ESAB Welding & Cutting Products has introduced Marathon Pac™ Ultra, a new 500kg bulk welding wire drum that features a robust outer box and reinforced corners for stabilizing the inner drum to prevent wire movement during shipping. Marathon Pac Ultra retains ESAB’s trademarked octagonal inner drum, known since 1989 as the industry benchmark, as well as ESAB’s reverse coiling technology to ensure that the wire comes out straight for greater process stability, less spatter and better targeting, positioning the wire at the center of the weld joint.
Marathon Pac Ultra holds 22 percent more wire than the previous ESAB drums and 45kg more than competitive drums, providing an additional 8 to 16 or more hours of welding time before needing to rethread the drum, depending on the process and parameters.
“The Marathon Pac Ultra has been tested and certified to the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) 3E standard to provide our customers with wire integrity assurance and smooth, uninterrupted feeding performance for higher productivity,” says Roberto Guerrero, Global Packaging Engineer, ESAB.
A new desiccant and plastic bag with VCI (volatile corrosion inhibitor) protect the wire against moisture and corrosion. Drums are shipped two at a time using heavy-duty straps to secure them to a wooden pallet (instead of wrapped with stretch film). A new side window on the hood makes it easy to monitor wire level without removing the hood.
ESAB packages many of its most popular solid wires in Marathon Pac Ultra drums, including OK Aristorod non-copper-coated MIG wire for superb feedability, arc stability and spatter control; Purus MIG wire for reduced post-weld cleanup and Spoolarc premium copper-coated MIG wires for any quality carbon steel or low alloy application.
Additional Improvements
The new drums retain the same 600 x 600 mm base size and with the integrated pallet, retains the same height. Lifting straps and slots for a lifting yoke allow moving the drum with an overhead crane. Existing Marathon Pac dollies and lifting yokes will work with the new Marathon Pac Ultra. When the drum is depleted, the corrugated paper components of the sustainable package can be broken apart and flattened for easy recycling.
