathing the smoke of the exothermic
reaction by positioning themselves upwind of the mold before
igniting the welding material. After ignition, it is advisable to
step back from the mold. Failure to observe this instruction may
result in lung irritation.

WARNING: The worker(s) performing the welding

must be properly dressed and equipped. Examples include

cotton or woolen garments (most synthetic fabrics melt rather
than char when exposed to fl ame, causing severe burns), safety
footwear with non-slip soles, head protection, leather gloves,
eye goggles and other clothing and equipment recommended
or required by the person’s employer, industry practice, or
applicable laws and regulations. See Figure 1. The worker(s)
must not be under the infl uence of any alcohol, drugs or other
chemicals that would impair their judgment or performance
of the job. Failure to observe this may result in serious
personal injury.

Safety Helmet

Safety Goggles

B. EVENTUAL, that may result in a later premature rail break,
causing a serious derailment accident with personal injuries
or death, and loss of property.

II. GENERAL RULES FOR SAFETY IN THE APPLICATION
OF EXOTHERMIC WEB BONDS TO RAIL

WARNING: Do not attempt to make an exothermic bond

until you have thoroughly read and understand the
instructions that accompany all of the various components
of the system and have been properly trained in the use
of this product. Use only the system components designed
to be used together from a single manufacturer. Failure to

comply may result in unsatisfactory bonding as well as accidents
involving fi re, personal injury, and rail damage that may lead to
property damage, injury or death.

WARNING: Only the correct grinding equipment, welding

equipment, welding material, and bonds designed for the
specifi c application must be used. All items used must be

designed and supplied by the same manufacturer. All items must
be in good condition and not worn, altered or damaged. Failure
to do so may result in an unsafe application with the risk of
personal injury and/or a less than optimum bond.

Cuffed Leather
Gloves

FIGURE

1

Jacket or Shirt

and Trousers

Safety Shoes

CAUTION: The worker(s) must be certain that

they can achieve good footing in the area where the weld
will be done. They should be able to step away from the weld

reaction, to be upwind of it. Failure to observe this may result in
personal injury.

www.erico.com

1

Refer to the mold tag for applicable instruction sheets. IPRSWCP_B

CADWELD® PLUS Rail Track Connection Web Bonds

2. Use abrasive cloth or wire brush on the bond terminals if

WARNING: Carefully following the instructions

for exothermic bonding is very important to achieving
a quality reliable bond. Failure to do so may cause hidden

potential problems, the least of which is a poor electrical
connection, and the most serious of which is an eventual
broken rail leading to property damage, injury or death to
the installer and others.

III. PREPARATION

needed to remove surface oxidation.

CAUTION: The bond terminals must have a bright surface.

Failure to comply with this may result in a less than optimal weld.
See Figure 4.

FIGURE

4

WARNING: Protect against potential fi re hazards

local to the bonding area and remove all fl ammable
materials from the work area. Notify in advance other
workers in the immediate area that a welding procedure
is about to be done. Failure to do this increases the risk of

fi re with the possibility of property damage, personal injury
and death.

NOTE: In case of a fi re involving large quantities of exothermic
welding material, CO
distance are required to reduce the spread of the fi re.

WARNING: The location of the bond is very important!

Rail track connection web bonds must be made at the neutral
axis of the rail. Failure to observe this may result in a rail break
leading to property damage, injury or death to others. TRACK

CONNECTION BONDING MUST NEVER BE DONE ON OR
NEAR THE HEAD OR BASE OF THE RAIL. See Figure 2.

FIGURE

2

Neutral

Axis

or large quantities of water applied from a

2

3. Lightly grind the rail surface using an ERICO® approved
grinding wheel that is self-cleaning or a CADWELD
Head Cleaner T-34. Grinding wheels with resin binders tend
to leave a surface fi lm that may contaminate the surface,
interfering with the achievement of an optimum bond and
causing weld porosity.

WARNING: The area of the rail web to be bonded must

be lightly ground to a bright fi nish with no visible
scratch marks or gouges (normal uniform fi nishing marks
are acceptable). Failure to observe this may result in visible

scratches or gouges due to overly aggressive grinding that are
potential crack initiators and that may lead to rail breaks causing
derailment accidents with property damage, injury and death to
others. See Figure 5.

FIGURE

5

CAUTION: Grinding must not be done more than 4

hours prior to bonding. If the time lapse is longer, suffi cient

contaminating rust may re-form requiring additional grinding.
Failure to observe this may result in a less than optimum bond.

®

Rail

1. Clean the rail surface and bond terminals. Scrape off excess
dirt and grease, and wipe away any remaining residue using
a clean rag saturated with a railroad approved solvent.
See Figure 3. The rail must be dry prior to welding!

FIGURE

3

WARNING: The area of the rail where the bond will be

applied and the bond terminals must be clean and dry.

Failure to comply can cause poor bonding, excessive weld porosity,
and/or spewing molten welding material with the potential for
serious burns to the worker.

www.erico.com

4. Dry the mold and rail by heating them to about 250°F (120°C)
with a small propane torch.

WARNING: The rail and mold must both be warmed to

drive off moisture. Failure to observe this may result in weld

spatter with the potential for serious burn injury, and a less than
optimum bond with excessive porosity. See Figure 6.

FIGURE

6

2

Refer to the mold tag for applicable instruction sheets. IPRSWCP_B

CADWELD® PLUS Rail Track Connection Web Bonds

WARNING: Rebonding over the application of an

earlierweb bond is strictly forbidden! Rebonds must be

applied at least two inches away (centerline to centerline)
from an earlier bond to avoid serious structural harm to the
rail.Failure to observe this may result in a rail break leading
to property damage, injury or death to others.

WARNING: Back-to-back bonding of web bonds is strictly

forbidden! Bonds made on the opposite side of the rail to

an earlier web bond must be applied at least two inches away
(centerline to centerline) from the earlier bond to avoid serious
structural harm to the rail. Failure to observe this may result in a
rail break leading to property damage, injury or death to others.

IV. WELDING PROCEDURE

1. Place bond in welder with fl at surface against rail web
and end of terminal against bond clip. This correctly positions
the bond in the weld cavity. Be sure the bond clip is in good
condition and properly positions the terminal under the center
of the tap hole as shown. See Figure 7.

Tap Hole

FIGURE

7

Bond

Mold Height
Adjusting Screw

FIGURE

9

T21-Clamped Position

WARNING: Correctly positioning the mold against the

rail with the welder device is critical for safety and
success in making a bond. There must be no gaps between

the lower part of the mold that contains the weld cavity and the
rail surface; if a gap is present, the mold should be discarded
and a new one used. See Figure 10. (Molds can generally
be used for up to 50 welds) The exothermic reaction reaches
a temperature in excess of 4000°F, therefore great care must
be exercised to avoid spillage of the molten metal. Failure to
observe this warning may result in molten metal leakage onto
the rail with the immediate risk of personal injury, and potentially
serious structural damage to the rail. Failure to locate the bond
at the neutral axis of the rail may also contribute to premature
rail damage. Either could result in a rail break leading to
property damage, injury or death to others.

Bond Clip

Terminal

2. Position the welder with attached mold on the rail. Use the
mold height adjusting screw of the positioning bar to locate
the bond terminal at the neutral axis of the rail. See Figure 8
for TB5 and Figure 9 for T21 welder.

Positioning Bar

FIGURE

8

TB5-Hand Held Position

FIGURE

10

3. Insert CADWELD PLUS welding material cup into mold.
See Figure 11.

CADWELD PLUS

FIGURE

11

www.erico.com

3

Refer to the mold tag for applicable instruction sheets. IPRSWCP_B

CADWELD® PLUS Rail Track Connection Web Bonds

4. Attach Control Unit termination clip to ignition strip, align the
strip and close the cover. See Figure 12.

FIGURE

12

CAUTION: Install only the specifi ed CADWELD PLUS

welding material cup in the mold crucible. Use only the

welding material size that is specifi ed on the mold. ERICO
brand of welding material (F80) is formulated specifi cally for
use with rail steels.

5. Place welder against rail. Hold fi rmly if TB5 style or clamp if
T21 style. Clamp is adjustable for rail sizes. Check that mold
face fi ts against rail and bond terminal is held against rail.

NOTE: Clamp on T21 style can be swung out of way to

make hand held welder. See Figure 13.

6. Press and hold Control Unit operator button until the ready
light turns off and wait for ignition. See Figure 14.

FIGURE

14

CAUTION: Allow 15 seconds for mold cooling after the

reaction. This will permit the molten metal to solidify. Then

carefully disengage the welder device and pull the mold straight
back from the rail. Failure to observe this may result in mold
damage and its premature scrapping. Molds can generally be
re-used up to 50 times.

7. Carefully open the mold and remove the expended steel cup
— no special disposal required.

8. Break up the slag in the crucible using the blade of the mold
cleaning tool. Dump the slag from the crucible and remove
slag from the taphole using the curved end of the mold
cleaner. Dump slag in the ballast, not onto the ties.

FIGURE

13

9. Check the molds for breakage or residual slag before
proceeding with the next weld.

Note: If you have any questions or require further instructions,
or would like training, contact ERICO at 1-800-447-7245.

Copyright ©2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 ERICO International Corporation. All rights reserved.
CADDY, CADWELD, CRITEC, ERICO, ERIFLEX, ERITECH, and LENTON are registered trademarks of ERICO International Corporation.

www.erico.com

4

IPRSWCP_B R1058IS12WWEN PUR1013