Bought a big Arc Welder that blows fuses.

Originally Posted by Woody.v8 Not even the miller wozzer

Hehe, that doesn't really count cos It takes more juice than I have just to set that giant cooling fan in motion. But yes, ok, technically speaking it does trip the breaker .
What I should have said was none of the machines I use trip any of my breakers.

Might put the old girl up for sale soon, watch this space .

Originally Posted by Wozzaaah I'm sorry to say John but it does sound like the machine has a fault after all if it's tripping the 32A mcb . None of my machines trip any of my B curve breakers.

Aw bum and knickers! Knickers and bum!!!


The problems I have with returning it are:
a, it came from Jormany
b, I have chopped off the schuko plug, as it was a sealed unit surely he won't take it back after that?
c, I'm not sure I can argue what is wrong with it...

The on/off switch sometimes sees a little flash when I flip it.

Is it worth stripping the welder for a look see?

Well John,
a) it was very cheap so not really worth spending money sending it back to 'Jormany'
b) that shouldn't really make any difference to a warranty claim as you bought it to be used in the UK on a 16A plug and they'll know that we can't use their plugs over here
c) maybe, maybe not, again if it's sent back and they deem it to be ok they'll most likely charge you for their re-delivery

and d) why didn't you tell us the on/off switch flashed from the start??
Hehe, take a look at the switch, I'd stake money on that being the cause of your woes!

Is jormany, anywere near clacket lane services????

Originally Posted by Wozzaaah Well John, a) it was very cheap so not really worth spending money sending it back to 'Jormany' b) that shouldn't really make any difference to a warranty claim as you bought it to be used in the UK on a 16A plug and they'll know that we can't use their plugs over here c) maybe, maybe not, again if it's sent back and they deem it to be ok they'll most likely charge you for their re-delivery and d) why didn't you tell us the on/off switch flashed from the start?? Hehe, take a look at the switch, I'd stake money on that being the cause of your woes!

Thanks again for the reply Wozzaaah, I didn't spot any flash with the switch until today...

but as you say, it was exceptionally cheap, although it is very expensive for a welder that doesn't...

Tell you what though, I've learned a hell of a lot this last week! So thanks again.
I'll be taking a peek at that switch alright.

Originally Posted by snowcat Is jormany, anywere near clacket lane services????

You'd have to read "The Machine Gunners" then ask Hilter...

I've had the portamig tripping a type B, though that was a 16 amp type B to be fair. And it only ever did it in freezing temperatures. Miller would trip a 40 amp type B on switch on, though it's got lots of big transformers and capacitors to fill up. That's fine on a 40 amp type D.

I guess a cheap or dodgy switch could make this sort of problem worse. If it runs on the type B then the type D would probably sort the switch on (allows higher amps for 100ms).

Though feels like a doubtful solution if the sales info says it'll be happy on a 16 amp fuse. Worth asking the sellers what they recommend.

Well, today I removed the cover of the arc and fired it up. I flip-flopped the switch on and off. It did trip out once, but no sparks flashes or pops could be detected. So I set it up for the 2.6 rods and had some arc welding going on! No tripping the mcb!!!
I ran off a rod and a half, so I'm pretty happy.
The results were surprisingly good too. I'm going to upgrade to a type d mcb and see what happens.

Thanks again to everyone who posted.

Well a huge thank you to you all, A C- curve mcb has cure the problem.

Thanks to everyone who posted.

My next task is to fit a cooling axial fa to my hobby mig...

Your machine is a simple transformer type welding machine, it may be of 6KW but it's KVA that shows the current taken by machine will be 10 to 12 KVA because these type of machines have poor power factor due to their regulator type design, see big knove (item to adjust current) in front of machine. Hence it might take 43 to 52 Ampere at input.
See Model AS250 on http://www.sohalwelding.com/01-weldi...c-welders.html
which is 12KVA.
And according to output specified on your machine:

Output Volt X Output Current = Output POWER
24 X 250 = 6 KW then divide it by power factor 0.5 it equals to 12 KVA. 48 Open circuit volt specified on your machine but I use 24 Volts which are welding volts at which welding process runs.

Note: Even ESAB (a company manufactures welding machines by buying technology from PANASONIC) prints 6KVA on a 21KVA machine.