powcon the legend

[zeppelin builder]

today i was welding some 2o mm plate with tenacito 38r when i was engulfed in some terrble stinking smoke ,it was belching out the welder , i immediately unplugged it and put it outside ,
fearing the worst i took it apart tonight and llo and behold 2 of the smoothing capacitors had destructed and were oozing a dark and evil smelling goo all over the board i replaced all3
i mooched about and found my magneto ones were a suitable replacement -250- 400v ac 22uf rima
out with the soldering bolt and 30mins later machine eas good as new
hookedup to a newarc hf unit im convinced this has got to be the ultimate tig dc set up cab be set up to
bounce up down on 2t not like a pre programmed one its 30 years old s.mooth as an,d burns 6010 easy its the best and has an audible song to match every movement of your hand , allin all a machine that connects your hand to your ears a great interaction i would say

 

[Matchless]

If a man built it a man can repair it, if a robot built it, maybe not so easy.....

 

[zeppelin builder]

well it was a yank that built it so i guess well ,you guess

 

[Tom O]

I have a Miller 135 that did that and replaced the 6 of them for about $350. Canadian.

 

[carbon]

I have a Miller 135 that did that and replaced the 6 of them for about $350. Canadian.

I expect the three that were replaced in the Powcon didn’t cost that much, can’t remember what it cost me a few years ago but under £20 $34 Canadian

 

[Munkul]

I've always fancied a Powcon, just to see what they're like. Their packaging design was way ahead of their day. Really cool that you can fix them relatively easily.

You can bounce up and down on 2T with most decent TIG sets, btw

 

[zeppelin builder]

I've always fancied a Powcon, just to see what they're like. Their packaging design was way ahead of their day. Really cool that you can fix them relatively easily.

You can bounce up and down on 2T with most decent TIG sets, btw

i know that , its ive been using my single phase Unit a 210 digital thing for wee jobs and if its on slope down it dosent let you restart the arc , so annoying it wants to finish the cycle !
so any tricky stuff you have to use the foot pedal
not so important at home but can be handy
when you lie under a pipe and look up at the 8mm gap in horror that the pl pf has tacked up on a golden butt you, know the scenario im sure

 

[tom2207]

I've always fancied a Powcon, just to see what they're like. Their packaging design was way ahead of their day. Really cool that you can fix them relatively easily.

You can bounce up and down on 2T with most decent TIG sets, btw

Whumping ,, we used to call it .

 

[TechnicAl]

Powcon closed 25 years ago so in reality anything newer than that is really Miller or some others such as Kemppi

 

[zeppelin builder]

heres a pic of the old smoothing capacitors
one survivor and 2 kaput
on the left
2 suitable replacements
small one 250v
bigger 250 _400 v
both .22 uf
i used the larger but i the smaller would be ok too
youl find similar ones in makita grinders etc and you must tweak the legs to get the pitch
or add a bit tinned wire if needed

 

[carbon]

Powcon closed 25 years ago so in reality anything newer than that is really Miller or some others such as Kemppi

what about these https://arconweld.com/

 

[Munkul]

i know that , its ive been using my single phase Unit a 210 digital thing for wee jobs and if its on slope down it dosent let you restart the arc , so annoying it wants to finish the cycle !
so any tricky stuff you have to use the foot pedal
not so important at home but can be handy
when you lie under a pipe and look up at the 8mm gap in horror that the pl pf has tacked up on a golden butt you, know the scenario im sure

I know what you mean, I use 2T arc-restart a lot of the time, especially on aluminium!

Most decent digital machines have a background menu or config settings to let you set arc-restart on 2t, sometimes on 4t, and also arc-extinguish on 4t.

So you can truly get the controls you want. Sometimes you want 4T for ease of use, and convenience of tapping to slope down and extinguish... sometimes you want 4T with a quick tap extinquish to get you out of trouble...
But yes, if i could only have one set of controls it would be 2T arc-restart.

Lincoln and Lorch machines are fully configurable, Fairly sure Kemppi MLS is, not sure about any others

 

[TechnicAl]

what about these https://arconweld.com/

I think they are (or were originally) some ex Powcon people trying to keep the name alive. What they produce (have made) is now old technology and whilst at one time the old ways were more reliable they are not any more...and they carry through some of the old limitations (like problems with 6010s and Generators)

 

[Brad93]

i know that , its ive been using my single phase Unit a 210 digital thing for wee jobs and if its on slope down it dosent let you restart the arc , so annoying it wants to finish the cycle !
so any tricky stuff you have to use the foot pedal
not so important at home but can be handy
when you lie under a pipe and look up at the 8mm gap in horror that the pl pf has tacked up on a golden butt you, know the scenario im sure

Lorch will let you reignite on 2T with slope

 

[zeppelin builder]

heres a picture of the 3 phase input diode board with ths blown capacitors , its incredible how much evil smelling smoke these things can let out , i think the case cracks with age and lets damp in and death is then imminent , easy to fix for the home sparky

 

[magnet]

heres a picture of the 3 phase input diode board with ths blown capacitors , its incredible how much evil smelling smoke these things can let out , i think the case cracks with age and lets damp in and death is then imminent , easy to fix for the home sparky View attachment 238046

Easy for you to say i wouldn't have a scooby where to start fixing that. It always impresses me when people repair this gear at home........Nice one mate more power to you

 

[carbon]

From what Ive found out Rifa caps do tend to let go. Now have a spare set just incase