Welder blowing fuses

gillamandango

Hope this is the right area. Will post a pic of the welder if needed. Nothing has changed, was working perfectly fine before this. No extra loads, etc. Keeps blowing the 25A fuse on the board when put on the lowest setting even, overnight battery charge. Welder is 30+ years old but never had issues. Changed plug fuse also, same issue, fuse on board keeps blowing. No cable damaged, condensation, etc. Can only assume its the welder but any ideas welcome as to the why?

kirk.

Not sure on the welder , I'd probably inspect fuse holder for damage or try a different 13amp socket on low setting anyhow

Few problems there you've only one RCBO on all those boards not great .Welder should be on a 16A plug at least not that 13amp

What wattage is the welder?

If it's blowing a 25amp fuse on the distribution board and I note the plug's fuse has been bypassed - there's a piece of wire running between the two fuse holder contacts. It's probably very risky to use - you could quite easily cause a house fire. At the very least the socket could melt.

My guess is that it's probably intended to be connected to a 32amp circuit with an industrial plug.

MrMusician18

That's a well dodgy plug and you should be glad that the fuse is blowing as the alternative is a fire.

All things being equal, I assume that there is another load that's on the circuit that you've missed.

The remedy is to get a proper circuit put in for this, or get an inverter welder.

Gen.Zhukov

OP, put up a few pics of the welder. As a 30+ yo unit I'm guessing it's a standard transformer air/oil cooled. If it has been working ok so far and suddenly stopped then prob not a problem with the wiring setup (I'm not qualified to comment on that) - I have an idea what it may be and what to look for but I'll wait for the pics.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129296#Comment_120129296

Live pin looks like it's melted into the plug's plastic. And that doesn't look like standard 2.5 square wire either. An odd choice of connection, to be honest, but not the cause here.

The welder's clearly faulty but the setup is at the very least a fire hazard.

Luckily the 25amp Diazed fuse did actually blow, protecting the fixed wiring, and that's assuming it's actually meant to be a 25amp fuse in the first place.

It just looks like a dangerous installation.

Also why is the board on what look like a set of side entrance gate hinges, and why are some of the second board labels upside down? Seems to be a mishmash of old reused components and new stuff.

Also what's that bundle of earth wires about?

Soooo many questions!

The whole thing needs to be replaced by the looks of it.

Gen.Zhukov

Yer physios will thank me one day :pac:

OP, put up a pic of the spec plate/sticker on the welder too

gillamandango

Thanks all, will grab some pics and put them up. Old mans DIY job that has morphed over the years. Inherited the problem but am getting a sparks out for a walk through as I know a fair bit needs upgrading. Might change up the plug for an. industrial one and isolate the socket out of. the equation. Didn't think of the fuse holder so will check that.

gillamandango

Thats the welder in question

Gen.Zhukov

Right, it's an old Pickhill oil cooled. Good ol machine in it's day

First pic here is of a small air cooled transformer just for illustration purposes. The primary is the mains voltage in and the secondary side is the welding amps/volts out. I would suspect its the primary windings/coil that are shot.

The only way to inspect it (with no guarantee a problem is visible) is to do like below and let the oil drain off. Check all other connections while you're at it - you may be lucky and spot something else that is suspect- switches etc