PowerWaveSoftware.
com
Help Me Connect Guide
This document covers the following products:
Power Wave® c300
Power Wave® i400
Power Wave® s350
Power Wave® R350
Power Wave® R450
Power Wave® s500
Power Wave® R500
Power Wave® s700
Power Wave® AC/DC 1000 SD
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Introduction
Your Lincoln Electric welder is equipped with one or more digital communication
systems, depending on the model and which accessories are installed. This document
discusses how to connect to your welder to configure settings, install firmware updates,
troubleshoot problems, and set up process monitoring via CheckPoint™.
The table below shows the actions you can perform and which communication
method(s) can be used for each.
Rear Front
Action Ethernet Ethernet1 Wi-Fi1 Bluetooth1
Arclink XT Yes* No No No
CheckPoint™ Yes Yes Yes No
Power Wave® Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes
System Firmware Update Yes Yes Yes No
Arclink XT is a high-speed, Ethernet-based communication link between a Power
Wave® welder and a robot, human-machine interface (HMI), or other controller. To
learn how to connect your Power Wave® using Arclink XT, consult the documentation
for your robot, HMI, or controller.
CheckPoint™ is a welder production monitoring solution that allows you to view live
welder status and valuable production, quality, and traceability information in the cloud.
You can use CheckPoint™ with a Wi-Fi connection or any Ethernet port in a Power
Wave® welder2.
Power Wave® Manager is a program that runs on a Windows PC and allows you to
configure advanced settings and troubleshoot problems. Power Wave® Manager is
available as a free download from www.powerwavesoftware.com, and can be used with
any available Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth connection.
You can perform a System Update of the Power Wave software by visiting
www.powerwavesoftware.com and downloading the latest firmware package for your
welder. This will ensure you have the latest features and enhancements available for
your equipment. A system update can be performed over Ethernet, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
connections.
1
The front Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections are available on Power Wave® s350, R350, R450,
R500, and s500 machines equipped with the K4352-1 kit.
2
While CheckPoint™ can use any available Ethernet port on a Power Wave®, it cannot be used over
multiple Ethernet ports simultaneously.
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Connecting to the Machine
There are different options for connecting to your welder depending on the model and
the accessories that are installed. Refer to the table below to see whether your welder
supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth connections.
Rear Front
Welder Ethernet Ethernet1 Wi-Fi1 Bluetooth1
Power Wave® c300 Yes No No No
Power Wave® i400 Yes No No No
Power Wave® s350 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Power Wave® R350 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Power Wave® R450 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Power Wave® s500 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Power Wave® R500 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Power Wave® s700 Yes No No No
Power Wave® AC/DC 1000 SD Yes No No No
1.1 Using an Ethernet Connection
All Power Wave® welders covered by this document have an Ethernet port. Refer to the
operator’s manual for your particular model to locate the port. If the optional K4352-1
Wi-Fi kit is installed in your machine, it will add a second Ethernet port. You can use
either of these ports for CheckPoint™, to run Power Wave® Manager, or to update
firmware. For Arclink XT, refer to the manual for your robot, HMI, or controller and note
that you cannot use the port on the K4352-1 kit for Arclink XT.
There are two ways to connect to the welder using Ethernet: making a direct connection
from your PC to the welder, or connecting the welder to an existing network.
1.1.1 Direct Connection from PC to Welder
To run Power Wave® Manager or update system firmware, it is possible to connect from
your PC directly to the Ethernet port on the Power Wave®. This is useful if you need a
temporary connection for servicing a machine. You cannot use CheckPoint™ with a
direct connection.
To make a direct connection, follow these steps:
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1. Connect an Ethernet cable3 from your PC’s Ethernet port to the Ethernet port on
your Power Wave®.
2. Start the application you wish to use. From the connection window that appears,
select “Connect through Ethernet”
3. Select “I do not know the IP address of the welder.” Your welder should appear
in the list. Since you are directly connected, there will only be one machine in the
list. If the welder does not immediately appear, you may need to refresh the list
by clicking the “Refresh List” button. If the welder still does not appear, refer to
the Troubleshooting section later in this document. 4
4. To connect, select the welder in the list and click the “Connect” button.
After following these steps, you should be connected to the Power Wave® welder. If
you experience problems, see the Troubleshooting section later in this document.
1.1.2 Connecting to an Existing Network
Your Power Wave can be permanently connected to an existing network to run
CheckPoint™ or Power Wave® Manager, or to update the system firmware. You
3
Most modern computers support “auto crossover,” which means a regular Ethernet cable can be used
for the direct connection to the Power Wave. If you have an older PC or the Ethernet port does not
support auto crossover, then an Ethernet crossover cable is required.
4
For Front Ethernet connections that have DHCP Enabled, a direct connection can take up to 3 minutes.
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should get answers to the following questions from your Network Administrator prior to
connecting your Power Wave® to an existing Ethernet network:
1. Will the Power Wave® receive an IP address dynamically using DHCP, or will it
be assigned a static address?
2. If the Power Wave® will have a static address, what is the address?
3. What is the gateway address for the network (necessary when not using DHCP)?
4. What is the subnet mask for the network (necessary when not using DHCP)?
5. What is the IP address of the DNS server for the network (necessary when using
CheckPoint™)?
If the welder will receive an IP address dynamically using DHCP, see the section Using
DHCP. If a static address will be assigned to it, see Configuring Fixed Settings.
1.1.3 Using DHCP
When a Power Wave® leaves the factory, the rear port is configured to obtain an IP
address using DHCP4. This means that a server on your network assigns IP addresses
to devices when they connect, and you do not have to manually configure the
addresses. If your network uses this system, you may be able to connect the welder to
your network without any further configuration. However, you should consult your
Network Administrator to make sure there are no special requirements. It is usually
desirable that the Power Wave® always receives the same IP address so that you
always know where to connect to it.
Your Network Administrator may ask for the MAC address of the Power Wave® before
allowing it to be connected to the network. To obtain the MAC address, use Power
Wave® Manager to make a direct connection to the Power Wave using the steps in the
Direct Connection from PC to Welder section and navigate to the “Ethernet” settings in
the left-hand menu. You will see the MAC address given in the “Current Settings” box,
as shown below. If there are multiple Ethernet modules present in your Power Wave®
system, you can select which module’s information is shown by using the Select
Ethernet module box.
4 ®
If the Power Wave fails to obtain a valid IP address after a timeout period, it will revert to using a default
address of 192.168.1.2 for the rear port, or 169.254.0.2 for the front port (if available).
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1.1.4 Configuring Fixed Settings
If you have fixed IP address, gateway, and subnet mask settings, you will need to
configure the Power Wave® to use these settings before connecting it to the network.
Follow the steps in this section to do so.
1. Connect an Ethernet cable3 from your PC’s Ethernet port directly to the Ethernet
port on your Power Wave®.
2. Start Power Wave® Manager. From the connection window that appears, select
“Connect through Ethernet”
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3. Select “I do not know the IP address of the welder.” Your welder should appear
in the list. Since you are directly connected, there will only be one machine in the
list. If the welder does not immediately appear, you may need to refresh the list
by clicking the “Refresh List” button. Also keep in mind if you connecting via the
Front Ethernet using a K4352 Wi-Fi module, this may take up to 3 minutes if the
port was configured for DHCP and since a DHCP Server is not there since you
are direct connecting then the Wi-Fi module needs to wait the 3 minute timeout
period before giving up waiting to be assigned an IP Address from the DHCP
server. If the welder still does not appear, refer to the Troubleshooting section
later in this document.
4. Once the welder appears, highlight the welder in the list and click the “Configure”
button.
5. In the “Change Settings” window, enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default
gateway provided by your Network Administrator. When you’ve verified the
settings, click “OK.”
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6. You will need to reset the machine for the new settings to take effect. Click “Yes”
to reset the machine.
After the machine resets, you should be able to connect to the Power Wave® using the
IP address you configured. To verify that you can connect, follow these steps:
1. Use Ethernet cables to connect your PC and the Power Wave® to the network.
2. Start Power Wave® Manager. From the connection window that appears, select
“Connect through Ethernet”
3. Select “I do not know the IP address of the welder.” Each welder found on the
network will appear in the list. Highlighting a machine in the list will cause the
green status light to rapidly blink, to help identify the machine. To connect to one
of the machines in the list, highlight the machine, then click the Connect button.
If the welder does not immediately appear, you may need to refresh the list by
clicking the “Refresh List” button. If the welder still does not appear, refer to the
Troubleshooting section later in this document.
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1.2 Using a Wi-Fi Connection
The K4352-1 module enables a Power Wave® to communicate using Wi-Fi. You can
make a temporary connection to the welder for initial setup or quick configuration
changes, or you can configure the Wi-Fi settings for a permanent connection.
1.2.1 Making a Temporary Connection for Configuration/Diagnostics
If you need to connect to the Power Wave® for configuration, or to make a quick
connection for diagnostic purposes, you can place the Power Wave®’s Wi-Fi adapter in
configuration mode by following these steps.
1. Simultaneously press both the left and right buttons on the Power Wave® display
panel to enter setup mode.
2. Using the knob, scroll until you see WIRELESS5.
3. Press the right button.
4. If it says WIFI CONF, Skip this step. Otherwise if it says WIFI ON or WIFI OFF,
a. Press the right button again, the ON or OFF will start to flash.
b. Using the knob, scroll until you see WIFI CONF.
c. Press the right button while it is flashing CONF to select WIFI CONF
(Configure Mode).
5. Press the left button to accept changes. The display will show WIRELESS and
the green Wi-Fi strength LED on the front display will rotate between the different
strength indicators.
6. Scroll until you see EXIT.
7. Press the right button to exit.
8. The Power Wave® will now appear in your PC’s list of available Wi-Fi networks.
The network name displayed will be the model name followed by 3 unique
characters (e.g. R450_9E3), or your custom machine name if it has been
previously configured. Connect your PC to this Wi-Fi network.
5
Note that the WIRE LESS menu may be hidden if it has been disabled using Power Wave® Manager. See the user
manual for Power Wave® Manager for details.
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9. Start Power Wave® Manager and connect to the IP address 192.168.1.1 as
shown below:
10. The machine is now in Configuration Mode and you are ready to setup and
configure your network.
1.2.2 Configuring for a Wi-Fi Network
To configure the Power Wave® for a permanent connection to a Wi-Fi network, you
should obtain the information in the table below from your Network Administrator:
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1. Will the Power Wave® receive an IP address dynamically using DHCP, or will it be
assigned a static address?
2. If the Power Wave® will have a static address, what is the address?
3. What is the gateway address for the network (necessary when not using DHCP)?
4. What is the subnet mask for the network (necessary when not using DHCP)?
5. What is the IP address of the DNS server for the network (necessary when using
CheckPoint™)?
6. What is the name (or SSID) of the Wi-Fi network to which the Power Wave® will
be connected?
7. Is network authentication required? If so, what is the type of authentication6, and
what username and password should be used?
8. Is a Certificate of Authority, Client Certification, or Private Key required? If so, you
will need to obtain these files from your Network Administrator before you can
configure the Wi-Fi.
Once you have answers to these questions, follow these steps to configure the Wi-Fi
settings in the welder.
1. Using Power Wave® Manager, make a temporary connection to the welder for
configuration. You can do this by using Wi-Fi in configuration mode (see ‘Making
a Temporary Connection’) or by using Ethernet (see ‘Direct Connection from PC
to Welder’). It is advised to use Ethernet for these steps when available.
2. Select the Wi-Fi item on the left, then the “Connections” tab on the right.
6
The following authentication methods are supported: EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS with MSCHAP, EAP-TTLS
with TLS, EAP-TTLS with PSK, EAP-PEAP with TLS, EAP-PEAP with MSCHAP, EAP-PEAP with PSK,
and EAP-FAST.
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3. Click the “Edit..” button. A window similar to the one below appears.
4. Enter the network name (or SSID) in the “SSID” box, or select the network from
the list on the right if its name appears in the list. Note: unfortunately in
configuration mode, no “found connections” will be displayed.
5. If you were given a key (or password) for the network, enter it in the “Key” box.
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6. Select the type of authentication for your network from the “Type” box.
7. If your Network Administrator did not specify enterprise parameters, skip this
step. Otherwise, check the box next to “Use Enterprise Parameters.”
a. Enter the username for the network in the “User” box.
b. Select the method of authentication from the “Method” box.
8. Click the “Update Settings” button to update the direct connection settings and
save them to the Power Wave®.
9. Select the “Configuration” tab.
10. In the “Connection Type” box, select DHCP or Static as specified by your
Network Administrator.
11. Make sure the Enabled radio button is selected in the “Wi-Fi Radio” section.
12. If you checked “DHCP” in the “Connection Type” box, skip this step. Enter the
static IP address, gateway, subnet mask, and DNS server address supplied by
your Network Administrator in the “Static Settings” box.
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13. If your Network Administrator did not supply you with any certificate files, skip this
step7. Otherwise, in the “Certificate Files” box, send each appropriate certificate
to the Power Wave®.
a. To send an Authority certificate, click the “Authority” button; select the
Authority certificate file supplied by your Network Administrator then click
the “Send AC” button to send the file to the welder. Repeat this process
for each certificate file required for your network.
14. Verify that everything is correct then click the “Apply Settings” button.
15. Change back to the Connections tab and in the “Device Mode” section, select the
radio button for Normal and click the Apply button next to it. When you hit
“Apply”, Power Wave Manager will lose connection.
When the settings have been applied, your welder will now be connected to the network
that you specified during the configuration process that you just went through.
7
For enterprise networks, three files are supported based on authentication method. For PEAP you will need a
Server Root Certificate of Authority file (CA). This file is used by the power source to authenticate the server. This
file must be in PEM format. For TLS/TTLS you will need a Private Key (the client RSA private key file in PEM
format) and a Client Certificate (the certificate of the client given by the authenticating network in PEM format).
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1.3 Using a Bluetooth Connection
If your Windows computer has a Bluetooth adapter, you can use this to connect to the
Power Wave® if a K4352-1 module is installed. To do so, follow these steps.
1. Simultaneously press both the left and right button on the Power Wave® display
panel to enter setup mode.
2. Using the knob, scroll until you see BLUT OOTH8.
3. Press the right button. If the display says BT OFF then press the right button
again. The word OFF will begin to blink.
4. Using the knob, scroll until you see BT ON.
5. Press the right button.
6. Scroll again until you see BT NAME.
7. Press the right button and the Bluetooth name of the Power Wave® will scroll
across the screen. Make a note of this name.
8. Exit the setup mode by clicking the Left button several times and then scrolling
until it says Exit. Then press the right button to exit the setup mode.
9. Make sure your Bluetooth adapter is enabled on your PC. There should be a
“Bluetooth” icon in the system tray as shown below. If the icon is not present,
consult your PC’s documentation on how to enable Bluetooth.
10. Click the Bluetooth icon and choose “Show Bluetooth Devices.” This will bring up
a window like the one below, showing all currently paired Bluetooth devices.
Click the “Add a Device” button on the top left to pair a new device.
8
Note that the BLUT OOTH menu may be hidden if it has been disabled using Power Wave® Manager. See the
user manual for Power Wave® Manager for details.
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11. The PC will search for all discoverable Bluetooth devices that are in range and
display them in a window like the one below. It may take up to 30 seconds for all
devices to populate in the box. If no devices are found after 30 seconds, try
moving the PC closer to the welder.
12. To pair with the power source, simply double click the name. If multiple Power
Wave® machines appear, choose the one with the name you noted previously.
13. Windows will automatically install any necessary drivers. After this is done, a
confirmation box like the one below is displayed, confirming that pairing was
successful, and the power source will now appear in the window of paired
devices. The power source display will also illuminate the Bluetooth LED and
scroll a message for 30 seconds showing the name of the device that it has just
been paired to.
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Once the Power Wave® has been paired with your computer, you can connect to it
using these steps.
1. Start Power Wave® Manager. On the “Connect” screen, select the “Connect
through Bluetooth” option as shown below.
2. Select the desired welder from the list and click the “Connect” button to connect
using Bluetooth.
When there is an active and open Bluetooth connection to the power source, the blue
Bluetooth LED on the front display will be illuminated.
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Troubleshooting
Problem: I’ve followed the steps to configure my Power Wave® using Ethernet or
Wi-Fi, but it does not appear in the list of available welders.
In some situations, you must know the exact IP address of the machine and use the “I
Know the IP Address of the Welder” option when connecting. If the Power Wave® is
connected to your PC across one or more routers, you must know the exact IP of your
machine in order to connect. If the Power Wave® is connected to a FANUC® robot, you
must know the exact IP address of the FANUC® robot controller.
Problem: I’ve followed the steps to configure my Power Wave® using Ethernet or
Wi-Fi, but I cannot connect even when I specify the exact IP address of the
welder.
If you are connecting directly using Ethernet, the cable between your computer and the
machine may be improperly connected or damaged. To verify a proper cable
connection, check for a solid green or yellow light on or near your computer’s Ethernet
jack.
Your computer and/or network may have a firewall or other security software that blocks
the connection to the machine. Consult with your Network Administrator or IT
Department to determine if this is the case.
Problem: My Wi-Fi network is unreliable and I sometimes lose connection to the
Power Wave®.
The “Inactivity Time-out” box in Power Wave® Manager can be changed to select the
amount of time to wait with no wireless activity before closing a connection. The default
time is 30 seconds. If you are in an area where the Wi-Fi connection is poor, this time
may need to be increased.
Problem: My Wi-Fi Network requires two-factor authentication.
If this is needed an “Anonymous” username can also be entered in the “Enterprise
Settings” section of the Wi-Fi configuration in Power Wave® Manager.
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