Torch for electric arc welding system

A particular torch for connection to an electric arc welding system having

• a wire feeder with a feed motor,
• a power source and a weld process controller for said power source to cause a selected weld process,
• said particular torch having a memory device storing a specific identification code unique to said particular torch and a transmission line to output said code in digital format,
• wherein said welding system has a torch monitoring device with an input terminal connected to said transmission line when said particular torch is connected to said system,
• said torch monitoring device having an input decode circuit to identify said particular torch and to activate a monitoring program tailored to said particular torch,
• wherein said monitoring device includes at least one accumulator to determine an accumulated total of a first torch use factor based upon a selected weld parameter, said selected weld parameter controlling said at least one accumulator is a parameter selected from the group consisting of wire use, feed motor starts, attained feed motor current, and a product of current and time,
• a circuit to enable said at least one accumulator upon connection of said particular torch to said terminal and an accumulator output signal representing said accumulated total of said first torch use factor based on said selected weld parameter,
• a program selected by connection of said particular torch to create a limit value of said accumulated total of said first torch use factor for said particular torch and a comparator network with a first input from said accumulator output signal and a second input,
• said second input being said limit value from said selected program and an output for creating an action signal when said output of said at least one accumulator reaches said limit value and said output signal changes logic when said limit value is reached from a lookup table, said output signal communicating with an activation action identification register, and
• said action signal of said at least one accumulator being displayed on at least one display device and indicating a corrective action to be taken upon reaching said limit value of said accumulated total of said first torch use factor for said particular torch.