Dust/Grinding filter for TIG and Plasma sets

[Shox Dr]

The biggest thing that kills Inverter type welding and plasma set is Grinding dust

The big fans suck it in by the lung full, coating all the electrics in a fine layer of Metalic dust causing the boards and components to short out.

The Imported units seem to be the worst for this as the fans just suck air into the unit, blowing over everything and not just the heatsinks.

Never the less, none of these units are cheap wherever you sourced it from. So when I bought my TIG set some 4 years ago I built a mesh cover for the back to hold a filter. It is truly frightening how quickly the filter shows how it is stopping dust from getting into the machine.

It's cheap and easy to do, so there is no reason why the DIYers out there can't do this, and for the time involved over the benefits there's no reason why the Pro's don't do it either.


Take note Manufacturers YOUR set need these as standard.


So you will need a sheet of perforated sheet, B&Q sell small sheets for a tenner'ish.

Fold up in to a channel the same width as your set with 40/60mm legs, the filter I use is from Boyes it's about £1.50 a Sq mtr, It's for soft furnishings, quilt sort of stuff. cut to suit and fit. All you have to do now is keep an eye on it and change as needed.

The first time you do change the filter, take it out side and shake it in the sun, you will be amazed at the crap that comes out, the little particles of metal shining in the sun.

Simples really


Pictures show the new Plasma unit I bought, receiving the treatment

 

[Bsmith]

Thats a great idea if I ever saw one, of course our welders will draw in all kinds with the cooling fan. Don't know if I would be able to get the same filter but could make up a couple of slide in cartrige type from fibre glass loft insulation, covered with wire or plastic mesh to stop it shreading, change cardridge when fowled up.

 

[Shox Dr]

I don't think Loft insulation would be any good, as it would be too dense, restricting air.

I messed about with a few things before staying with this stuff, you can still feel the air coming out of the front vents

 

[Iain Westland]

car pollen filter/air filter ok?

 

[Shox Dr]

Suck it and see

I can't see why not, good idea if you can get hold of them at the right price.

The beauty of using the soft furnishing stuff is it comes by the meter so you can cut the filter to whatever size you require

 

[wyn]

I think Fronius inverters come with dust filters as standard......no idea where you get hold of the filters though.

 

[Dusty]

could i use the filter mat they sell for cookerhoods? it comes in smallish sheets cheep and is easy to get round here....need to make three, mig, tig, and plasma.

Damm good idea though...

 

[Shox Dr]

You are best off giving it a go Dusty. I put two layers in the Plasma but it was too much. Give it a go, otherwise get hold of some quilt. it's cheap as chips, your local market will have a stall that sells it.

 

[Hitch]

I wonder how restrictive the filter is to actual air flow....?
Id think you'd void waranty if they knew you were doing that...?

 

[Shox Dr]

I wonder how restrictive the filter is to actual air flow....?
Id think you'd void waranty if they knew you were doing that...?

As I say Hitch, you can still feel the air flow coming out of the front panel, and to be honest with you, they would have no hesitation with denying you warranty if they found grinding dust in the machine, Ask me who I know. So I would rather restrict clean air flow a little, than restrict cooling by letting the grinding dust get in there and act as an insulator

I've had it fitted to a 200amp TIG for 4 yrs, and it's been used in that time as well, without a fault.

 

[Hitch]

True, i guess the thing is getting the amount of filter material right.

 

[Shox Dr]

True, i guess the thing is getting the amount of filter material right.

Very true indeed, that's why I was reluctant to post-up this before I was happy myself that it was OK, with what I had found.

 

[brightspark]

buy a filter of a cooker hood the thin perforated ones there only a few quid

 

[hotrodder]

Neat idea. In many cases i suspect the fan provides more cooling than needed (most of the time anyway) hence the latest quality kit using 'fan on demand' systems rather than running 'em constantly.

With cheaper kit i'm thinking maybe too much restriction is more likely to result in a burnt out fan than overheated kit, bargin basement components an all that? Certainly would be cheaper and easier to fix than a dead board

 

[Paul.]

Its worth also considering that depending on the pattern, perforated sheet will have a maximum of 60% open area, that looks considerably larger than the fan on the welder so most likely not a problem, but anyone contemplating doing this will need to allow for the restriction, when I've done similar jobs on cooling motors on machinery I use weldmesh as a frame.

 

[Dusty]

Well that's me off down the market this week then, it's next to a Bodge it Quickly too!

Says on my plasma re cleaning "Blow out twice a mouth" ???? chinglish!

colour of filter would give a better indication of service required, wouldn't it?

 

[Shox Dr]

Well that's me off down the market this week then, it's next to a Bodge it Quickly too!

Says on my plasma re cleaning "Blow out twice a mouth" ???? chinglish!

colour of filter would give a better indication of service required, wouldn't it?

I was warned about using compressed air to clean, it can force the dirt and grinding dust further into the components causing even more problems

You are supposed to use a vacuum

 

[Dusty]

So a long bristle, but softish brush and a narrow crevice nozzle on the hoover pipe, then gently brush/suck the crap out.....I always wipe down the outsides before putting my gear away anyway.
Who says men don't do cleaning?

 

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

The filter is a good idea , have been working on some old welding sets this past few weeks and the pcbs are covered in dust and I suspect thats the main reason they eventually failed . On old TV sets many of the failures were due to dust causing the line transformer to fail and tracking on the back of the CRT tube from the HV annode connection , just vaccuming and cleaning the glass and HV cable with meths was sometimes all that was required to get them going again although I would stick with vacuum cleaner only on a modern pcb board .

 

[derekm]

filters always have the problem of reducing airflow as they get blocked up. Mr DYSON pinched old air pollution control ideas to create his vacuum cleaners. I will do the same , but not with the cyclone but the "baffled settling tank".
Grinding dust is relatively large particle and dense.
Fans are typically mounted on the outside blowing inwards.
So to reduce the dust intake what we need is to use gravity, a sharp corner and reduce the effective air velocity the dust particles are subjected to.

A simple hood over the " muffin fans extending downwards to within a few inches of the base with a perforated air flow distribution plate just below the fans. This means the fall out rather than being sucked straight in has to fall further, then encounter a much reduced intake air velocity (butnot volume) then turn 180 degrees and then move upwards. I'll post the pictures when I'm done