Blown my welder up.

[Hood]

I see you emailed Parweld, waste of time they never reply. Phone them if you want an answer. Things like that annoy me, why have a contact form if you won't respond, sadly though it seems quite common.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Hood. I wonder if Parweld would have responded to my online enquiry if I were asking to buy a new board or indeed a new welder? When I'm ignored in this rude manner I don't go back. I'm actually considering getting this welder working then selling it on then buy a second hand industrial welder because after all this hassle I doubt I'll ever trust the thing again; my tools and equipment I trust but I don't trust this welder.

One thought has occurred to me whilst buying these new caps; how do I know if they aren't as old as the caps in the welder; how long will they have been in stock?

Any advice or suggestions regarding the difference between welders such as my Parweld or an industrial like a Murex that can be run from 240V? Are industrial on transformers rather than solid state hence the extra weight; please bear in mind I've been arc welding for 55 years but this more modern solid state MIG/TIG is new to me and I've not tried either previously. I don't quit easily but I don't want to end up changing caps each time I want to use a welder? I find it hard enough to get workshop time without losing a full week at a time like I've just lost; I can't settle with the thing in bits on my bench.

I'm not even calling Parweld names because many Parweld owners could be happy with their welder and as I suffer general bad luck mine could be rogue?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[daleyd]

Hi,

Thanks Hood. I wonder if Parweld would have responded to my online enquiry if I were asking to buy a new board or indeed a new welder? When I'm ignored in this rude manner I don't go back. I'm actually considering getting this welder working then selling it on then buy a second hand industrial welder because after all this hassle I doubt I'll ever trust the thing again; my tools and equipment I trust but I don't trust this welder.

One thought has occurred to me whilst buying these new caps; how do I know if they aren't as old as the caps in the welder; how long will they have been in stock?

Any advice or suggestions regarding the difference between welders such as my Parweld or an industrial like a Murex that can be run from 240V? Are industrial on transformers rather than solid state hence the extra weight; please bear in mind I've been arc welding for 55 years but this more modern solid state MIG/TIG is new to me and I've not tried either previously. I don't quit easily but I don't want to end up changing caps each time I want to use a welder? I find it hard enough to get workshop time without losing a full week at a time like I've just lost; I can't settle with the thing in bits on my bench.

I'm not even calling Parweld names because many Parweld owners could be happy with their welder and as I suffer general bad luck mine could be rogue?

Kind regards, Colin.

I would think you’ve in reality been a bit unlucky, rather than there being some inherent weakness with that particular brand of welder. While a transformer based welder is undoubtedly simpler as you don’t have the power board most will have some sort of control board that is packed full of electronic wizardry, and if that packs up...back to square one?

 

[Hood]

To be honest even if you had filled in the enquiry form saying you were looking to buy 100 welders I reckon you would still be waiting for a response.
I don't know what it is about these online contact forms but most companies don't seem to respond.

 

[Matthew92]

Parweld customer service.

Even if you ring them, if they say they’ll call you back later, they never will. If you send them a welder with a common fault that they are fully aware of, they’ll keep it 4-5 weeks and send it back having done nothing.

On another note, does anyone want to buy a lightly used Parweld Mig?

 

[angellonewolf]

On another note, does anyone want to buy a lightly used Parweld Mig?

thats been sat under a shelf for a year near unused

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks daleyd; yes I agree with your comments; and the way my luck runs I could end up with lots of useless TIG welders whilst increasing my electronics knowledge.

I'm sure you're right Hood and silly me for even bothering with Parweld's online enquiry form which proved a total waste of time.

Early this morning I lay fully awake in bed it being very quiet and peaceful without any of life's usual interruptions thinking about this problem. During my working life I've been subjected to lots of training courses and one such course was a week's intensive Kaizen course; a group of us were instructed how to take absolutely anything right back to basics and start afresh to ignore even anything which had been done the same way for a hundred years; the theme it being industry was why supply a Rolls Royce when a mini would do the same job. I'm a National Coal board trained mechanical engineer and my last job I was in charge of three departments so I'm used to problem solving.

This welder has been nothing but trouble before it even arrived and it continues to be so but not for much longer. I've no intention of bodging it up to sell it on which is something I would never ever do; I've no intention of bodging it up and keeping; at this moment in time the sledge hammer is still an option. I was taught over 50 years ago to only do my absolute best never to accept compromise and I've been true to this ever since; my word is my bond and I'll lose money before breaking my word; in short I have a lot of self respect and will never let anyone down especially myself.

I had hoped just replacing the blown caps would solve the problem but a number of you have kindly echoed my personal thoughts and to just replace two caps knowing the remaining four caps to be absolute garbage I would not only go against everything I believe in I would then be waiting for the next explosion.

I was in the workshop by 8:30 this morning with a plan of action; I intended to remove two of the caps just to check the new expensive and slighter bigger caps would actually physically fit into the board and if so I would ask Bron to accompany me to Farnell in Leeds to buy four more of the expensive caps. Yes the caps fit but Farnell aren't open this morning so I've just ordered the four needed caps online and as the order will be next day delivery I expect the caps to arrive next Tuesday.

Now to the board; I've removed all six caps and already having experience of circuit boards I measured the pins on the new caps and these are 1.5mm so initially I drilled the board at the solder points 1.7mm but the cap refused to go home flush so I then ran through with a 2mm drill bit. I took a lot of care not to cause collateral damage and to ensure every bit of swarf was removed then the two Kemet caps I already have are now installed.

The original caps proved more difficult than expected to remove so here's how I did it; the caps had been attached by some kind of sealing paint and obviously just trying to desolder wouldn't work; to get around this I sharpened an old blade from my hacksaw to a chisel edge; this was then gently forced under each cap to break the seal; I didn't try to do all the caps at once but did each as access became better; the original six caps will never trouble me again and in future I'll definitely avoid ever buying the same make.

The original caps have an abysmal shelf life of 1000H these expensive Kemet caps have a shelf life of 156 WEEKS.

I've been too busy to really spend much time or to think about this problem in depth so now I have it dawned on me that this board is just the power supply unit (PSU) connecting the welder circuits to the mains supply; I appreciate all the technical advice I've already been afforded and taken a lot of notice of; these six caps are the connection between the full wave bridge rectifiers and the rest of the welders circuits so they are front line; to simply replace these cheap tacky original caps with similar would be asking for lots of further trouble so I've now done what I usually do and taken the problem back to basics; the original caps given their specification were sure to fail at some point but now I hope I've upgraded to far superior caps knowing I've now done the absolute best I can in making the circuit board better than when it left the factory?

I'm sorry if this saga turned into a moan but I thought it worth adding because I don't think I'm alone unless bad luck is limited to me; I'm not yet out of the problem because I still have to install the four caps; rebuild the machine then power it up.

Thanks Matthew92 and angellonewolf; expect a call each from my heavy team.

Whatever happens now at least I feel a great deal happier. Do you think I'd qualify for a job at Parweld after all I have great communication skills as well as in depth knowledge of their product?

Kind regards, Colin.

Some kind of adhesive paint?

If you buy a second hand Parweld TIG welder you could expect to see this in person. Please note the board is marked for positive at each Electrolytic position here all six are removed.

Pity Parweld supply welders with poor quality caps; these are expensive caps I've just installed with four more of the same to follow shortly; I never skimp on materials or quality only demanding the best; I was taught and brought up the old fashioned way when pride in ones self and pride in work done meant something.

Avoid this make of cap like the plague; 1000H shelf life has possibly expired even before the caps were installed? The Kemet caps I'm installing have a three year shelf life but cost twice as much although the Kemet are cheapest long term?

 

[Hood]

It is just the nature of the beast I am afraid. The welder is about £840 new (that was how much I paid anyway) so it is not going to have the highest spec components in it. Most people will not have a problem with them but there will be a certain amount that will fail but warranty usually helps with that respect.
I would expect the likes of EWM, Lorch, Fronius etc to have much higher quality components but that comes at a price and you would be looking at 4x the price of a Parweld for a similar rated machine from these brands. Lots of people can't afford that kind of money sadly.

Which would I rather have, a Parweld/SWP etc or an EWM/Lorch/Fronius? Well I bet you can guess, but I now have an SWP because I can't afford/justify a higher end machine. Mig is different, I do a lot of Aluminium Mig welding so I went for a high end high price EWM.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Hood; as you rightly say better quality costs more and it would be unfair to expect my Parweld to compete with the much more expensive industrial machines. I've been looking at second hand industrial TIG welders on eBay but I'm more cheerful having made a start on the Parweld repair which is showing promise? Funds aren't a problem so my wallet isn't about to burst into tears anytime soon.

I've just dropped unlucky but possibly I've found the weakest link in my machine so hopefully the big upgrade in caps will sort it out and then if all is well I can give a much better and possibly a fairer report; I'm miffed at the moment with the machine going up in smoke but although I've moaned about it at least I'm also trying to sort it out.

The Kemet caps are expensive to me but I wonder how much difference the cost would be to a manufacturer who uses these in bulk? We used to get massive discounts at work from suppliers for bulk orders?

I wasn't even aware MIG could weld aluminium so I've learned a bit more;

WOW; I've already received notification the caps I ordered just a short while ago have now left Farnell warehouse and I've got a tracking number. Smile on my face at last.

It's a black hole here and pouring with wind driven rain at the moment.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Hood]

The Kemet caps are expensive to me but I wonder how much difference the cost would be to a manufacturer who uses these in bulk? We used to get massive discounts at work from suppliers for bulk orders?

Yes the manufacturers would get a huge discount for bulk but they will also get a similar discount for the cheap ones so the ratio you pay between expensive and cheap is likely to be the same they pay, just yours cost more whichever you buy

I wasn't even aware MIG could weld aluminium so I've learned a bit more;

Been welding Aluminium with Mig for well over 30 years but the EWM makes life so much easier than it used to be with the old standard migs.

WOW; I've already received notification the caps I ordered just a short while ago have now left Farnell warehouse and I've got a tracking number. Smile on my face at last.

It's a black hole here and pouring with wind driven rain at the moment.

Kind regards, Colin.

Good news on the caps,fingers crossed you will be up and running early in the week.

 

[R Kraft]

You are not the only one who has been haunted by bad capacitors.
I made a lot of money replacing capacitors for a few years because of them.
https://www.badcaps.net/index.php?s=96d48e8c0e1351e2562ac6d5d8b79fa7&pageid=causes

 

[eddie49]

initially I drilled the board at the solder points 1.7mm but the cap refused to go home flush so I then ran through with a 2mm drill bit.

Some kind of adhesive paint?

- the red paint is called Glyptol. On this board it has been used as an adhesive, to prevent shock or vibration of these heavy caps causing fracture of the leads.

- does not apply in this case, but please be wary of drilling out holes in PCBs. Tracks on one side are often connected through to the other side, or even to intermediate layers on multi-layer boards, by means of plated through holes.

Good luck for next week, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed but also putting them in my ears.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Hood, you're light years ahead of me in MIG & TIG although I've been arc welding for 55 years. Yes the manufacturer would get a huge discount on caps both poor quality and top quality and it would be interesting to learn what difference in price better quality caps would make to an individual machine?

Thanks R Kraft for adding the interesting link; I just hope it's bad caps that have caused the trouble and nothing else although it does look like the caps at fault here.

Thanks for your information eddie49; I did wonder what the adhesive paint was; I didn't call it red because I'm colour blind; I'd be fun wiring detonators up? I'm definitely careful whilst drilling holes in circuit boards and careful not to enlarge holes too much; my wife has a glue gun and I thought I'd run a bead round the cap base because I know even the slightest movement can set up harmonics; possibly not a problem in this case but certainly a problem on vintage radios introducing all kinds of spurious noise; on the small board I removed the top of the standoffs had been treated with a hot glue gun so once fully assembled I'll do the same.

Thanks for your good luck wishes I need all I can get the way things are going. I can loan you some top quality Stihl ear defenders for when I switch the welder on hopefully next week?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Hood]

Well you are definitely ahead of me on stick welding as I am only 53 but I feel like 93 and look that age as well
I think I was about 17 when I taught myself stick welding, I am just about half decent at it now.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I was taught both arc and gas welding by The National Coal Board when I was just 16; I was working underground carrying engineers tool bags around at the age of 15; it was a huge adventure for me; their tool bags were made of conveyor belt and with Whitworth spanners; 2lb hammer and pry bars etc in a tool bag it weighed a lot; I was near 16 and had been working on the pit top for most of a year assisting the "Banksman" load the pit tubs into the cage; I saw the engineers talking to the winder and they were laughing; as the cage set off I thought the rope had been cut; as we neared the bottom of the shaft the brake came on and I slid gently to the bottom of the cage being dragged down by the weight of a tool bag I was holding; the engineers thought this to be hilarious; I'll never ever forget that first descent at The Grange Ash Colliery in Grange Moor; I owe a great deal to these highly skillful engineers of so long ago. I retired from active conflict in 2000 aged 53 absolutely delighted to walk down the works yard for the last time where I'd done 24 years leaving enormous stress behind me and I've never been back since. You must have lived a life of hard knocks too Hood?

Do I need a foot pedal or can I get along without; a new foot pedal costs around £200 but at the moment I'm waiting to see if I still have an exploding welder?

Is it OK to use Isopropyl Alcohol 99.9% in place of Acetone for wiping aluminium before TIG welding; I'm aware certain substances leave residue which then turn toxic during welding. I've got 5L which I use during French polishing?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Hood]

I started life as a Fisherman, an old coal miner I knew said you would never have got him doing such a dangerous job, I looked and laughed, funny how I never thought anything of the dangers of my job but I would never even consider going underground and he was the opposite

Regarding the foot pedal, some can't weld without one and some, like me, never see the need for one.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I never skimp on materials or quality only demanding the best; I was taught and brought up the old fashioned way when pride in ones self and pride in work done meant something.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Our power went off at dinnertime and checking I found one of the RCD's had tripped; the RCD reset without problem and I was very puzzled indeed because I couldn't find anything amiss at all; the oven was hot with the interior light on and the dinner was cooking so I resumed work on the computer; a short while later Bron came to me saying the dinner is slow to cook; yes the oven element had died; I've now ordered a new genuine Stoves element with next day delivery total £40 due to arrive Tuesday; five minutes to remove the old element. A non genuine element was also available at half the price.

So now the welder is down and the cooker is down; a few days ago Bron told me the fan heater had switched itself off in the bathroom. Bring it on I no longer care I'll just keep repairing things rather than do what I want to do like TIG welding.

If ever I get to use my TIG welder Hood I'll see how I get on without a foot pedal. Strange isn't it how we can be in a job and it doesn't bother us about safety but look at other jobs and think that surely must be unsafe; I never gave a thought to open gears with a diameter larger than I was tall being under power with me inches away or all the wide flat belts on the line shafts etc; I was taught survival unlike now when machines have so many guards and safety labels attached warning of danger making the machine look unsafe; what happened to common sense?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

what happened to common sense?

It's now a misnomer.

 

[Ruffian]

Hi,

Our power went off at dinnertime and checking I found one of the RCD's had tripped; the RCD reset without problem and I was very puzzled indeed because I couldn't find anything amiss at all; the oven was hot with the interior light on and the dinner was cooking so I resumed work on the computer; a short while later Bron came to me saying the dinner is slow to cook; yes the oven element had died; I've now ordered a new genuine Stoves element with next day delivery total £40 due to arrive Tuesday; five minutes to remove the old element. A non genuine element was also available at half the price.

So now the welder is down and the cooker is down; a few days ago Bron told me the fan heater had switched itself off in the bathroom. Bring it on I no longer care I'll just keep repairing things rather than do what I want to do like TIG welding.

If ever I get to use my TIG welder Hood I'll see how I get on without a foot pedal. Strange isn't it how we can be in a job and it doesn't bother us about safety but look at other jobs and think that surely must be unsafe; I never gave a thought to open gears with a diameter larger than I was tall being under power with me inches away or all the wide flat belts on the line shafts etc; I was taught survival unlike now when machines have so many guards and safety labels attached warning of danger making the machine look unsafe; what happened to common sense?

Kind regards, Colin.

Mate that seems to be your having a harsh time of late with all electrical items.
Dont completely give up, unfortunately it's full of components that all have a shelf life.

And if you do fully give up hope
Remember let me know.