Toolex 160p Turbo Mod help (SIP)

[Elnino]

Hi all, ive just come accross this forum and i'm absolutely extatic that there is still some hope for my welder.

I have looked at the threads on adding a seperate transformer for the feed motor and am keen to do it. However, upon opening up my unit i find that it's not quite the same as the others pictured here. I just want to make sure i have this right....

Have a look at the pics and see what you think. I don't have the 3 terminals like the others pictured, i've just got a pair of red and blue wires feeding in from the main power switch. Then there is another 2 black wires at the top in the middle.

Can someone have a look and possibly explain to me what wires i should be cutting to pop in the transformer.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Elnino]

modded pic

I added some extra colour to one of the pics to be able to trace the wires easier.

 

[bump]

It looks the same to me, from memory. With the exception of the switched lives, the one to tap off should be one of the two black at the top, the green box header appears identical in it's wiring. So the only thing to ascertain is which feed becomes live on pressing the trigger, the best way to do this is with a friend and a multimeter.

Cheers

Bump

EDIT: It looks as if it will be the top black wire, double check first though!

 

[Elnino]

I agree the motor wiring looks the same but the 240v feed is different. The top black wire goes off to the power switch and plugs in right next to the blue wire that you see connected in the normal spot for the wires. the bottom black wire goes to the power selection switches.

Being that it is supposedly neutral, i suspect they are one of the same and probably connected to each other anyway. I'll investigate.

I guess i was hoping that perhaps someone else had this same board to confirm it before i went modding it. As much as i'm at home with electronics, playing with mains power is always a little scary.

 

[Elnino]

Ok, so i managed to dig up a wiring diagram of these 'newer' machines. My welder is about 4-5yrs old tho.

I have added in the details of how i see that the transformer should be wired. Can someone confirm this is ok based on where the other wire goes off to the switches? I can't see that it can be wired to the other one or the feed motor would be on all the time.

 

[shenion]

Looks good. Let us know how well it works.

 

[Elnino]

Have you done this mod on yours?

 

[shenion]

I don't have a SIP. They are now just appearing in the states. Hope they don't sell well here.

I did work on one with almost the identical schematic.

 

[Elnino]

Oh, ok. I'm hoping to do it in the next few days. I've ordered a transformer (24v 3A) for the mod. Will have to wait for it.

My set has done me ok. I'm not a huge user but it's one of my fav tools (probably only second to my metal lathe). Now that i have seen the info here tho, it makes me think that i should not be putting up with it's annoyances anymore!

I have a new liner at home (only the plastic one but it's new). I'll pop that in for now and keep an eye out for a metal one. That combined with the strap mod and the transformer should keep it going for a while....

I'll post pics when i'm done...

 

[Elnino]

Ok, so i pulled the board of the welder out to have a look and just to make sure i was right. Well, i was and i wasn't.

Look at the pic below. What i notice is that either my welder was wired up incorrectly in the sweatshop or for some reason the wires are reversed when compared to the others. The board itself looks the same and the pads i have highlited are not connected to the rest of the board in any way other than to themselves via the blue relay and the 0.22uf supression cap.

But on mine, the 'permanent' neutral was connected to the top and the switched one was on the bottom.

Now, while i could just use 'as is' and hook up my 'switched' neutral from the bottom wire i'm wondering - why is mine different. I also notice that the relay seems to be suffering from arcing over the contact terminals as the inside of the cover is smoky (just visible in the pic). Perhaps it IS the wrong way and i should swap them around?? Electically i can not see it being a problem, especially if everyone elses is like that....

If someone else has done this, i'm keen to hear from you.

 

[Elnino]

And now that i look closer, i see this!!!

Just confirms my sweatshop labour theory i think. This is the connection for the main diode for power into the feed motor (effectively - it goes through the reg first, this powers the reg). It's an almost totally dry joint. There is only a fraction of solder holding the diode in. No wonder it has never failed before....

 

[Elnino]

Ok, mod done! The transformer came in before expected.

The only downside to the mod so far is that you appear to lose the automatic speed selection when changing welding levels. The feed speed knob now has to be wound up or down according to the power level rather than just being fine adjustment. That is, unless i am missing something and it should. Although looking at the PCB, i see no way for this to happen as the relay/switching mech is totally independant of the wire feed regulator circuit and has no feedback/reference voltage.

I also installed the metal strap. It makes a HUGE difference to the available pressure on the wire. On mine, it was actually slightly bent up with no load so i made the holes a little closer together so it pulled the top down a bit. Before, i had to make sure the torch lead was straight before welding or it was just impossible to even get a 1cm weld. Now i can have it in any position and it feeds sweet as. I am extatic that this mod has worked as well as it has....

I've now gone from being totally frustrated with my welder and ready to bin it to quite happy and satisfied that i can actually lay down a nice weld!

I still have to secure the transformer and the rectifier but it's all good! Total cost AU$17!!!!!

 

[Elnino]

Here's an example of a weld from the welder now. I compared this to some welds i done when i first got the machine and there is simply no comparison! I could not lay down a weld this good in 100 tries with the setup before.

I was also welding some REALLY thin stainless over the weekend. It was hundreds of spot welds. What i did notice was that it seemed to 'warm up' and the feed speed inscreased as i went. It's possible that the transistor in the feed module might need a better heatsink now to get rid of the excess energy. Next time i'm doing some small stuff i'll get an idea of the temp with a IR temp sensor.

This is a new bench grinder stand i was making today - The weld is about 80mm long..

 

[malcolm]

Welding is looking smooth. I've been tracing out the original SIP circuit (I'm no expert on electronics). Looks like a transformer on the board supplies a 12VDC supply which is regulated by the various resistance pots as a control for the transistor.

The power for the transistor is from the DC output to the contact tip that would vary with voltage setting. All you've done is put that output through another transformer and regulated it seperately - so it's a smooth version of the original.

I can't see why you wouldn't have the feed to the motor vary with voltage if that's what you started with.

EDIT> Apologies - was talking rubbish there. Someone else might be able to think of an obvious way of getting a variable voltage from the input sisde of the transformer.

 

[Elnino]

The 12v transformer on the controller board is used purely to switch the relay via the torch switch. It is not used for anything else.

The transistor (feed speed) circuit is isolated from the 12v stuff. It is purely a 'in and out' circuit.

Now, in the original setup, it's 'in' came from the wire side of the transformer. Hence, when you change power settings, the voltage going into the transistor circuit was varied. Now, what we have done here is remove the 'varied' supply from the welder transformer and added a static 24v power supply.

Without some sort of reference voltage coming from the secondary on the main transformer, it is not going to be possible to vary the feed speed automatically.