Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

[86turbodsl]

I doubt it. Unless you have a lot of guys working in there at once. 200a is super overkill for a 1man shop

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[BoilermakerFan]

Syncro300 needs 100a. You can do a dual lug 320a meter box and run 200a to house and shop. That is common and what i did.

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Good to know! I don't when or if we'll ever end up in MI, but I'd definitely like to have a setup like that at the next house.

 

[Strouty]

I doubt it. Unless you have a lot of guys working in there at once. 200a is super overkill for a 1man shop

But I am a big guy........





Seriously though, the power company told me when I get to 60% capacity of the panel, I should be upgrading service. My electrician buddy thought a little higher, but definitely not much higher. If I am running the welder and the air compressor kicks on, I have close to my max, then once I install the rotary phase converter, I will have that and the compressor to contend with. I am willing to be I can at least make a brown out.

 

[Kev442]

I would never consider 200a too much for a one man shop. Couple AC units, decent lighting, an air compressor and a welder and you are climbing the amp ladder quite quickly.

 

[Strouty]

Tonight so far I have had to drill and cut exhaust studs from a muffler on the new Volvo, apparently no matter how few miles they have, the exhaust is just as old. Oh well, got it much better than it was, but I didn’t have the right gasket, will have to order a couple and fix it again another day.

I am now going to work on the welders, I found that the technical and parts manual for the Aerowave is available, but it is another $55 from a seller on amazon. I am going to call Miller, looks like they sell hard copies of parts manuals for $15, so maybe they will have this one.

 

[Strouty]

I would never consider 200a too much for a one man shop. Couple AC units, decent lighting, an air compressor and a welder and you are climbing the amp ladder quite quickly.

I totally forgot about the air conditioner, if I go by breakers, I would be at 160 for the welder and air compressor and another 30 for the air conditioner. Then I have the lights and ceiling fans. Yup, 400 amp service is in my future. The best part is my electrician buddy says we can run another 200 amp panel to the other end of the shop so I don’t need to buy a monster 400 amp panel, I like that idea.

 

[86turbodsl]

I totally forgot about the air conditioner, if I go by breakers, I would be at 160 for the welder and air compressor and another 30 for the air conditioner. Then I have the lights and ceiling fans. Yup, 400 amp service is in my future. The best part is my electrician buddy says we can run another 200 amp panel to the other end of the shop so I don’t need to buy a monster 400 amp panel, I like that idea.

Total amps of usage does not necessarily equal your panel. You need to do a load study to determine where you are at vs where you need to be.

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[Strouty]

Holy mother of diodes and stuff!











The burnt diode board came from the back area, looks like it is a controller of sorts like the guy said, otherwise I think it would be up front with the rest of the stuff. I can’t tell if a main board has been replaced, kind of looks like it as some connectors are a slightly different color.

 

[86turbodsl]

I got nothin. Try to get a service manual from Miller.

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[Strouty]

Honestly, it looks like all that does is control the fans.

 

[86turbodsl]

If true, i would think you could hotwire the fans to whenever the power switch was on.

 

[Strouty]

If true, i would think you could hotwire the fans to whenever the power switch was on.

I am guessing that there is some switch on the main board that if it doesn't sense the fans in operating condition, it won't allow the welder to work. Kind of like a pre-flight check list.......... Fans...... Nope, well you are SOL...........

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Dude, looks like you might be lucky. Do the traces around the toasted diode look damaged? If not I'd just order 2 dozen of the diodes from Digi-Key or Mouser and just replace them all. If you can tell which transistor in the part of the circuit with the toasted diode, replace it too.

Are the ICs socketed or direct soldered to the PCB?

Might as well inspect all big polarized capacitors and replace any that show any sign of bulging.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Wait, the toasted bits are resistors. Looks like R1 and R6... if they burned, something shorted. The circuit was pulling more power then they could handle. A bandaid is to bump them up to 1 watt or 2 watt resistors, then see what gets hot next.

 

[Strouty]

I don’t see anything socketed and I think I would be scared to see what gets hot next. The first thing I am going to do is follow the traces (they look ok) and see what I find.

 

[xtremek]

I'm really glad you guys went down this welder/breaker box alley. Looks like a larger box and a seperate line for the barn are in my future.

 

[86turbodsl]

Wait, the toasted bits are resistors. Looks like R1 and R6... if they burned, something shorted. The circuit was pulling more power then they could handle. A bandaid is to bump them up to 1 watt or 2 watt resistors, then see what gets hot next.

Yeah, that's what i was thinking too, the burned bit is a big resistor, so that says something IC/silicon related stuck on and it pulled a lot of current. Gotta find that or it'll be tough to fix it.

 

[Strouty]

Yeah, that's what i was thinking too, the burned bit is a big resistor, so that says something IC/silicon related stuck on and it pulled a lot of current. Gotta find that or it'll be tough to fix it.

It may end up being that they already fixed the other issue with the board replacement, the board that is fried, is definitely older than the big one up front. I figure I can replace it with a like resistor, (once I figure out what size it was) and then if the problem persists, at least that is what will burn up first (hopefully). I am calling Miller today to find out what I can get from them for service manuals.

 

[Strouty]

So the resistors go from ground to this stuff, not sure what the heck it is yet, but I am working on getting the service manual. The white wire coming out the top, over to the left on the picture, is what goes to the other side of the resistors that are burned up.

 

[86turbodsl]

So the resistors go from ground to this stuff, not sure what the heck it is yet, but I am working on getting the service manual. The white wire coming out the top, over to the left on the picture, is what goes to the other side of the resistors that are burned up.

That big barrel wire wound resistor? does not look factory. Somebody's been tinkering is my thought.

 

[86turbodsl]

I am calling Miller today to find out what I can get from them for service manuals.

Best of luck. I tried to get a service manual for my Syncro300 and was told repeatedly to take it to a Miller service center. I think that might be a new policy.

 

[Strouty]

My local welding supply place is getting it for me, they don’t do service anymore, so they don’t care. If it works out, I am probably going to get one for every welder I own, I will let you know what if any costs are involved if you are still needing one.

 

[86turbodsl]

Nice. Hope it works out!

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[Strouty]

Awesome news, manual will be here next week, $20, they will order whatever I want for manuals. Basically they are charging me $5 over the $15 that miller charges them, seems fair for something I can’t get.

 

[86turbodsl]

Man that is good news!

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[Strouty]

It still may not have the type of breakdown I am going to need, but at least I will have what the technicians have. There are a few places that sell old boards, I am going to get a price quote. If the technical/service manual doesn't show any sort of values, then I am kind of stuck as the resistor that fried is totally unidentifiable at this point.

 

[86turbodsl]

It still may not have the type of breakdown I am going to need, but at least I will have what the technicians have. There are a few places that sell old boards, I am going to get a price quote. If the technical/service manual doesn't show any sort of values, then I am kind of stuck as the resistor that fried is totally unidentifiable at this point.

I'd go on weldingweb and ask if somebody can read the resistor value for you. I thought there was at least one guy on there that still had one.

 

[Strouty]

Maybe someone would do it, but they have to take the top and sides of the machine off. I will wait for the manual, then if no go, I will offer to pay someone to do what you suggested, then I won’t feel bad.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Yea, if the manuals have the schematics, then we can help you out.

I'd clean everything really well too, especially the fan motors. Then grab some CRC or WD40 electrical contact cleaner and clean the boards.

You can see what other areas of the board got hot after cleaning it. I posted pics of a burnt amp board in my thread... you'll be looking for the same things.

 

[Strouty]

The top of the board took all the heat, luckily it looks like there is not any damage to the traces and there are no traces directly below the burned spot.

 

[Strouty]

I think last week took a bit too much out of me, I am sick as can be, headed home early, going to get some sleep and hope it goes away soon. I got almost nothing done today.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Strouty take care..

 

[Strouty]

Thanks 1/2, no fever, so I think it is just a nasty cold from over doing it.

 

[xtremek]

Sounds like you should take it easy today as well, if possible. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Strouty]

I agree, I am not as bad as yesterday, but Monday I have things to do, so today will be another restful day.

 

[Strouty]

I forgot to post this the other day. I received an amazon package, I wasn’t sure what it was.......



The only thing I was expecting was a light bulb.........



I can’t believe it was still in tact. Amazon is crazy.

 

[dr_clyde]

I'm rooting for you to get that Aerowave to work. That welder has been on my "want" list ever since I used one in college.

Otherwise, the new Dynasty 280 and 400 have the same welding parameter adjustments if you get the package with the correct programs.

The Syncro 250 is a bulletproof welder. I have one sitting on my pallet racking that I need to send to my uncle's shop.

I have a soft spot for the Syncrowave series of welders. They really are good welders.

I'm running my Syncrowave 350 as we speak on a big shaft build up job. I'm in between passes at the moment.

 

[Strouty]

I have my fingers crossed, I hadn’t pulled the boards out, but I don’t see anything that looks like it was hot other than the two resistors on the board that is out. I still think they gave up too early, we will see for sure.

 

[86turbodsl]

It will be really cool if you can get it going.

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[BoilermakerFan]

Alka-Seltzer Cold Night Time... I don't know what it is about that stuff, but it just flat works.

I didn't get much fun stuff done this weekend either. Yesterday was Box lacrosse, a Honey-Do housework day and dinner with friends. Today I was just tired and had about 5 hours of work I had to do preparing a spreadsheet for a proposal for a client RFQ. I had to populate about 200 pics from the client's website into the spreadsheet so my inside sales team and test lab manager can review it and work on the costing tomorrow and Tuesday. The goal is to get the quote to the client on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I get to do another one with about half as many products in it...