Hi, I have just joined this forum and am also a newbie when it come to electronics and this is my first post, so please bear with me.
I have a couple of projects in mind and I am thinking of using my large inverter MIG welder as a power source (24Kw), but potentially have an issue on start up. My MIG has very good control over the voltage output which ranges from 10-40V DC (it can regulate the voltage to 0.1 of a Volt) and up to 600 amps at 40V but the problem is that it also has a voltage no load spike of up to 75V when it first starts up the power (arc Strike) for a short time before it settles down to the chosen voltage .
The first project is a HHO generator to produce gas for a heating torch/furnace and the second is to make an electroplating tank. So my problem is that I would like to remove the spike when I switch on the power to the electrolysing cell and also to the electroplating tank. The electrolysing cell will be in three separate banks of 7 plates, each bank will be individually wired with a 20A circuit breaker, for different levels of gas output, but they can be switched on together for maximum output, and powered with 12-14V per bank which should keep the voltage down to about 2V per plate. From all the Youtube videos on these cells I have watched it seems that such a bank would draw about 15-20 amps per bank.
So with my very limited knowledge of electronics I was thinking of using an initial load such as a 500w lamp to absorb the initial spike and then add the connection to the electrolysing cell / plating tank which by that time, the MIG will have settled down to the chosen voltage. From what I remember, amperage is a function of the drain so that the MIG power source will output only the amps that the cell requires at the chosen voltage, is that correct?
Am I barking up the wrong tree or will this work, or is there a more suitable/elegant solution I could try to remove the spike? The reason I am think of using the MIG is that I already have it and also it will save me hundreds of dollars in yearly gas bottle rental charges, which for the majority of time will sit there idly until I need to heat something or electroplate some work that I have made.
What I also don't know is, is there any risk to the MIG welder? my logic says it shouldn't as a welder is designed to work as a partial short circuit power source but I could be wrong, I certainly don't want to damage the welder.
Any thoughts/ideas from anyone?
Cheers
Ed.
I have a couple of projects in mind and I am thinking of using my large inverter MIG welder as a power source (24Kw), but potentially have an issue on start up. My MIG has very good control over the voltage output which ranges from 10-40V DC (it can regulate the voltage to 0.1 of a Volt) and up to 600 amps at 40V but the problem is that it also has a voltage no load spike of up to 75V when it first starts up the power (arc Strike) for a short time before it settles down to the chosen voltage .
The first project is a HHO generator to produce gas for a heating torch/furnace and the second is to make an electroplating tank. So my problem is that I would like to remove the spike when I switch on the power to the electrolysing cell and also to the electroplating tank. The electrolysing cell will be in three separate banks of 7 plates, each bank will be individually wired with a 20A circuit breaker, for different levels of gas output, but they can be switched on together for maximum output, and powered with 12-14V per bank which should keep the voltage down to about 2V per plate. From all the Youtube videos on these cells I have watched it seems that such a bank would draw about 15-20 amps per bank.
So with my very limited knowledge of electronics I was thinking of using an initial load such as a 500w lamp to absorb the initial spike and then add the connection to the electrolysing cell / plating tank which by that time, the MIG will have settled down to the chosen voltage. From what I remember, amperage is a function of the drain so that the MIG power source will output only the amps that the cell requires at the chosen voltage, is that correct?
Am I barking up the wrong tree or will this work, or is there a more suitable/elegant solution I could try to remove the spike? The reason I am think of using the MIG is that I already have it and also it will save me hundreds of dollars in yearly gas bottle rental charges, which for the majority of time will sit there idly until I need to heat something or electroplate some work that I have made.
What I also don't know is, is there any risk to the MIG welder? my logic says it shouldn't as a welder is designed to work as a partial short circuit power source but I could be wrong, I certainly don't want to damage the welder.
Any thoughts/ideas from anyone?
Cheers
Ed.