Tig welding tips, questions, equipment, applications, instructions, techniques, tig welding machines, troubleshooting tig welding process
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tweake
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    Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:53 am
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    New Zealand

Arno wrote:
ThaiGuy wrote:Is the only answer to simply stop welding?
Your problems might be twofold.

The voltage may be dropping which could cause the machine to trip out.. Although on a modern inverter machine I don't really expect that too much as it's de-coupled the input so much from the output that pretty much 'anything goes' on the input at lower voltages.. It will just try to suck more amps in..

And that may be your second problem..

The power grid may not just be dropping in voltage, but at the same time you may well not be able to get enough current into the machine from the grid anymore.

That's when things do go south as it won't be able to sustain the output current and things go wonky.

If you have very fluctuating power (volts and amps) from the grid and need to be able to weld I see 2 structural solutions that will work but will require some extra investment:

1 -> Get a generator that's sized appropriately for your welder and use that as your (reliable) 'on demand' power. Will need investing in a good, stable generator of sufficient capacity and fuel (diesel or gas). Or swap your existing weld machine for a direct engine-driven one and forego the whole power conversion hoop-jump.

2 -> Go 'microgrid' and install a (large) battery bank with a bunch of rectifiers to feed/charge them and a sizable inverter on the end to provide stabilised 220V AC power your house/garage. feel free to add a bunch of solar panels and wind turbines to add more current into the battery. This way the battery bank acts as a buffer storage so you have a certain amount of kWh available at all times at the correct voltage.
i think thats really it.

things like boost/buck setup is that it increases the amount of amps you need to draw, which in turn can decrease the voltage you are supplied.
its far better to charge up a battery over a long time so you can use that power in a short length of time. as welding is typically used for short lengths of time that can work well.

however cost wise i suspect a stand alone generator will be the cheapest setup.

edit: there is also a welder around that has its own built in battery pack and can run off both battery and mains power at the same time.
tweak it until it breaks
ThaiGuy
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    Sun Dec 31, 2017 6:38 am
  • Location:
    Thailand

Arno wrote:
ThaiGuy wrote:Is the only answer to simply stop welding?
Your problems might be twofold.

Thank to all for your feedback! Arno, you hit it for me. I actually went and did a physical line check. Our property has "temporary power" according to the Provincial Electrical Authority. Since we do not have a real structure, they are stealing the power from a neighbor, who has his line split to another home as well. Long distance, smallish wire feeder, big drops as described.

So much for following code. Until we have a home built, we will not have real line feed.

My long term answer is likely to be a generator...simple and inexpensive here, plus could provide house and submersible irrigation pump backup power. (we are on a canal) My wife would love not having her computer servers jumping into UPS power all day!
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